A portrait of two Italian Greyhounds: Olive on the left and Figaro on the right. Acrylic painting on 11×14 inch canvas, completed in April 30, 2025. The Italian Greyhound is a breed that I have not had the pleasure of painting before. They are the smallest breed of sight hound, originating in Italy where they are known as piccolo levriero italiano. They were bred to hunt rabbits and hares, but are mostly kept as companion animals today. They were a popular breed with noble and royal families.

It is not often that I am asked to paint more than one pet on a canvas. Of the over 150 pet portraits I have painted since 2017, only 10 featured more than one pet. The customer provided several photos of both of the dogs, and I chose each dog from a different photo and made a composite with them sitting together. This is something that I have done with most of my multi-pet commissions with a few exceptions where the main reference with the pets together was perfect to use as-is. Often it is necessary to use more than one reference, since pets generally don’t pose together in a way that is useful for a portrait.

This portrait was a gift, and the person who commissioned it requested natural colors on a neutral background. The background is a blend of neutral gray mixed with parchment to give it some texture and variation. In general I do not like using a single color as a background color, as it can look very flat. Making the bottom of the painting just a bit darker gives it some dept, and allowing the brush strokes to be seen between the colors (not blending it smoothly) makes the background visually interesting. The mid tone gray worked well with the dogs; the black dog was darker than the background and stood out, and the other dog was a beige-tan color and so had some contrast to the cooler gray.

In order to make the colors as realistic as possible, I used several layers so that the colors would be more muted and blended. A base layer of neutral gray was painted over the entire canvas, which allowed the colors of the dogs to have a more natural foundation. Working directly on white can make the colors appear more vibrant, and so having a neutral colored background can tone down the chroma a bit so they are more natural in appearance. For the black dog on the right, I made an under-painting of ivory black mixed with raw umber, and layered black and gray on the top of that. Some of the brownish color can still be seen peeking through the translucent layers. The beige dog was painted with a mixture of unbleached titanium and raw sienna, with layers of unbleached titanium and parchment on top for the fur texture and details. The areas around the neck and on the belly were given a pinkish cast, since the hair there is thinner and the skin is more visible. The inside of the ears are pink as well, and made with layers of muted pink mixed with some gray.

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If you like this painting and would like to commission one of your own pet, please visit my Pet Portraits commission information page where you can learn more about the process as well as a price list, list of sizes available, and my availability. I have painted many different dog breeds, including many purebred and mixed breed dogs. Purebred dogs that I have painted include: Australian shepherd, German shepherd, corgi, Siberian husky, pug, beagle, shih tzu, Cane corso, poodle, Belgian malinois, English bulldog, cattle dog, Staffordshire bull terrier, Irish wolfhound, Brittany, Yorkshire terrier, Great Dane, Labrador retriever, Pomeranian, Rhodesian ridgeback, border collie, chihuahua, Silken Windhound, English mastiff, pitbull terrier, rottweiler, keeshound, west highland white terrier, Shetland sheepdog, French bulldog, boxer, schnauzer, golden retriever, cavalier king Charles spaniel, and Boston Terrier. There are over 400 recognized dog breeds and I would love the opportunity to paint them all!