The live painting guide

What is live painting?

A painter sets up her easel where your event is taking place, and paints while it happens. The canvas is blank when she begins. Guests watch it fill through the hours, and at the end the work leaves with you. It is done at a wedding, a concert, a corporate evening, an opening. With Giulia Dal Bon it is acrylic on canvas, from 400 € for a performance and 950 € for a wedding painting.

What else is it called?

Live painting is the term used everywhere, and it is what people search for. You will also see live event painting, live wedding painting, live wedding painter, and wedding artist. They all describe the same thing: an artist who paints on the spot, in front of the guests, and leaves you the work.

Who paints live at events?

Three kinds of artist, and each gives a different result. Caricaturists, who sketch fast and for laughs. Graffiti artists, who work with spray cans on large boards. And painters, trained in art schools, who make a painting. Giulia belongs to the third group: trained at the Brera Academy in Milan, she exhibits her canvases in galleries and also paints on walls.

Is the painting really made on the spot?

Yes, and it is the question everyone asks. The canvas arrives blank and leaves painted. For a wedding, Giulia prepares the composition beforehand from your photographs and from the venue, which lets her start straight away on the day instead of hunting for her framing. The drawing is thought through in advance; the painting happens in front of you.

Is it entertainment?

It looks like it on the day, and it goes further. An entertainment act fills an evening and then ends. Here a painting hangs in your home years later. It is the difference couples notice most in hindsight: the photo of the buffet gets lost, the canvas stays on the living-room wall.

How long has this been done?

Painting live on stage took hold in the 1990s, notably with Rénald Zapata, who carried it as far as the Cirque du Soleil and the Crazy Horse. Live wedding painting is more recent: the wedding portal Mariages.net lists it among couples’ favourite forms of entertainment for 2026. The market is young and growing fast.

How is it different from a caricaturist?

A caricaturist draws a guest in a few minutes, for fun, and each person leaves with their sheet. A painter builds a single work over several hours, in acrylic, and that work stays with the couple. Giulia does both: the wedding painting from 950 €, and guest portraits from 500 € for around three hours. The two combine within the same day.

How is it different from a photographer?

They tell two different stories. The photographer captures a precise instant. The painter composes: she gathers the venue, the late afternoon light and the people who matter into one image, invented for you. The two sit well together, and many photographers shoot a series of the canvas as it advances.

How much does a live wedding painting cost?

From 950 € for a painting made during the day, three to five hours on site, work handed over. From 1,800 € for a large format or a full day on site. The canvas, the stretcher, the acrylics and the easel are included. For scale, established artists on the Italian destinations quote from 1,750 € upward. Free quote within 48 hours.

At what moment of the day does she paint?

During the cocktail hour, at the great majority of weddings. Guests are circulating, the light is still lovely, and the canvas advances in front of them rather than pulling attention from the ceremony. Giulia often paints the setting and the architecture beforehand, so she is ready to place the figures as soon as the scene has happened.

How long does she stay on site?

Three to five hours for a standard format, arriving an hour early to set up the easel and lay out her palette. On a large format, allow the full day. She adapts to the programme: a short cocktail hour is made up for by starting earlier on the venue and the setting.

Is the painting finished the same evening?

On a standard format, most often yes: the canvas is presented to the couple at the end of the evening, still fresh. On a large format, Giulia completes the final touches in the studio. The final varnish needs a few days of drying in any case. The handover date is written into the quote.

How long before we receive the painting?

The same evening when it is finished on site, a few weeks when it goes to the studio for finishing and varnishing. That is quick for this market: with most artists delivery runs to months, often four to twelve weeks after the wedding.

What does the painting show?

The moment you choose. Couples most often take the ceremony or the first dance. Others prefer a wide view of the venue at sunset, with the guests below. Giulia draws two free sketches on that basis, you choose, and revisions are included until the composition suits you.

What size is the canvas?

A standard format sits between 60 by 80 and 80 by 100 centimetres. Large enough to be seen from across the room while she paints, easy enough to travel home by car the same evening. Beyond one metre, allow a full day and a separate rate, from 1,800 €.

Do we need to tell the venue?

Yes, and a word is enough. Giulia needs about two metres by two, away from the flow but within sight of the guests, a power socket, and light if she paints into the evening. She protects the floor around her and leaves with all her equipment. Most estates already know this request.

Do we need to tell the photographer?

It is more comfortable for everyone. Giulia stands where she is least in the way, and the photographer knows in advance where she will be. Many take the chance to shoot a series of the canvas as it progresses: it is a sequence couples often look at as much as the rest of the reportage.

Can the guests be sketched too?

Yes. Giulia is a portraitist as much as a muralist, with dozens of portraits painted on canvas and on paper. During the cocktail hour or the evening she sketches the guests and each one leaves with their own. Allow around three hours, from 500 €. Many couples combine: the canvas during the cocktail hour, the portraits through the evening.

What if we are already married?

The painting is made in the studio from your photographs, from 600 €. You choose the scene, Giulia prepares a sketch, you approve it, she paints. The first two sketches are free and revisions are included. It is the same work, made calmly, from what you already have.

Can it be given as a gift?

Yes, and it is a gift often given by several people together, between witnesses or between families. You book the date and the format; the couple then chooses the moment shown directly with Giulia. All it takes is a known date and a venue that has been told. Write to her, the quote goes out within 48 hours.

How far ahead should we book?

Several months. June, July and September account for more than half of estate weddings, and their Saturdays go first. At the sought-after venues of Lake Como or the Amalfi Coast, couples sometimes book a year ahead. If your date is close, ask anyway: a slot sometimes opens.

Can she paint during a concert?

