How do I get a free painting?

Easy! Post your photo on the Brushstrokes facebook  fan page wall. (Just fill in the "What's on your mind box" and attach your picture and click 'share').

Once it's there, I'll download it and work on it and post the finished item back to the wall where you can then view it and save it. You'll also be able to download a high resolution version for printing from the brushstrokes gallery.

How many free paintings can I have?

You can have as many as you like but we reserve the right to withdraw our free offer at any time (either in total, or from individuals who are abusing our service). We want to get our artwork spread out far and wide and enjoyed by many people, which is why our free offers are fundamental to our strategy, but at the same time we have to make it fair for all. If you act reasonably and fairly, there won't be a problem.

Quality Guidelines - What photos work best?

There is no fixed list as such, I wish there was - really it's a mixture of resolution, sharpness, absence of noise & artifacts (e.g. jpeg compression, chromatic aberration etc.) - i.e. basically all the stuff a digital photographer has to worry about.. In essence I can work with any photo but the output results are dependent on the input quality... 

The things that work the best are:

• good landscapes or portraits that are not cluttered (i.e. too many objects, especially overlapping)
• not noisy (i.e. no digital camera noise, dust from scanning, jpeg compression artifacts)
• strong separation of subject and background (well composed picture where the subject is obvious)
• not too detailed or fussy or small (e.g. not lots of detailed small lines, like tree branches or wire fences; image size at least 1000 pixels)
• not too brightly/vividly coloured - as the painting process can bring that out
• not black & white

Will you take my photo too!?

Yes! Sure! Brushstrokes can arrange to take your photo.

Alongside Nik himself (who shoots on professional Canon Digital SLR equipment) don't forget our network of hand-picked professional photographers, covering a variety of styles and specialisms and covering various geographical regions. See our featured photographers link for more information. 

Brushstrok.es can provide your complete photography, painting and printing package from start to finish.