✦ The Star Portrait
The sky you were born under. Star for star.
The night you arrived, the sky over that place held a pattern it will never hold again. This is that sky — every star you could have seen, drawn at its true position and brightness, your planets in gold among them, the exact degree that was rising in the east. Computed from the real catalogues, not imagined. Printed at gallery size.
Takes two minutes. You see your portrait before you pay.
Fig. I — drawn by the engine that will draw yours. 14 March 1994, 21:40, Lisbon.
Make yours
Enter the minute. Watch it drawn.
A date, a place, and a time if you have one. The portrait renders in front of you — the real one, not a preview of a preview. Decide how to keep it after you've seen it.
Draw my sky — free to seeStill unsure? Draw it first — the render is free and nothing is charged until you choose a tier.
How to keep it
A one-of-one portrait of the exact sky over one moment — real catalogue stars, the planets in gold, the aspect web drawn to the minute. Vector files, print-ready at A1, plus a permanent page.
The Star Portrait printed at A1 on archival 300gsm matte and shipped. Digital files included.
The Star Portrait printed at A1, framed in solid oak, and shipped ready to hang. Digital files included.
Every tier includes the files and the page. The composition and ink are yours to choose either way.
One of one
No one shares your sky.
Two people born in the same city an hour apart get visibly different sheets — the horizon moves, the Moon moves, the whole instrument turns. A star sign is one of twelve. This is one of one.
Below: two real portraits, six years and 2,000 kilometres apart. Nothing about them repeats.
See mine
Lisbon · 14 March 1994 · 21:40
Kaunas · 31 March 2000 · 01:20
What you're looking at
Every layer of it is a measurement.
This is not a poster of “the stars.” It is a portrait of one sky — the one that stood over the room you were born in. Six things are on the sheet, and all six are computed.
Real stars
Every naked-eye star that stood over the place at the minute — drawn from the Hipparcos satellite catalogue at true position and true brightness. About nine hundred candidates; the sky over you decides which appear.
The planets, measured
Each one placed in gold at its computed degree — the same class of ephemeris math observatories use — and engraved, degree and minute, around the ring of the instrument.
The geometry
The tightest angles between the planets, drawn as gold chords. This web is what makes the sheet unmistakably one moment's — move the minute and it redraws.
The horizon
Given an exact time, the degree rising in the east sits engraved at the left of the ring, the midheaven at the top — the instrument is set for the place, and everything else is measured against it.
The Moon, that night
Its phase, drawn as it hung there.
Sky Nº
Every sheet carries a serial number derived from the moment itself. Not an edition number — a coordinate. There is no second copy because there was no second minute.
How it works
Give the minute
A date and a place; a time if you have one. That's everything we ask.
Watch it drawn
The portrait renders in front of you — the real one, not a preview of a preview. Choose the ink while you look at it.
Keep it forever
Files and the permanent page arrive the moment payment clears. The printed sheet follows within 5–7 working days, framed in oak if you chose it.
Materials & editions
Questions
What do I actually receive?
Digital: print-ready vector PDF and PNG at A1, plus a permanent page at your own link. Print: that sheet printed at A1 on 300gsm archival matte and posted to you. Framed: the same, set in solid oak and glazed. Files land within minutes of payment; printed sheets go out in 5–7 working days.
Is it really my sky?
Yes. Star positions come from the Hipparcos catalogue; planets from the same class of ephemeris observatories use. Change the minute and the sheet visibly redraws — that's the easiest way to prove it to yourself. The full method is published on our method page, so you can check any degree on your sheet against an ephemeris of your choosing.
I don't know my exact birth time.
Leave it blank. We draw the solar chart for that date and leave the rising degree off the ring — the stars, the planets and the Moon are all still exactly yours, and the sheet says plainly that the horizon is absent. If you find the time later, send it over and we'll redraw and reprint at no cost.
Is this a star map like the ones I've seen?
Most of those are one decorative sky, rotated to your date. This is computed for your minute: planets at their true degrees, the aspect web between them, the horizon set for your place, the Moon at its real phase. Put in a minute an hour later and you'll see the difference straight away.
Can I send it as a gift?
Turn on gift mode when you draw it. We hold delivery until the date you choose and print your note on the sleeve. Nothing in the parcel mentions the price. If you're buying digital, it arrives as a link you can open together.
How big can I print the digital files?
There's no ceiling — the sheet is drawn as vector, so it's resolution-independent. We design for A1 (594 × 841 mm); A3 and A0 are both sharp.
Can I change the colours later?
Any time, free. Classic is navy & gold; your portrait's own page lets you re-ink it in charcoal, midnight or fir, on paper or ink grounds, and download the new files. If you've had it printed, re-inking doesn't reprint it — but a second sheet is always at print price.
Still unsure? Draw it first — the render is free and nothing is charged until you choose a tier.
That sky happened once.
Give it a date, a time and a place, and watch it come back.
Draw my sky — from $49Free to see · Free reprint if it disappoints · Files in minutes