Dog Only Knows: The Dog Portraits of Alison Friend

A must-have gift book for every dog lover from a popular Instagram artist, featuring over 125 irresistible portraits--each uniquely mischievous, funny, and full of personality.

Meet Midge, who keeps her mind sharp with a Rubik’s Cube. Alan, who looks like a million dollars in his new harness. Lola, whose motto is ＂People to see, bums to sniff.＂ Chupa Chops--how did he unwrap that lollipop? The oh-so-earnest Clive, who does everything--biscuit eating, squirrel chasing, ball fetching--with a single-minded focus. Irrepressible Debbie, who loves cocktail night, and Little Louis, a chain-smoking existentialist who can’t stop chewing over the canine condition. Usually with an espresso.

Welcome to Alison Friend’s world of dogs, a singular and very special place created by an artist with a unique gift for depicting that ineffable thing we call ＂character＂--dog characters, actually--using oil paint, empathy, techniques of the Old Masters, and an imagination like no other. With their big expressive eyes and Mona Lisa smiles, charming habits and childlike pleasures, the subjects of these portraits seem all too human yet fantastically doglike.

Capturing exactly--as Little Louis would tell you--the canine condition, though you’ve never seen it like this before.

A graduate of Nottingham Trent University with a degree in Fine Art and Printmaking, Alison Friend was also the first female stonemason for the City of Nottingham. She is an accomplished children’s illustrator of over 20 published books to date--with notable publishers such as Harper Collins, Nosy Crow, Hodder Children’s, Templar, Usbourne, Little Tiger Press, Alfred Knopf and most recently Artisan.

Her oil paintings blend traditional portrait techniques--like those of the Old Masters--with contemporary whimsy, particularly capturing the human-like antics of cats and dogs. A fine art graduate from Nottingham Trent University, where she specialized in printmaking, Friend initially pursued a career illustrating children’s books. Her transition to oil painting, marked by her unique anthropomorphic portrayal of animals, has brought her widespread acclaim. Friend has exhibited her work throughout the UK, Los Angeles, NY, and Miami. Exhibits include the British Art Fair at Saatchi Gallery, Context, Manchester Art Fair, Royal Watercolour Society, and Outsider Art Fair.

Alison lives with her son in the Lake District.