> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://inkedlines.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Family Line Art Portrait From Separate Photos - URL: https://inkedlines.com/family-line-art-portrait-from-photos/ - Published: 2026-09-18T10:55:34.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-18T11:51:12.000Z - Description: Most family portraits I draw come from separate photos taken years apart. Here is what to send for each person, how to arrange them, and what line art can and cannot fix. - Author: Inked Lines - Tags: OpenHeartLines, Family portraits, Line art portraits, Custom portraits A family line art portrait does not need everyone in the same room, or even in the same decade. Most of the ones I draw come from separate photographs: a phone snap of your mother from last Christmas, a sibling's graduation picture, a scanned print of a grandfather from 1974\. The drawing is where they finally sit together. Quick answer: send one clear, well lit photo of each person's face, say who belongs next to whom, and leave the scale and spacing to me. Line art drops the background and the colour, so photos taken years apart stop looking mismatched once they are drawn in a single hand. ## What a family line art portrait can and cannot do Line art works by leaving things out. There are no skin tones, no kitchen cupboards behind anyone's head and nothing competing for attention. A drawing built from six photographs can look completely unified in a way a collage never does, and that is the real advantage of combining photos. The medium erases the differences between them. What it cannot do is invent a face. If a photo does not show someone's jawline or the shape of their eyes, I have to guess, and a guess is the first thing family members notice. How the face is lit and which way it is turned matter far more than resolution or how old the picture is. ## What to send for each person Send more than you think I need. Having three photos of your father lets me pick the one whose head angle sits comfortably beside your mother's, instead of forcing two faces turned the same way into an awkward pairing. ### The photo checks that matter most - Face lit from the front or side, not backlit against a window or bright sky. - Eyes open and clearly visible, with no sunglasses and no glare across spectacle lenses. - Head roughly upright and turned no more than three quarters away from the camera. - The face filling a decent part of the frame, so it can be enlarged without turning soft. - A natural expression rather than a long held smile, if you have the choice. - Shoulders and a little of the chest visible, which gives the artist something to draw below the chin. - No filters or beauty smoothing, and originals rather than pictures forwarded through a messaging app. Those same checks decide whether any portrait comes out looking like the person, which is why my guide to [choosing the best photo for a custom portrait](https://inkedlines.com/best-photo-custom-pet-portrait/) is worth a read before you go hunting through your camera roll. ### Including someone who has passed away This is the most common reason people ask me to combine photos, and it is worth saying plainly: an old print, a page from an order of service, a photo that has been pinned to a fridge for twenty years, I can work from any of those. Photograph it flat in daylight rather than at an angle. Send the largest version you have. Tell me who it is and roughly what age you would like them drawn at. A grandmother in her forties standing beside grandchildren she never met is a choice, not a mistake, and it is yours to make. If the only photo is creased across the face, say so early and I will look at it before you order. ## Deciding the order people stand in Because nobody was photographed together, you get to arrange them. The simplest approach is grouping by relationship: partners beside each other, children between or in front of their parents, grandparents at one end, or right in the middle if the piece is really about them. Avoid a straight line of evenly spaced heads. Slight overlaps at the shoulders read as a family, while separated figures read as a staff photo. Tell me who belongs with whom and the composition follows from that. If you want to look at sizes while you think it over, everything is listed at [OpenHeartLines](https://www.etsy.com/shop/OpenHeartLines?utm%5Fsource=inkedlines&utm%5Fmedium=blog&utm%5Fcampaign=article). ### Scale, height and eye level Heads in mismatched photos are rarely the same size, and the fix is not to scale everyone to match. Real people differ in height, so the drawing keeps those differences. A tall brother stays tall. What needs matching is the apparent distance from the viewer, so that no one face looks pressed against the glass while another sits far back. Eye level is the other thing worth watching. A photo taken from below gives you a raised chin and a clear view up the nose, and beside a photo taken from above it looks wrong even when nothing else is. Send photos taken at roughly eye height where you can. Flag anyone who only exists in an awkward angle and I will correct it in the drawing. ## Matching light across photos taken years apart In a full watercolour piece, mismatched light is the hardest part of the job: one face lit from the left, the next flattened by a camera flash. Line art sidesteps most of that. The drawing settles on a single light direction and applies it to everyone. Contrast does carry through, though. A harshly lit photo tends to produce heavier lines under the brow and nose, which can make one person look older or sterner than they are. If you have a softer alternative for that person, send it as well, even if you prefer the harsh one as a photograph. If you are torn between media, my comparison of [line art and watercolour portrait styles](https://inkedlines.com/line-art-or-watercolor-portrait-style/) covers how each one handles groups. Line art is usually the safer choice for four or more people from different sources, and watercolour rewards a single strong photo. ## Keeping faces recognisable in line art Likeness in a line drawing lives in a few specific places. The spacing between the eyes, the width of the nose at its base, the shape of the top lip and the line of the jaw carry more recognition than hair or clothing. That is why a spare drawing can still look unmistakably like your sister. Glasses, beards and hairstyles are the details people ask me to change, and that is usually fine. Do think about what makes each person themselves to the rest of the family first. Taking your father's glasses off is easy enough for me and may still leave everyone feeling something is off. When the preview arrives, look at the whole face at the size it will be printed rather than zooming in close. Feedback like "the mouth is too wide" is something I can act on. "It doesn't quite look like him" is much harder, so try to name the feature. ## Choosing a style and placing the order Work out early how many people the piece has to hold, and whether it will be framed portrait or landscape. A row of seven sits very differently from a group of three. Then gather your photos into one folder before you order, rather than sending them over one at a time. You can see the current options and sizes in the [custom portrait listings at OpenHeartLines](https://www.etsy.com/shop/OpenHeartLines?utm%5Fsource=inkedlines&utm%5Fmedium=blog&utm%5Fcampaign=article). Personalised pieces are prepared within one to two days and delivered as a high resolution digital file you can print at home or through a lab. If your photos are ready, send them with a note about who stands where and I will tell you what I can do with them before you commit to anything. ## Frequently asked questions ### How many photos do I need for a family portrait? One good photo per person is enough, though two or three per face gives me a choice of angle. Extra pictures help most with young children, who change quickly, and with anyone who wears glasses. Send everything you have rather than pre-selecting, and tell me which one feels most like them. ### Can you draw someone from an old or blurry photo? Usually yes, within reason. A scanned print or a photograph of a printed photo works if the eyes, nose and mouth are visible and reasonably sharp. The hard cases are very small images, deep shadow across the face, or a distant profile. Send it first and I will tell you honestly before you order. ### How long does a family line art portrait take? Personalised pieces are usually prepared within one to two days and delivered as a high resolution digital file. Larger groups drawn from several source photos can take a little longer, since each face is worked separately before the composition is assembled. You will see a preview and can ask for changes before the final file is sent. ### Is a family portrait a good gift from children to parents? It is one of the most requested pieces I make. A drawing that puts grown children, partners and grandchildren into one frame says something a photograph rarely can, especially when the family is spread across different places. Anniversaries, retirements and milestone birthdays are the usual occasions, and the file can be printed at any size.