Irish Wolfhound Print by Brian Hupfield

The Irish Wolfhound is the tallest breed in the world and one of the oldest in these islands, bred to run down wolves and later very nearly lost altogether before being reconstructed in the nineteenth century. Almost nobody paints them, which is why a decent print of one is worth having if you own the breed.

It is a rough-coated dog, and that is what makes it a good subject for an artist and a poor one for a camera. The harsh grey coat has no clean edge anywhere - the outline of the animal is a suggestion rather than a line, the beard and eyebrows break up the shape of the head, and a photograph tends to turn the whole thing into a grey smudge with eyes. A drawing can decide where the dog stops, which is exactly the decision a photograph cannot make.

Hupfield's line is looser and warmer than a tight graphite study, and on a shaggy breed that reads well. The coat needs to look as though it moves.

Wolfhounds have a particular carriage too - slow, deliberate and slightly apologetic about the amount of room they take up - and that is harder to catch than the size. The breed's reputation as gentle giants is well earned, and a drawing that makes one look fierce has misunderstood the dog.

This is a giclee print on archival paper with fade-resistant inks, so nothing yellows over a decade on a wall. It is nineteen pounds ninety-nine, sized to fit a standard off-the-shelf frame and mount. The print has stayed in its wrapping since the day it was bought, has never been hung or displayed, and comes to you clean and unmarked.