Shih-Tzu Pet Portrait by watercolour sketcher Katrina Dawn

Meet Gizmo.

"Losing a family pet of 17 years is devastating, but the brightest spot during our time of grief was receiving Kat's portrait of our beloved Gizmo. She captured his personality with care and grace and his portrait is one of our family's treasured possessions. Thank you Kat!"

Michael's kind testimonial was a highlight for me to read. For a bit of backstory, Michael reached out to me to inquire about a pet portrait of Gizmo for a Christmas present for his parents. Losing Gizmo after 17 years in the family was a blow to the family, and a pet portrait a way to honour and capture the memory of him for years to come.

Gizmo was part Shih-Tzu and was “notoriously hard to photograph because of his dark hair", but Michael dug through photos and found one that worked well and showed off his sweet little face. After some more conferring, and some additional reference photos for colouring, we decided on an 8 x 10 portrait, with a clean white background to really make Gizmo pop. The painting was ready in time for the holiday season, and shipped off to the kids to wrap and put under the tree for their parents

"Kaaaaat, my dad cried when he saw the portrait! Everyone in the family loves it ❤️ You did an amazing job, thanks so much ❤️❤️❤️"

Shih-Tzu photo reference for watercolour sketch Pet Portrait Reference Photo
Shih-Tzu Pet Portrait by watercolour sketcher Katrina Dawn Finished Painting