Handmade Paintings on Canvas
"Handmade" is one of the loosest words in online art. It gets used for three different things. A canvas printed by machine. A piece painted by numbers. And a genuine original painted stroke by stroke. All three arrive described the same way.
This page covers what a handmade painting actually is, how to tell one from a print before you pay, and what a real hand-painted canvas starts at.
An original painting is a piece made by hand, once, by a person. Every painting we sell is an original. We do not sell prints, posters, or digital reproductions.
A handmade painting is one painted stroke by stroke, where paint goes onto the surface through a brush or a knife and the marks carry the hand that made them.
A reproduction is a machine print of an artwork that was made once and photographed. Every copy is identical, because the original was photographed once and then printed. It can be produced again in any quantity.
A stretched canvas is a canvas pulled taut over a wooden frame, ready to hang. A rolled canvas is the same painting shipped unstretched in a tube.
TL;DR: Key Takeaways
- Handmade paintings on canvas start from ₹1,960 at Loka Loka.
- Every piece is painted by hand in oil or acrylic on a stretched canvas.
- A hand-painted original can cost less than a framed print.
- Every design is a limited run of 10 pieces.
What Counts as a Handmade Painting on Canvas?
A handmade painting is one a person painted. Paint goes onto a surface through a brush or a knife, and the marks carry the hand that made them.
That sounds obvious until you look at how the phrase gets used. Underneath the same label you will find:
- A genuine original, painted from scratch, one piece at a time
- A reproduction, printed onto canvas by machine from a photographed original
- A "hand-finished" print, machine-printed and then touched up with a few brushstrokes
- A paint-by-numbers kit, filled in by hand but following a printed pattern
Only the first is a handmade painting in the sense a buyer usually means. The others are prints, sometimes with paint on them.
Where our handmade canvases actually come from
We do not list a catalogue of prints. We paint in collections, each one built around a single idea, and each piece is made by hand at the size you order.
The point of a handmade piece is that the surface is different every time. Here is what that looks like up close.
See all collections, or read how custom art commissions work if you want a size we do not list.
How to Tell a Real Handmade Painting from a Print
There are four checks that hold up across most listings. The clearest is the medium itself: a real painting is described as oil or acrylic on canvas, while a reproduction is usually called an art print, a giclée, or a canvas print. Fine Art Restoration publishes the same distinction between an original and a reproduction (Fine Art Restoration, retrieved 2026-09-21).
Read the medium. A real painting says oil or acrylic on canvas. A print says art print, giclée, reproduction, or canvas print. The word giclée is the clearest tell: it is a high-quality inkjet process, and the artwork was made once and copied.
Look at the surface in a close-up photo. Painting has texture, and appraisers use exactly this test to separate the two (WorthWise Appraisers, retrieved 2026-09-21). You can see ridges where a brush turned, or a thicker edge where paint was laid on heavily. A print is flat across the whole surface, no matter how good the resolution.
Check the edges. A hand-painted canvas often carries paint over the edge or has a visible edge where the brush stopped. A printed canvas usually wraps as a clean, continuous image with no interruption.
Ask whether it is repeatable. If the seller can print another one tomorrow, it is not an original. If the answer is that the image exists in a fixed, small number of pieces, you are looking at an original run.
| Test | A painting | A print |
|---|---|---|
| Medium stated | oil or acrylic on canvas | art print, giclée, canvas print |
| Surface as you tilt it | light changes across ridges | same from every angle |
| The edge | paint over the side, or stops at the brush | image wraps unbroken |
| Repeatable? | no, a fixed small run | yes, printed again in any quantity |
What Do Handmade Canvas Paintings Cost?
Handmade paintings on canvas start from ₹1,960 at Loka Loka. The full starting points by size:
- 12×12 inches: Rs 1,960 rolled, Rs 3,080 stretched
- 18×18 inches: Rs 4,480 rolled, Rs 6,160 stretched
- 24×24 inches: Rs 7,840 rolled, Rs 9,800 stretched
- 30×30 inches: Rs 12,320 rolled, Rs 15,120 stretched
- 36×36 inches: Rs 17,640 rolled, Rs 21,000 stretched
- 48×48 inches: Rs 46,400 rolled, Rs 47,500 stretched
- Custom commissions: from Rs 3,000 per square foot, sizes from 12×12 inches
Exact prices differ by design, since each painting carries a different amount of detail, so the figure on the product page is always the one to go by.
Three things move the price: the size of the canvas, the detail in the painting, and whether the piece is ready or painted to your brief.
A handmade original starting at ₹1,960 can cost less than a framed print of a similar size. Prints carry licensing, printing, and framing. All of that sits on top of an artwork made once and reproduced many times over. A painting carries the painting and the canvas.
The other reason originals get expensive is overhead rather than paint. Galleries hold rent, take commission, and add markup. An online studio painting to order carries none of that, so more of what you pay goes into the work.
