Max & Molly are always keen to step onto the cat (or should that be dog?) walk, to model my hand printed dog apparel – they love the attention, & the ample treats that are provided never go amiss either! Showing customers what my T-shirts & bandanas look like when they are actually being worn gives a better impression than displaying the product just ‘on the hanger’, plus the photo sessions with the dogs are always so much fun to do!
However, as anyone who has ever worked with models of the canine nature will know, it can be hard to achieve those perfect ‘poster’ shots & you have to be very opportunistic with your snapping, especially when dealing with a pair of greyhounds with the attention span of a goldfish between them 
What Martin & I did here was drape a large white bed sheet in front of the window & set Molly ‘loose’ wearing my ‘Big Ben’ greyhound T-shirt. I lurked around the sides attracting her attention with little titbits of her favourite treats (tiny cubes of parmesan cheese) whilst trying not to create shadows, & Martin snapped away with the camera!
When doing shoots like this, we generally hope to get one ‘usable ‘ photo out of the many snaps taken within a space of about 5 minutes, by which time Molly is either bored & just wants to lie down, or overflowing with excitement at all the yummy treats & praise that have been provided & needs to go & have a wee play! As you can see, we got our shot here eventually…
Whilst browsing through the pics from this session, however, it was one of the other images which caught my eye. Whilst this photograph of Molly did not exactly show off my T-shirt design, there was something about the way Molly was looking here with her cute wee greyhound bottom hovering above the ground & her long neck arched back so gracefully that I really liked.
Bored one afternoon, I started doodling & made an ink drawing of Molly based on her stance in this photo. I didn’t include the T-shirt or her collar in my sketch, & though I had originally planned to add in her markings later, I decided against this. There was something about the simple flowing lines of her face & body that I felt would be spoiled by adding in more fussy details.’
I’m really pleased with my drawing, & even more pleased that it has been chosen as the cover art for the new photo-book which our local greyhound rehoming charity, Gracehounds, (where we adopted Molly from) is currently in the process of compiling. As you might expect, Martin has had a fair bit to do with all the photography that has gone into the book, & I have helped with some of the written work too. (More about that, & as well how you can get hold of a copy of the book once it is published, in a further blog post…)
I also think the long sweeping lines of the drawing would potentially make a lovely lino-cut, & would love to experiment making some prints using this technique – perhaps I could make some note cards in this way… At any rate, I’d definitely like to incorporate the drawing into some of my creations one way or another, so watch this space!
&, just so his nose doesn’t get out of joint, I had better point out that Max was involved in the above photo shoot too! Doesn’t he look handsome wearing my 45mph Couch Potato T-shirt?!
You can find the resulting pics from lots more of our fun doggy photo shoots in my Etsy shop, where my hand printed dog T-shirts are available to buy. & you’ll find dog bandannas modelled by Max & Molly in both my Folksy & Etsy shops too!
