A beautiful Italian Greyhound called Cairo just stopped me in my tracks – (see earlier post) and below is how I proceeded to paint him.His mother Niki (of ShadedMoon on Etsy)  and I are working together on producing several Italian Greyhound portraits in the original and print forms with a percentage of the prints ones going to Niki’s UK charity the Italian Greyhound Rescue

Here is my drawing

First wash of mid Raw Sienna was very liquid – I left parts white for the ears inside and the white blaze on chest

Darkening dark areas with Burnt Umber/Burnt Sienna and a touch of French Ultramarine whilst still wet.

Paint over the whole lot with a wash of mid brown and let it all fuse

When almost dry go in with darks for the nose, the eyeballs and the back of that graceful curved neck. Don’t worry about runs.

When almost dry I used a clean damp wiped brush to carefully lift out colour around the nose to form it

Felt that Cairo needed a little hot cold counterchange to avoid boredom of being all browns. I added a hot splash of Cadmium Scarlet wash to the side of his aristocratic muzzle and above his right eyebrow and a dab on his right shoulder haunch. Then I added a whisper of Winsor Violet to the top of his nose and right ear to suggest sky reflection. I also pinked up the inner part of his right ear where the skin inside is that colour.

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I loved painting this dog although I had a few near misses with him and he turned out much darker than he is in reality. Still – I am gearing up to paint one of his brothers and sisters next.

Come over and see him and other dog originals in my Etsy shop or how about a commission of you rown dog ? Thanks for reading. Alison