Send me a photo. I'll draw it by hand.
Pencil portraits from ₹2,499. You see a photo of the finished drawing and approve it before you pay the balance.
The photograph sent in, and the portrait drawn from it.
The team who will draw it
PortraitKart is a small team of artists. I'm Jatin Tarai — I draw most of the portraits myself, and the artists I work with draw the rest. Nobody else touches your drawing.
It's also why a portrait takes ten to twelve days. We're a small team drawing by hand, and each portrait takes about thirteen hours at the desk.
“Is it really hand-drawn?”
Fair question — there's a lot of AI being sold as handmade now. So here is the same portrait at three stages, and my hand holding the pencil.
You don't have to take our word for it
With your order I'll send progress photos as it's being drawn, so you can watch it happen. Not on request — unprompted, on the same WhatsApp chat you ordered from, as the drawing goes from outline to finished.
Why we show the process at all
A finished drawing proves nothing on its own — a filter outputs those too. What can't be faked is the hand that made it. So rather than put a badge on this page claiming the work is authentic, we show you the work being made.
What we draw
Real work, drawn for real customers — the photograph we were sent beside the portrait we drew from it, and a few filmed from blank paper to finished.
One person, A4 — from ₹2,499
Two people, A4 — from ₹3,499
Three or more, A3 — from ₹5,999
One child, A4 — from ₹2,499
Priced after we've seen the photograph.
We draw portraits from photographs of people who have died, and we can work from old, faded or damaged photographs. If you'd like to talk about one, message us — there's nothing to fill in.
Talk to us about itWe also draw pets, from ₹2,499. We haven't photographed that work well enough to show it here yet — ask on WhatsApp and we'll send samples directly.
How it works
Send your photo on WhatsApp
I'll reply with a price and samples of similar work, usually within five minutes.
Pay 50% to start
₹1,750 for an A3. I begin drawing the same day where possible.
Approve the preview
I photograph the finished portrait and send it to you. Minor changes are included at this stage.
Pay the balance — then it ships
Packed in a rigid tube and delivered in 2–3 days.
You never pay the full amount upfront, and you never pay the balance for something you haven't seen.
Pricing
Each portrait is about thirteen hours of drawing by hand on archival paper. That is what the price is for — not the paper. All prices include delivery anywhere in India.
A3
12 × 16 inches
- 1 person
- ₹3,499
- 2 people
- ₹4,999
- 3 people
- ₹5,999
- 4 people
- ₹6,999
16 × 24 in
Largest size we draw
- 1 person
- ₹4,999
- 2 people
- ₹6,699
- 3 people
- ₹7,999
- 4 people
- ₹8,999
Four or more people? We recommend 16×24. On A3 four faces get small, and the detail in the eyes is what makes a portrait worth having.
All prices include delivery anywhere in India. No hidden charges, no COD.
Portraits we've delivered
Every portrait goes out rolled in a rigid tube, moisture-wrapped and marked fragile, to any pin code in India. The courier name and tracking number reach you on WhatsApp the day yours is dispatched.
These are customers with the portrait they ordered, photographed in their own homes and sent back to us. Framing is theirs — portraits ship unframed, rolled in a tube.
And these are the messages they sent after theirs arrived, copied from WhatsApp. Names, profile pictures and phone numbers are cropped out — you're seeing the words, not the person.
Hard gate — spec §16
Nothing in this section may be published until each customer has given written permission — the six photographs and the nine messages alike. The photographs are the stricter case: they show identifiable faces, and two of them are children, which needs consent from a parent or guardian specifically. For the messages, crops only — never a whole screenshot: the originals carry full names, profile pictures (one a child's face), and in one case a courier waybill number with the recipient's name and city. The same consent applies to every before/after pair in “What we draw”.
How long it takes
Ten to twelve working days, and here is exactly where they go.
| Stage | Time |
|---|---|
| Photo received, 50% advance paid | Day 0 |
| Drawn by hand | 7–9 working days |
| Preview sent for your approval | Day 7–9 |
| Dispatched after approval | Within 24 hours |
| In transit | 2–3 working days |
| Total | 10–12 working days |
If it's for a date
Order at least 15 days before your date. If your date is sooner than that, tell us before you pay — we'll say honestly whether it's possible rather than take the order and miss it.
Questions
Hand-drawn, in graphite, on paper. That's why it takes seven to nine days and why we can only do about eighteen a month. With your order we send progress photos as it's being drawn — you can watch it happen rather than take our word for it.
You pay half to start and the rest only after you've seen a photograph of the finished portrait. If it never gets drawn, you never pay the balance.
Our full legal identity and contact details are published on the Contact page, and our Grievance Officer on the Privacy Policy page — that is the check worth doing on any site asking you for a UPI payment.
Because a portrait is about thirteen hours of drawing, and there are two of us.
Sites promising three to seven days are usually applying a digital effect and printing it, or they are large enough that you never find out who drew yours. Ours is drawn by hand, one at a time, and you see a photograph of it before you pay the balance.
If your date is sooner than our window, tell us before you pay — we will say honestly whether it is possible rather than take the order and miss it.
Tell us at the preview stage and we'll fix it. Two rounds of minor corrections are included, and if those don't make it right you get one free redraw. You don't pay the balance for a portrait you haven't approved. The full position is on the Refund & Cancellation Policy page.
Send it across and I'll tell you honestly whether it'll work well. If I don't think we can do it justice, I'll say so rather than take the order.
Ten to twelve working days from the advance to delivery — seven to nine days of drawing, then two to three in transit. If it's for a fixed date, order at least fifteen days ahead. Full breakdown on the Shipping Policy page.
Every pin code in India, delivery included in the price. The North East, Jammu & Kashmir, the Andamans, Lakshadweep and some interior pin codes take two to four working days longer. We don't ship internationally.
UPI or bank transfer — 50% to begin, 50% after you approve the preview. We don't offer cash on delivery, and we never ask for the full amount upfront.
Send me the photo and I'll tell you what it'll cost.
Usually within five minutes, between 9am and 11pm.