Meet Midge, who keeps her mind sharp with a Rubik's Cube. Alan, who looks like a million dollars in his new harness. Lola, whose motto is "People to see, bums to sniff." Chupa Chops--how did he unwrap that lollipop? The oh-so-earnest Clive, who does everything--biscuit eating, squirrel chasing, ball fetching--with a single-minded focus. Irrepressible Debbie, who loves cocktail night, and Little Louis, a chain-smoking existentialist who can't stop chewing over the canine condition. Usually with an espresso.

Welcome to Alison Friend's world of dogs, a singular and very special place created by an artist with a unique gift for depicting that ineffable thing we call "character"--dog characters, actually--using oil paint, empathy, techniques of the Old Masters, and an imagination like no other. With their big expressive eyes and Mona Lisa smiles, charming habits and childlike pleasures, the subjects of these portraits seem all too human yet fantastically doglike.

Capturing exactly--as Little Louis would tell you--the canine condition, though you've never seen it like this before.