Fettuccine the whippet models at a greyhound life drawing class held by Greyt Greys and hosted by TKO Tattoos in Eltham, Victoria. Photograph: Charlie Kinross/The Guardian View image in fullscreen Fettuccine the whippet models at a greyhound life drawing class held by Greyt Greys and hosted by TKO Tattoos in Eltham, Victoria. Photograph: Charlie Kinross/The Guardian Drawing At greyhound life drawing, artists try to tackle complicated shapes With soulful eyes and ‘reverse chicken legs’, greyhounds are challenging to sketch. At a fundraising event in Melbourne, Josh Nicholas tries his hand
Josh Nicholas Wed 22 Jul 2026 17.00 CEST Last modified on Thu 23 Jul 2026 07.13 CEST Share Prefer the Guardian on Google I’ve done life drawing before, but this time I am a bit worried. The woman across the room from me has done life drawing too, “but not with dogs”.
The problem with drawing people from life is they tend to move. The same is true of greyhounds, but they also don’t understand when you ask them to hold a pose.
As I enter TKO Tattoos, where greyhound life drawing classes are held once a month or so, I’m greeted by a white whippet wearing a fetching yellow, blue and black striped jumper. “That’s Fettuccine,” says TK, the parlour’s owner.
We’re in Eltham, about 20km north of Melbourne’s centre, in a small industrial building set back from the road. The walls are lined with tattoo designs and other art, many of them stylised greyhounds. “I’ve always wanted my own little art studio,” TK says.
View image in fullscreen Host TK with their whippet Fettuccine. Photograph: Charlie Kinross/The Guardian Finding I have no treats, Fettuccine loses interest and wanders towards the back of the studio to join the other star of the show. Nina, a smallish black greyhound, is lounging on a plush red cushion. She’s wearing a floral yellow collar and a jumper that matches Fettuccine’s – even inside, the weather is brisk.
Whippets and greyhounds look similar, with long, narrow heads and thin, muscular bodies. Whippets tend to be smaller than greyhounds. And, unlike greyhounds, they aren’t raced commercially in Australia, only by hobbyists.
View image in fullscreen Fettuccine the whippet strikes a pose. Photograph: Charlie Kinross/The Guardian TK’s mum rescued greyhounds, so they’ve lived with these dogs since childhood. Now they host classes to raise money for Greyt Greys , the rescue service through which they adopted Nina.
Victoria has one of the largest greyhound racing industries in the world, with thousands of dogs needing rehabilitation and good homes each year. This life drawing fundraiser sold out in about two days.
I take one of the seats oriented around Nina’s cushion as about 20 other artists file in – Fettuccine greeting every single person at the door.
View image in fullscreen One of Josh Nicholas’s sketches. Illustration: Josh Nicholas/The Guardian There’s a wide mix, including some who have never taken a life drawing class. But there’s plenty of greyhound lovers.
“There are six greyhound ‘faces’,” says Charlotte, sitting next to me. She has owned four greyhounds over the years; her current two dogs “have the same face”.
It’s my first of many lessons about greyhounds over the next two hours – such as did you know some greyhounds have translucent legs? It’s a skin flap on the back, really. I try hard but can’t see it. Maybe it’s just the way Nina is sitting.
View image in fullscreen Greyhound Nina sprawls on a plush red cushion. Photogr…