Lucy Dawson

Lucy Dawson was a British artist known for her paintings and sketches of canines of all breeds. Born in 1875, Dawson’s life has minimal documentation, though she appeared to have resided in England throughout her life. She stayed in Bristol until 1930 when, following the death of her husband, she relocated to London. Throughout her career, she created personalized portraits of mostly dogs, even being commissioned by the Royal family to produce numerous portraits of their family pet. Though the terrier breed seems to be most present in her sketches, this could be in due to the popularity of the breed in England at that time. In her sketches, the dog in the scene was the center of the focus with very little background objects to distract from the subject.

She created her scenes through pencil, ink, pen and oil although she was best known for her pastels. Occasionally, she used the pseudonym “Mac” for her drawings. Dawson published a set of dog postcards called the Tailwagger series through Valentine’s and Sons. She also produced a few cat postcards as well, but these are rare and rumored to not even exist. Over the years, she published Dogs As I See Them (1936) and Dogs Rough and Smooth (1937) to name a few as well as providing illustrations for other books by various authors. These sketches, with their abundant personalities, set her apart from other canine illustrators of her time. In the end, Lucy Dawson moved to Hertfordshire during the start of the war and remained there until her death in 1954.