The Sketch Portrait

A graphite sketch from your photograph. The pencil stays in the work.

The Sketch Portrait keeps hatch, smudge, and the grain of a drawing rather than a polished plate. Hand-illustrated, not generated. Proof and unlimited edits, included. Archival paper, solid wood. From $89.

What The Sketch is

Some portraits want the polish of a plate. The Sketch wants the hand. You can see where the illustrator found the ear, where the graphite sat heavier on the muzzle, where the ground was left alone. It is still a likeness — River on a bedroom wall, Ash on a home-office wall — just one that looks like a drawing you might have watched being made.

It is not a filter that “sketches” a photo. It is not an oil painting. A studio illustrator draws your dog from the photograph you send, then we print the approved file on archival paper and frame it in solid wood.

What you send

A clear photograph. Natural light, at their eye level, face and ears visible. Contrast helps graphite: a window behind you, not a dim room. Phone photos are fine. Older photos are fine. If the file will not work, we write first. Photo guide.

How the commission works

Upload the photograph, add their name, add The Sketch to your cart. Frame, size, and background can wait — or you can choose them now. Two pets as an option.

The proof is the drawing. If you want a quieter ground, a tighter crop, a marking brought forward, say so. Unlimited complimentary edits. Nothing prints until you approve.

After approval we print and frame. One to two weeks to the first proof, a few days per edit, about a week to print and ship. Free shipping over $100.

What’s included

• Hand-illustrated graphite 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 if you want them: Soft White, Warm Cream, Dusty Pink, Sage, Charcoal
• Two pets as an option
• Thirty-night guarantee

Where it lives

The Sketch belongs in rooms that already have paper and wood — a desk, a bedroom, a shelf of books. River’s hangs above a bed. Ash’s holds a home office. It does not need gold, and it does not need a joke. It needs a wall and the face you already know.

The guarantee

Thirty nights on your wall. Reprint, re-illustrate, or refund if the likeness or the piece is wrong. The proof is there so you are not finding out from a box. 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.