Do you want to make a picture of your children into a beautiful oil painting? Start the work by choosing (or taking) the perfect picture.

Just take a look at how quickly your children are growing up. It seems like every time you turn around, they have grown an inch, are going up a grade in school, or simply just moving at the speed of light.

You certainly want to capture every moment of their personalities before they change. If you are wishing for a beautiful piece of wall art, then you do have to consider a hand-painted piece that will be attractive, timeless, and beautiful.

You can have your favorite photo of your children turned into an oil painting. Of course, you need a favorite photo to get started though. If you are like many parents, you have hundreds or even thousands of pictures of your children, but most of them are only worthy of being placed in a photo album. Kids can be especially challenging to photograph, so you need to know a few things to capture them and their personality perfectly.

Get on Their Level

“I’m talking getting down on your knees, down on your hands, down on your tummy. If you want to capture the world from their perspective, be prepared to get down and dirty. You will absolutely love the shots you can capture from this angle.” (How Does She)

Angle matters a great deal when it comes to photographing children. If you shoot from above, they end up looking small or even distorted. You want to catch them at their angle and their view. This means getting on their level. For babies, you may need to lay on the floor. For older children, you may just need to kneel.

Keep the Tears at Bay

Obviously, if you are going to transform a picture into an oil painting, you don’t want them to be crying! That certainly wouldn’t look good on the wall in your home. Instead, you need some tactics that will keep the tears at bay and ensure they are smiling beautifully in every picture. The best way to do this is to play games. Your kids will love playing peek-a-boo or any game that will keep them smiling. Don’t take the whole photo shoot too seriously or you will very likely end up with a crying child.

Avoid Distractions

While that cute giant bow may look adorable on your little girl, but when it is bigger than her head, all you are doing is creating a distraction that will certainly look unappealing in a picture.

When people walk into your home and see that lovely oil painting on the wall, you want their reaction to be “what a beautiful baby girl!” Not, “that’s an interesting bow!” This means you need to keep the distractions out of the picture. Stick to simple clothing (solid colors work best) and don’t include too many busy props. Remember that this your children portrait, not a portrait about the things around them.

Once you have an amazing photo of your children that captures their sweet personalities right in that moment before they grow any more, then you can have it made into an oil painting. The best thing to do is pick from companies that do the work by hand.

A hand painted portrait will look more attractive on your wall and will be a true piece of art. Remember that you want something gorgeous on your wall, not something that was printed off by a machine. Now that you have tips to help you, you can start taking pictures.