9 Local Artists You Can Commission For A Portrait In SG (2025)

Local artist portrait commissions

If you’ve been on TikTok or Instagram lately, your feed has probably been awash with Studio Ghibli-style, AI-generated portraits. While they’re fun and make for cute profile pics, there’s a bigger picture to consider. These AI tools often consume massive amounts of energy, which is bad for the environment. Plus, many artists, including Ghibli’s own Hayao Miyazaki, have called out AI art as soulless and disrespectful to the craft.

From delicate embroidered pieces to charming watercolours and hand-drawn anime portraits, these Singapore-based artists can create one-of-a-kind keepsakes that feel truly personal.

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Local artist portrait commissions

1. Teresa Lim

Blending illustration with textile design

Known by her moniker @teeteeheehee on Instagram, Teresa Lim is an illustrator and embroidery artist who creates intricate embroidered artworks that blend illustration with textile design. Her work has even landed her collaborations with brands like Gucci and Netflix.

Image adapted from: Teeteeheehee

For a personalised piece of her art, she offers commissioned embroidered portraits that are rich in details significant to each customer. Embroidered portraits by Teresa can fit up to 4 people, and includes a pre-work sketch of your design before embroidering starts.

Price: From $320
Contact: Teeteeheehee website

2. The Whimsical Repose

Dreamy, minimalist art

Image credit: The Whimsical Repose

Sarah Lim, the artist behind The Whimsical Repose, offers personalised portraits in both watercolour and digital mediums. Her style is characterised by a delicate and whimsical touch, making her portraits ideal for those seeking a blend of realism and fantasy.

You can commission mini portraits that are hand-painted in watercolour, from the bust up, on premium watercolour paper. Each piece can fit up to 4 people, with the option to include text of up to 10 characters.

As a bonus, if you’d like to support her work in smaller ways, she also creates keychains featuring her original animal illustrations.

Price: From $55
Contact: The Whimsical Repose website

3. Jelly Caricature

Manga-style portraits

Image credit: @jellycaricature via Instagram

Anime fans, this one’s for you. Jelly Caricature does cute, hand-drawn portraits in a manga style – with big sparkly eyes, exaggerated expressions, and the like. The base price of a piece from Jelly Caricature is $15 for a solo portrait or $25 for a couple portrait. You can include your baby too, be it human or fur, for an additional $10 each.

While you aren’t able to order portraits online, you’ll be able to find them at pop-up booths around town, including the upcoming Resurrack Vintage Marketplace at Bugis, running from 26th–27th April 2025.

Price: From $15
Contact: Jelly Caricature Instagram

4. Inez Tan

Embroidered portraits & art

Image adapted from: @inezdesigns via Instagram

Inez Tan is another embroidery portrait artist, known for her brightly coloured needlepoint work. She doesn’t limit her commissions to portraits. You can get signages, family portraits, pet portraits, and even your kids’ drawings embroidered onto canvas.

If her embroidered portraits have inspired you to try out the art form for yourself, you can sign up for one of her workshops for $50. They’re kid-friendly, so feel free to sign the little one up for a class too.

Price: From $150
Contact: Inez Designs website

5. Alvin Mark

Realistic, elegant oil portraits

Image credit: Alvin Mark Studio

For a more classic portrait, Alvin Mark’s realistic oil paintings are full of emotion. Whether it’s a solo portrait or a family scene, his brushwork brings subjects to life with stunning detail. It’s the kind of piece you’d hang above a fireplace – if we had those in Singapore.

Besides custom portraits in oil, you can commission works in mediums including ink and watercolour too.

Price: Available on enquiry
Contact: Alvin Mark Studio website

6. Sok Han Studio

Raw, expressive portraits in oil & charcoal

Image adapted from: @sokhanstudio via Instagram

Another place to get one-of-a-kind portraits in oil is Sok Han Studio. Sok Han’s portraits feel almost cinematic, as she focuses on capturing expressions beyond just a smile on a face. She works mostly in oils, and her pieces capture raw emotion with rich texture. These are perfect if you want something timeless but deeply personal.

Besides oil portraits, you can commission Sok Han for portrait sketches, or live sketching at events.

Price: Enquire with artist
Contact: Sok Han Studio website

7. Weiying Y

Papercut pop-up portraits & portrait pins

Image adapted from: @bycraftroom via Instagram

Self-taught artist Weiying Y offers a charming range of portrait styles, from faceless digital pieces and watercolour portraits to papercut pop-up frames and even wearable portrait pins.

Her works strike a sweet balance between sentimental and whimsical, which make for ideal gifts or personal keepsakes. Prices start from just $15 for custom portrait pins, with more elaborate custom portraits available via her online store.

Price: From $15
Contact: bycraftroom website

8. Fira Razman

Disney/Pixar animation-inspired portraits

As one of the animators behind the music video of NDP 2021’s theme song The Road Ahead, Fira Razman is a freelance illustrator whose work is sure to impress. The freelance artist’s illustrations look like they’ve been taken straight out of a Disney or Pixar animation – full of soft colours and delicate features.

Image credit: @firamint2 via Instagram

Prices of her works start from USD$10 (~S$13.18) for a sketch portrait and USD$20(~S$26.36) for a watercolour sketch.

Price: From $13.18
Contact: Fira Razman Instagram

9. Vivien Tan

Adorable cartoon-style art

Image credit: Vivien via Book An Artist

If you’re after cartoon-style portraits that are fun and full of character, commission Vivien Tan. She offers portraits in a range of formats, including digitally illustrated portraits like profile pictures and group portraits, as well as physical prints like stickers.

Price: From $100
Contact: Book An Artist website

Get your own portrait from these artists in Singapore

Whether you’re after a classic oil painting, a quirky anime caricature, or an embroidered piece, these local artists prove that hand-drawn portraits are still a hop and a skip more interesting than computer-generated ones. AI is fast, but nothing quite beats the human touch when it comes to art.

So the next time you’re thinking of a gift, or even if you just want to see yourself through someone else’s eyes – skip the AI and look up one of these portrait artists instead.