First glance: soft blue-grey. Second glance: the animal portrait doing something smarter. The colour sits back, then the ginger fringe, lilac muzzle and flicks of coral come forward and warm the whole wall. In a living room or hallway it gives a plain painted wall something to look at without shouting, and it brings a bit of humour into a room that plays it safe. Hang it above a sofa, a sideboard or a low bench, roughly eye-level when you’re standing. Pair it with linen, wool, aged leather and pale timber, and let soft blue-grey or off-white walls do the rest. Don’t crowd it with other animal portraits, and skip busy patterned wallpaper directly behind it. As canvas the loose brushwork reads more like a painting from across the room.