The Dog Crusoe – Watercolour and ink in a Watercolour Moleskine

I’ve been re-reading R M Ballantyne’s classic novel about “Life in the Prairies of North America” as a dog and his master discover the wonders of the wilds. The book was written in 1860 and was a childhood favourite of mine. Ballantyne was an Edinburgh born author who had lived in parts of Canada before returning to his native lands. He was the son of a famous publishing firm best remembered for printing some of the works of Sir Walter Scott.

This is how I imagined Crusoe. The pose is reminiscent of one my own dog, a German Shepherd called Bruce, used to assume. When exercising him I used to send him on top of an old tree stump and tell him to “be proud”. Bruce would stick his chest out and gaze magnificently at the surrounds from this vantage point. Aye, every laddie should have his own dog when growing up.