The Art of Texture: Using Handpainted Backgrounds in Portrait Photography

Adding texture and colour with a handpainted photography backdrop can completely transform your images. While printed and paper backgrounds have their place, a textured backdrop introduces richness, depth, and a refined artistic feel that helps your photos stand out.

At EssentialPhoto & Video, our collection of textured handpainted photography backgrounds offers the perfect solution to elevate your studio setups. In this guide, we’ll explore the different types of backgrounds and how to use them effectively for portrait, cosplay, and even product photography.

 

 

A Brief Rundown of the Painted Background Style

Handpainted backdrops are a favourite among portrait photographers who want to emulate the rich, moody aesthetic of Renaissance paintings; think Rembrandt or Caravaggio. These backgrounds often feature deep tones and subtle gradients that create a painterly effect, ideal for dramatic and timeless portraits.

Just like in classical art, when paired with controlled studio lighting, the texture of the background adds visual interest without distracting from the subject. It’s a fantastic choice for cosplay photography, historical themes, and fine art portraiture, as well as modern fashion and editorial shoots where a high-end, boutique feel is desired.

Compare one of Rembrandt's own self-portraits to a photo taken using textured backgrounds:

Left: Rembrandt Self Portrait. Right: Graham Currey modelling as Captain Cook, shot by Emma Finch at The Photography Show 2025

Textured backdrops aren’t just for portraits. These versatile backgrounds also shine in product photography, especially when used in flat-lay setups. A richly toned background can make product colours pop, add dimension, and create a cohesive, styled image that grabs attention - perfect for social media, advertising, or eCommerce.

Types of Textured Background

Texture with Colour

As mentioned above, backgrounds with gradients of colour made from a mixture of colour shades and tones can offer a sense of texture to photography, much like as seen with the Blue Handpainted Background.

By adding paler tones of blue and speckles of white underneath the main blue colour of the background, the background no longer looks flat, and the differences will stand out against subjects and models, even when the background is not fully in focus. 

 

The colour of the background itself may also help create a gradient effect as seen in Rembrandt's Self Portrait, such as in the Neutral Grey Background, which has darker grey tones around the edges and corners of the canvas, but this effect is often more frequently replicated by specific lighting of the background and subject in order to put focus on the centre of the image. 

What does Impasto Mean?

You may have heard the term "impasto background" thrown around before but not know what it is. "Impasto" is a painting technique which uses thick paint laid onto a canvas and not blended in order to create a 3D textured effect. So, quite simply, an impasto background is a painted background that uses this technique to give the background texture and to stop it from looking flat or one-dimensional.

Sometimes this can be quite thick in order to create shadows and dimension in the paint (think Van Gogh oil panted clouds and palette knife painting), or sometimes this can be softer, with less dimension and an unblended slightly rough effect that would still give more depth to an image than a smooth blended background might. 

 

So how does this look on a photography background? Glenn Norwood used our Jade Green Impasto Background and captured exactly what they're made for. 

 

Unlike a printed or painted background, you can see the texture and shadows in the background which give an extra layer of depth without distracting from the model. Paired with a snoot and gobos like Glenn has here, you can also create immersion into the image by creating a rustic scene or setting without having to leave the studio.

Texture with Material

Alternatively, you can use textured backgrounds that create depth by using reflective materials mixed in with the paint in order to reflect your studio lighting. A great example of this is with our Gold Handpainted Background which is made with a mixture of gold paint. Jake Hicks tested out this effect on a modern and stylish photoshoot that uses textured light across the textured background in order to reflect light off the model and create depth to the background. 

 In fact, at times, the background even looks like it sparkles a little due to the focus of the camera and the reflection of the light. 

A similar effect is created with grain backgrounds, which add a shallow texture without so much need for different colour tones, to create an effect like an impasto background without such thick and defined paint.

We have a huge selection of textured backgrounds on our website in many different colours and textures to suit your needs, from greens to greys and blues to browns. To view the full range, click here!