Wow, I’m so impressed by your talent! It looks fantastic. I know my wife will love it for Christmas. – D.P. of Virginia

Gadget’s Portrait is a custom original acrylic painting of a Shih Tzu and Jack Russel mix commissioned by a client in Virginia who wanted to surprised his wife with a portrait of their dog, Gadget, for Christmas.

My client found me via searching online for local artists for pet portraits. He shared with me “after looking at quite a few, your work really stood out to me. I like your gallery of work– the way you presented each dog, and general feel of each portrait.” I felt so blessed that my portraits are appreciated and that I’m easily found online – in a sea of other fine painters.

I was sent several photos, including a photo where Gadget is playing in the snow and has snow all over his face – oh it was adorable – and a photo against a green background. It turned out to be a the wall color in his wife’s office, her favorite type of green – that light apple green. And since that color worked so well against Gadget’s fur and his purple collar.

Sometimes I ask clients if they want to include the collar or leave it out. If it works with the composition of the painting, I like including it, but sometimes we use it as the inspiration for the background and then it can be too much. In this instance, it worked well with the rest of the painting and the client mentioned Gadget seemed naked without it as his wife always had had him wear a purple collar “because she thinks he is royalty.” Say more more. Of course he’s royalty!

The painting measures 8 inches x 10 inches and is painted on a 1.5 inch (4 cm) deep gallery wrapped canvas. All sides are painted with the background color.

View more finished pet portraits in the gallery or learn more how you can commission your own pet portrait.