With so many new and exciting technologies at our fingertips, there's an undeniably romantic and one-of-a-kind quality to an oil painting. We believe that paint offers an unmatched quality--one that humans have embraced passionately for centuries. We want to keep this medium alive, pertinent and accessible. We believe that marrying the spontaneity of digital photography with the timelessness of painting can help do this. In an age of mass production, globalization and standardization, something as uniquely personal as a painting is a great luxury.

The STORYBRUSH experience is a collaboration between you and the painter. Both sides play significant roles. Our skilled painters create faithful renderings of photographs, but keep in mind that, like any creative process, STORYBRUSH is a process of interpretation and discovery. Like translation, there are qualities of an image that can be transposed literally, and other qualities that require interpretation. Our painters will give each painting the touch that makes this medium wonderful and unique. We encourage our painters to explore and enjoy the process because we believe this guarantees the most successful painting. You can visit our Tell your story section and explore the spectacular results for yourself.

STORYBRUSH offers a handcrafted service. As a general rule, each order takes from 14 to 21 days to be painted and properly dried. When an order is placed, we provide an estimated delivery date. Shipping time varies from 3 to 6 days, depending on the painting's final destination.

If you are not 100% satisfied with the outcome, you can return it for alterations or for a full refund (minus shipping & handling costs). Upon delivery, you have 3 days to notify us if you are unsatisfied. We request a letter describing your issues to accompany your notification. We strive to deliver a quality product and work hard to ensure our customer’s satisfaction.

STORYBRUSH was founded by a group of artists and Internet enthusiasts living in Seattle and Shanghai. Our first experiences with the STORYBRUSH painters came out of a personal need to fulfill ideas--namely, immortalizing digital photographs as oil paintings--for which we lacked the skill or time. The process of collaboration was so successful and exciting that we decided everyone should have the opportunity to experience it. We want to help you tell your story in paint because we believe paint as a medium offers so much more than our new digital technologies. That's not to say that we don't value digital technologies--On the contrary, we believe that by combining the old and the new, the beginning of a beautiful friendship gives way to new and rich experiences.

Many people associate China with mass-produced goods--we did, too, for a long time. However, after living here, we have come to realize that this country has so much more to offer. We want to recognize and promote China's superior craft traditions. Painting has played a major role in Chinese history and even today it is approached with great respect and dedication.

You can do anything you want! We look at every submission and determine whether the image is suitable for a successful painting. If there is concern about the submitted image, we will contact you with advice on how you may obtain better results. Please visit our Tips & Ideas section .

As long as you provide us with a digital image that meets our file requirements, we can paint it. It can be a scan or an image created on the computer. We love testing the limits.

Although it isn't our focus, we will paint anything you want as long as it complies with our terms of use.

The STORYBRUSH standard is to deliver paintings unsigned. But you can make a special request in the comment box. Our painters are proud of every one of their paintings and naturally are happy to sign them.

We are happy to make as many as you want, but remember that each one will be unique. That is what makes them special!

Our standard is to ship paintings stretched and carefully packaged. They are ready to hang when they arrive at your door! All you have to do is carefully remove the painting from the box, read the hanging and general care instructions and use our easy-hanging hardware to display your new, unique oil painting. Once the painting has shipped, we will provide you with a tracking number. We also offer a rolled option for those customers that prefer not to have their painting stretched.

They sure can. In fact, our size option calculator is designed to give you a range of popular and practical sizes so that finding the right frame should be no effort at all. Please note that if your painting has a non-standard aspect ratio, you may need a custom frame.

The aspect ratio of an image is its width divided by its height. Aspect ratios are mathematically expressed as x:y ("x-to-y") and x×y ("x-by-y"). In still-camera photography, the most common aspect ratios are 4:3 and 3:2, though other aspect ratios, such as 5:4, 7:5, and 1:1 (square format), are also used.

Of course! A STORYBRUSH gift certificate is the perfect gift. The recipient can choose any image to be painted and enjoy the gift of a lifetime. You (the giver) can choose from 4 sizes and spend as little as $150. We e-mail or snail-mail the gift certificate to you or directly to the recipient, with a customized message.