PaintBot is a small studio that turns everyday digital images into painterly works of art. We simulate the physical process of oil, watercolor, and impasto painting — stroke by stroke, layer by layer — so the result feels made by human hands.
We spent seven years teaching our software how brushes actually behave — how paint pools, dries, and drags across canvas. The result is a workflow that produces genuine painterly texture, not filters.
Our engine studies the light and geometry of your photograph, then plans thousands of individual brushstrokes — long ones for skies, short ones for cheekbones, palette-knife dabs for foliage.
Choose from Renoir, Van Gogh, Sargent, contemporary watercolor, or a house palette developed with our resident painter, Amelia Ward.
Every finished piece is printed with pigment inks on 400gsm cotton canvas, hand-stretched over kiln-dried pine, and signed by Nancy on the reverse.
PaintBot began as a weekend project between owner Nancy Hicklin and a small circle of painters and engineers. Today the studio still runs out of a converted print shop in Richmond’s Manchester district, where every commission is reviewed by a human before it ships.
We’re proud to be independently owned and to work directly with our customers. No middlemen, no drop-shippers — just careful people, good paper, and a lot of paint.
Meet the team →
Send us a well-lit photograph. We’ll suggest crops and let you know if a reshoot would help.
Pick from ten painterly palettes or work with our lead artist on something bespoke.
Within 48 hours you’ll receive a digital proof and a short video of the brushwork.
Approved pieces are printed, stretched, signed and shipped worldwide with tracking.
“I sent PaintBot a phone photo of my late father’s dog. What came back looked like a family heirloom. My mother cried.”
“We commissioned a piece for our anniversary. Nancy was patient with three rounds of revisions and the finished canvas is stunning.”
“Genuinely the best gift I have ever given. Fast, thoughtful, and priced fairly. I’m already planning the next one.”
Free consultation, no obligation. Most commissions ship within two weeks.
Start a commission →