Memorial Portraits

A portrait of the cat you lost, from the photo you already have.

You do not need a good photograph or a good day. You need one picture that looks like them. We paint from that — and you see the finished artwork, free, before you decide anything.

What this is

A Painted Whiskers memorial portrait is a fine-art painting of your cat, made from one photograph you upload. It is not a filter and not a photo print. The style you choose decides the light, the palette, and the brushwork; it never decides what your cat looked like. Their face, their markings, the set of their ears — those come from your photo and stay yours.

There is no consultation call, no waiting list, and no deposit. Most people are looking at finished artwork within a few minutes of finding this page.

Three steps

  1. Step 1: Upload one photograph

    JPEG, PNG, or HEIC, at least 768 × 768 pixels and under 20MB. Pick the picture that feels most like them, even if it is old. We check the image at upload and tell you straight away if it is too small or too soft to work from.

  2. Step 2: Choose a style

    Some people want something quiet — Chiaroscuro Memorial is a warm candlelit baroque oil made deliberately lighter and more legible than usual, and Window Light Contemplation is a still American-realist interior. Others want the cat they actually lived with, so they pick something bright. There is no right answer and no extra charge for changing your mind.

  3. Step 3: See it, then decide

    Each pass renders three portraits side by side, and every visit includes five free passes — fifteen free previews. Previews are watermarked. When one of them is right, you approve it and choose how you want to keep it. The preview you approve is the artwork we print.

How you can keep it

Everything below prints the same approved artwork. Prints and canvas are square, matching the square format the portraits are painted in.

  • Archival Giclée Print — Archival pigment ink on 310gsm cotton rag paper. Museum-grade fine-art print, square format. 8x8 to 30x30 inches, from $35.
  • Hahnemühle Fine-Art Print — Museum-grade Hahnemühle Photo Rag 308gsm cotton paper — the same archival surface used by major galleries. Square format. 12x12 to 30x30 inches, from $79.
  • Gallery Canvas — Gallery-wrapped canvas on 1.5" solid wood stretcher bars. Made for the wall, square format. 10x10 to 50x50 inches, from $79.
  • Float-Framed Heirloom — Canvas mounted in a floating black wood frame with shadow gap — our premium keepsake presentation. Square format. 12x12 to 40x40 inches, from $199.
  • Digital Keepsake — High-resolution digital file of your approved portrait — yours to share, print, and keep. From $14.

The full range also includes blankets, pillows, mugs, and apparel. Nobody needs to be told what belongs on a wall and what belongs on a couch — both are on that page if you want them.

Questions people ask us

Can you make a portrait from an old or imperfect photo?
Usually, yes. The photo needs to be at least 768 by 768 pixels and in JPEG, PNG, or HEIC format, under 20MB. Beyond that, choose the picture that feels most like them rather than the sharpest one — a slightly grainy photo where their face and eyes are clearly visible works better than a crisp photo taken from across the room. If an image is too small or too blurry to work from, we tell you at upload rather than after you have paid.
Do I have to pay before I see the portrait?
No. Every visit includes 5 free rendering passes, and each pass produces 3 portraits — 15 free previews. The previews are watermarked. You only pay once you have seen the artwork and chosen the one you want to keep, and the preview you approve is the artwork we deliver.
Can you add my cat’s name, their dates, or a rainbow-bridge line?
No. Painted Whiskers portraits are paintings, not personalised layouts — there is no name, date, or lettering field, and we do not add text to the artwork. What you approve in the preview is exactly what is printed.
What if the portrait does not look like my cat?
Retry costs nothing while you still have free passes. Every render is also scored against your original photograph before you ever see it, and a variant that scores below our likeness threshold is automatically regenerated once. If a session still comes out below the bar, it is flagged for a human to look at.
Is a portrait a good gift for someone who has just lost a cat?
Many people order one for someone else. Because previews are free and watermarked, you can create the portrait first, see it, and decide whether it is right before anything is bought or sent.

Start when you are ready.

Fifteen free previews, watermarked, no card. If nothing feels right, you close the tab and you have lost nothing.

Create a Memorial Portrait