Mastiff Prints: The Bull Mastiff by Michael O'Brien

The Bullmastiff was bred in nineteenth-century England as a gamekeeper's dog, put together from the Mastiff and the Old English Bulldog to catch poachers and hold them without biting. That job description explains the animal: heavy enough to knock a man down, quiet enough to wait in the dark, and not inclined to do more than is necessary.

It is a demanding thing to draw. The head is enormous and broadly square, with heavy flews and a deep stop, and every one of those features is a place where a small error turns the dog into a different breed. Slightly longer in the muzzle and it is a Mastiff; slightly shorter and heavier in the wrinkle and it is a Bulldog. The short coat leaves nothing to hide behind, so the whole animal is carried by light falling across a great deal of muscle and loose skin.

What separates a good Bullmastiff drawing from a merely accurate one is the stillness. These are not busy dogs. The breed's whole character is calm and considerable weight held in reserve, and a drawing that makes one look energetic has got the wrong animal.

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. Mastiffs also appear in the Working dogs section alongside the other guarding breeds.