Custom Cat Portraits from Your Photo
Painted cat art made from a photo you already have. Free preview in about a minute, no account.
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Styles cat people love
Every coat, every attitude
Tabby stripes, tuxedo bibs, odd eyes and solid black all survive the translation.
Photographing a cat who will not cooperate
You do not need a posed photo for a custom cat portrait — you need a sharp one, taken at the cat's level in window light, with the flash off. That is a much lower bar than it sounds, especially if you stop trying to get their attention and let them ignore you. The RSPCA's own guidance is to shoot "at your pet's eye level" (RSPCA) in morning or late-afternoon daylight rather than under a flash.
- Shoot near a window. Side light picks out the shape of the face and the texture of the coat. Cats sleep near windows anyway.
- Use burst mode. Hold the shutter for a couple of seconds and pick the one frame where the eyes are open and the ears are forward.
- Get level with them. On the floor, on the sofa arm, wherever they are. A photo from above makes any cat look like a loaf.
- Black cats need light on the face, not behind it. A backlit black cat is a silhouette, and no portrait style can recover features that were never recorded.
Black cats are worth a paragraph of their own. Most portrait products lose them entirely — the fur turns into a flat shape and the face disappears. The Nocturne and Black Tie styles are built around deep shadow with a single warm light, which is exactly what keeps a black cat readable.
Sizes & prices
Free delivery on every print. The preview costs nothing.
| Size | Fine-art paper print | Stretched canvas | Framed canvas |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 × 40 cm · 12 × 16 in | $69 | $149 | $189 |
| 45 × 60 cm · 18 × 24 in | $99 | $229 | $269 |
| 60 × 80 cm · 24 × 32 in | $129 | — | $319 |
Prefer just the file? The digital download is $49 on its own, and what you pay for it comes off the price if you order a print later.
Free delivery on every print. Prices shown in US dollars; visitors in the United Kingdom are charged in pounds.
Why cats are rarer in old paintings than dogs
Cats appear in European painting for centuries, but almost always as working animals rather than as cherished pets — that only changes in the 1700s. The National Gallery's own glossary notes that cats "have long been domestic animals – essential for the control of vermin – and often feature in paintings", and that before the eighteenth century they were rarely shown as beloved lap pets.
When they do carry meaning it is rarely flattering. The Gallery records that "black cats in particular are traditionally associated with witches" (The National Gallery, London), an idea it traces to a Roman myth in which a priestess of Hecate is turned into a cat — though it also notes cats "were regarded as symbols of liberty in ancient Rome".
Which is a long way of saying there is no centuries-old tradition of the dignified cat portrait the way there is for dogs and horses. Putting your cat in a velvet collar and a gilded frame is a joke the history of art never quite got round to making.
A gift for cat people
Cat owners are notoriously hard to buy for, because most cat merchandise is about cats in general rather than their cat. A portrait made from their own photo skips that problem entirely.
If you cannot get a photo without giving the surprise away, buy the digital file: they choose the size and framing, and what you paid comes off the price of a print later.
As with everything we make, your portrait is AI-created from your photo, reviewed by our team, and printed by professional print partners.