Yes, and it is the format where Giulia is most at home. She paints standing, in motion, from the first note of the piece or the set to the last, and the canvas is turned to the room at the end. Twenty to sixty minutes, from 400 €. A painting born during the music often finds a buyer in the room the same evening.

What is a stage performance?

Painting played in front of a seated audience, over a short span, carried by the music. The suspense is part of the gesture: the canvas stays turned away or barely readable, then is revealed all at once. It is the dominant format in corporate events, and the one of the show Giulia performs with a pianist.

Can a corporate evening be built around it?

Yes: seminars, end-of-year parties, product launches, openings, galas, trade shows. Giulia paints during the drinks or at a highlight of the programme, and the work stays with the company. From 400 € for a short performance, from 950 € for several hours with the canvas handed over.

What does it bring a brand?

A painting to hang, and images to publish. While Giulia paints, the scene produces photographs and video that teams gladly use as content, which a classic act rarely leaves behind. The subject is prepared beforehand from your references and your palette, so the work genuinely speaks of you.

Can she paint in a theatre?

Yes. Giulia paints on stage, in the light, and the painting is part of the performance in the same way the music is. It is the format of her show with a pianist: the piano plays, the canvas fills note after note, and turns to the room at the end of the piece. See the show page for that precise format.

Can she paint at a festival?

Yes, with two practical points: light if the performance runs into the evening, and shelter in case of rain. Acrylic dries fast and handles open air. The duration adapts to the programme, from a twenty-minute performance to several days on site. The chosen format is priced in the quote.

What happens to the painting after the performance?

It is decided with you, and written into the quote. It stays with the organiser, goes on sale that same evening, or is given to someone. At shows, the canvas painted during the music regularly finds a buyer in the room before the evening is even over.

Can she paint for a birthday or a christening?

Yes, the format is the same as a wedding on a smaller scale: a short performance during the drinks, or a painting made over a few hours. From 400 € for a performance, from 950 € for a painting. The composition is prepared in advance if you want particular people in it.

Do you work with agencies?

Yes, with event agencies, wedding planners and venues. Giulia provides a detailed quote that drops straight into a budget: time on site, canvas size, subject, dates still open. Write to her with the date and the venue, the reply arrives within 48 hours.

What are the rates?

From 400 € for a performance of up to one hour at a concert or a party. From 500 € for guest portraits over around three hours. From 600 € for a painting made in the studio from photographs. From 950 € for a painting made during a wedding. From 1,800 € for a large format or a full day. The piano and painting show is priced on request.

What is included in the price?

The canvas, the stretcher, the acrylics, the brushes and the easel: Giulia brings all her own equipment on the day. The first two sketches are free and revisions are included until the composition suits you. Travel and logistics sit outside that: they are agreed together and priced in the quote, depending on the place and the length of the journey.

Why do prices vary so much between artists?

Because the trade covers very different practices. A run of quick sketches and an acrylic painting built over five hours call for very different time and training. On the Italian destinations, established artists quote 1,750 € and up to 3,000 € outside Italy. Giulia places herself deliberately at the lower end of that range.

Is the quote free?

Yes, and it arrives within 48 hours. Three pieces of information are enough to prepare it: the date, the venue and the type of event. The quote sets out the time on site, the proposed canvas size, the subject and the dates still open. You confirm when you are ready.

Is a deposit required?

A deposit holds the date, and the balance is settled at the end, together, in front of the finished painting. That is the counterpart of a day blocked out: on a confirmed date, Giulia turns down other requests for that day. The amount and the terms are written into the quote before you confirm.

Is travel charged?

Travel and logistics are agreed together and priced in the quote, depending on the place and the duration. Giulia works across sixteen European countries and goes regularly to the wedding destinations: Tuscany, the Amalfi Coast, Lake Como, the French Riviera, Provence, Portofino.

Is it expensive for a wedding?

An estate wedding on the French Riviera starts around 43,500 € for fifty guests, and a destination wedding in Provence runs between 83,000 and 144,000 € for eighty guests. Against those budgets, a painting at 950 € is a very small share, and it is one of the few items still hanging on a wall afterwards.

Can the format be adjusted to a budget?

Yes, and that is the point of the entry rates. A short performance during the drinks costs 400 €. A painting from photographs, made in the studio afterwards, costs 600 €. Tell Giulia your budget and the timing that suits you, and she will propose what fits inside it.

How do we book?

Write to Giulia with three things: the date, the venue and the type of event. She replies within 48 hours with a detailed quote, the time on site, the proposed canvas size and the dates still open. The first two sketches are free and revisions are included. You confirm when you are ready.

Do you travel abroad?

Yes, across sixteen European countries: Italy, France, Monaco, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, Greece and Croatia. Giulia speaks Italian, French and English fluently, which matters at a wedding where guests come from several countries.

Does the paint smell strong?

Giulia works in acrylic, which dries fast and stays discreet. That is what allows her to paint in a room where people are eating, in a full theatre or in a company lobby while leaving the air as it is. Outdoors the question answers itself.

How do we transport the painting afterwards?

A standard canvas travels flat in a boot, well wedged, and the paint keeps drying over the following days. Giulia explains how to handle it and when it can be varnished. For a large format or a shipment, delivery is planned in the quote.

Can the painting be framed?

Yes, once the paint is dry and varnished. A canvas on a stretcher hangs as it is, which many couples prefer, or takes a floater frame that sets it off while leaving the paint in full view. Giulia tells you which finish suits the size and subject you have chosen.

Can we commission a mural or a portrait at the same time?

Yes, and it happens often: a wedding painting, then a mural at home a few months later. Giulia paints murals from 150 € per square metre, as well as portraits and landscapes on canvas. Send both ideas in the same message and the quote covers them together.