Why Every Design Is a Limited Run of 10
Our pieces are handmade in a way that keeps them handmade. Every design runs to a limited edition of 10 pieces. When those 10 are painted and sold, that design is retired.
A print is repeatable, so it can be produced again and sold to anyone anywhere. That is why prints are cheap, and why the same one turns up in a hundred homes.
An original does not work that way. It exists once, or in a fixed, small number of pieces. Our limit of 10 exists so the design stays contained and the piece stays yours. We do not reprint a design and we do not overflow the market with it.
Compare: Loka Loka vs. the Marketplaces
| Loka Loka Studio | Marketplace (Memeraki, Saatchi, etc.) | |
|---|---|---|
| What you get | Hand-painted original, limited run | Mix of originals and prints |
| Price | From ₹1,960, transparent | Varies, often higher |
| Custom commissions | Yes, from ₹3,000/sq ft | Limited |
| Limited editions | Yes, 10 per design | Not always |
| Painted separately | Yes, each of the 10 | Not always |
| Where prices come from | Made in-house, stable | Artist plus 40 to 50% marketplace commission |
| Ships | India and worldwide | Varies |
We make our art in house, which keeps prices stable because there is no layer of markup between the studio and you.
Large marketplaces take a commission of 40 to 50 percent from the artist on each sale, and that commission is added to the price you pay. (Saatchi Art takes 40% and Artfinder takes 40 to 50%, against a gallery standard of 50%. Saatchi Art Help Center, updated 2023-07-26; Artfinder Seller Support, retrieved 2026-09-21.) It is what pushes handmade art past what most people can spend, and it is the main reason a painting and a print can look similarly priced. Selling directly means more of your money goes into the painting.
Buying a Handmade Painting Online
Two things decide whether a piece is worth buying: whether it is genuinely painted by hand, and whether anyone else can own the same one.
Every piece we make is painted by hand, to order, in oil or acrylic on a stretched canvas. Each one carries its own story and theme rather than repeating a template.
You can take a piece from a collection as it is, or have one painted to your idea, your size, and your palette. Nothing is pulled from stock, and nothing is machine-printed.
Browse all collections to see the current handmade pieces.
You can also commission a painting to your size and palette. Our frequently asked questions cover materials and delivery.
About this guide
The measurements and material details here come from our own studio practice, and where we cite published guidance we name the source. You can read more about Loka Loka Studio or contact us with a question before you buy.
Last updated 21 September 2026. We are the studio that sells these paintings, so treat our product guidance as our own view and the design guidance as sourced.
Our method for telling paint from print
We check every canvas we ship against the same 3 visual tests, and you can run all 3 from a photograph before buying. First, read the medium: oil or acrylic on canvas means a painting. Second, look for surface variation: paint sits in ridges and thicker passages, so light changes across it as you tilt it. Third, check the edge: ours carry paint over the side or stop where the brush left the surface.
The fourth check is a question rather than a look: ask whether the seller can print another one tomorrow. A printed canvas fails the three visual tests. It is flat from every angle, because the image is ink sitting on top of a uniform surface. We have compared this against published appraiser guidance (WorthWise Appraisers) and their tests match ours.
We paint every piece to order, so the checks above come from handling real canvases rather than from a general rule. The surface is where the difference always shows. Imagine tilting both canvases toward a window. The painted one shifts as the ridges catch the light. The printed one does not move at all. A painted canvas has ridges where a brush turned and thicker patches where paint was laid on heavily, so the light changes across it as you move. A printed canvas stays flat and even no matter how good the resolution is.
The second thing we notice is the edge. Ours carry paint over the side or stop visibly where the brush left the surface. A printed canvas usually wraps as one unbroken image with no interruption.
Two canvases, side by side
Hold a painted canvas and a printed one at the same angle in the same light. The painted one changes as you move your head. Ridges catch a highlight at one angle and lose it at another. The thicker passages read darker because they sit further from the light. The printed one looks the same from every angle, because the surface is flat and the image is ink sitting on top of it.
That single test settles it faster than any certificate or label. If the surface does not change as you move, you are looking at a print.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are handmade paintings on canvas actually painted by hand?
Only if the listing is specific about it. Check for oil or acrylic on canvas, look for surface texture in close-up photos, and ask whether the image can be reproduced. A print will not have brush marks.
How much do handmade canvas paintings cost?
They start from ₹1,960 for a 12×12 inch rolled canvas. Larger sizes rise from there, up to ₹47,500 for a 48×48 inch stretched piece. Commissions start from ₹3,000 per square foot.
What is the difference between handmade and a canvas print?
A handmade painting is painted stroke by stroke, so it carries texture and exists in a limited number of pieces. A canvas print is machine-printed onto canvas, so it is flat and can be reproduced indefinitely.
Do you ship handmade paintings internationally?
Yes, across India and worldwide.
Related guides
If you are still deciding, these guides cover the questions we get asked most:
- Choosing a bedroom wall painting, what size and colour work above a bed, and what it costs
- Large paintings for a living room, what suits a big wall, and why scale matters