One day in 1978 my wife Jenny asked if I would draw a motif of her three breeds (Pomeranian, Italian Greyhound and Yorkshire Terrier) for her pedigree forms... And so I began drawing dogs - though Jenny never did get her motif!  I drew dogs over the next three weeks - each night I would plan the next day's drawing and each morning I was enthusiastic to begin. Please note the inference - in those days I drew one dog a day - now I need a month or more!

The Boxer, the newest of the four studies above, shows a variety of techniques, many of which I still use today. The use of "indenting" is evident above and to the right of the eye and an understanding of three-dimensional form is also beginning to appear.

Gradually the work improved then, in one drawing, it made a significant leap forward. This unsigned drawing from late in 1978 of a Chihuahua was the first to really exceed my expectations. Although lacking in texture and rather basic in approach, it possesses a solidity missing from the earlier work ... and it has a degree of independent "life"!

This duvet set design, which took 500 hours to complete, was produced in collaboration with Cotswold Designs for Wardle Fabrics.  By mid-1987 printing screens had been manufactured and trial runs of the duvet produced in a number of different colour-ways.  Response from buyers at that year's Frankfurt show was promising and the RSPCA had endorsed the design.  Then, just three weeks from production, Wardle Fabrics' parent company closed the factory down and dismantled it.  As each of their fabric mills was autonomous, the project died with the works.  I was on commission-only — financial reward... nothing! ...

By the end of 1990 I had a four-year waiting list for commissions.  An increase in fees in 1994 finally slowed the growing list of commissions to a trickle.  Commissions are currently priced around £750-900 for a 12" × 9" (image size) head-study, less for a whole animal and £2500 or more for a study involving a complete scene.  These prices should be compared with the time taken to complete a study, which respectively ranges from 75-hours to 250-hours.  Commissions are now rarely accepted due to time constraints demanded by the ever expanding Limited Edition Print Collection.