The Botanical Portrait

Your dog, framed in a wreath of leaves and bloom. A custom portrait first — then a garden around it.

The Botanical Portrait is still a likeness drawn from your photograph. The wreath is hand-illustrated with the face, not stamped on afterwards. Proof and unlimited edits, included. Archival paper, solid wood. From $89.

What The Botanical is

Some houses already have plants on the shelves. The Botanical is for those rooms: your dog, then a border of leaf and bloom that belongs to the drawing, not to a clip-art frame. The likeness is the point. The garden is the setting.

Olive lives on a plant shelf. Her portrait started as a phone photo — you can see that pair on this page. Soft, domestic, a little garden on the wall.

It is not an oil painting. It is not a filter that drops a face into a floral template. A studio illustrator draws your dog and the wreath together, then we print the approved file on archival paper and frame it in solid wood.

What you send

A clear photograph of the face. Natural light, eye level, ears visible. The wreath is ours to draw; you do not need a garden in the snapshot. Phone photos are fine. If the file will not work, we write before we begin. Photo guide.

How the commission works

Upload the photograph, add their name, add The Botanical to your cart. Default is 8×10, black frame, soft white — or choose dusty pink, sage, cream, charcoal. Two pets can share a wreath; tick the option and send a clear photo of each.

Your proof shows the face and the border together. If a bloom crowds an ear, if you want a quieter wreath, if a marking was missed — say so. Unlimited complimentary edits. Nothing prints until you approve.

Then archival paper, solid wood, packed to arrive intact. One to two weeks to proof, a few days per edit, about a week after approval to print and ship. Free shipping over $100.

What’s included

• Hand-illustrated botanical portrait from your photograph
• Proof before print, unlimited complimentary edits
• Archival paper, solid wood (or no frame)
• From $89 — default 8×10, black, soft white
• Backgrounds: Soft White, Warm Cream, Dusty Pink, Sage, Charcoal
• Two pets as an option
• Thirty-night guarantee

Where it lives

A plant shelf, a kitchen, a bedroom that already leans green. Olive’s is the example. The Botanical does not need to be large to read — 8×10 is enough if the shelf is the right one. 12×16 if you want the wreath to have more air.

The guarantee

Thirty nights on your wall. If the likeness is wrong or the piece is at fault, we reprint, re-illustrate, or refund. Questions: hello@elmandtail.com.

Materials, shipping, and the calendar

We print on archival, acid-free paper so the blacks stay black and the sheet does not yellow. Frames are solid wood — black, white, walnut, or birch — cut for the size you choose. No frame if you would rather take the print to your own framer.

Illustration and first proof typically take one to two weeks from a usable photograph. Edits are usually a few days each. After you approve, we print, frame, and ship within about a week. Free shipping over $100 inside the United States. We send tracking when the portrait leaves the studio. If you are working to a date, write it in the order notes. We will not promise a calendar we cannot keep.

Questions we hear

Is a phone photo enough? Yes, if the face is clear. Maple, Otto, and Olive all started that way.

What if I don’t like the first proof? Then we have not finished. Revisions are unlimited and complimentary. Nothing is printed until you approve.

Can two pets share one portrait? Yes. Tick “Add a second pet” and send a clear photograph of each.

Do you sell merch with the face on it? No. Elm & Tail is the portrait — paper, wood, and the proof. No mugs, no pillows, no crewnecks on this studio.

More on the homepage, or write hello@elmandtail.com.