Reading glasses low on the nose, and that look over the top of them
The Dad Stare is the look every father has perfected - unimpressed, patient, peering over a pair of reading glasses - handed to your dog. It is drawn in a single warm brown ink, like a plate from an old book, and printed on light shirts.
Free preview first · you approve before it prints · printed in the USA
What is in the scene
Your dog is drawn as a detailed pen-and-ink engraving in one warm dark-brown ink: fine hatching and stipple that follow the lie of the fur and build the shading stroke by stroke, the way an etcher works. Small round wire-rimmed reading glasses rest low on the muzzle, so your dog's eyes meet yours over the top of them - and the flatter the look in your photo, the better the joke lands. That is the whole design: no props, no scenery, nothing on the shirt but your dog and the glasses.
The photo that gets the best The Dad Stare
The stare is the joke, and it is most convincing when your photo already has it, so go looking for the deadpan one: head level, eyes straight into the lens, mouth closed, mildly unimpressed. A face-on head-and-shoulders shot in soft daylight gives the hatching the most detail to work with. Leave real glasses off - the drawn pair is added either way, and anything over the eyes hides what the drawing needs most.
The full list is on the photo guidelines page - good light, face visible, one pet, and nothing covering the eyes.
How it prints
One ink on a light shirt is the simplest kind of print. The ivory of the artwork is the shirt itself, so ink goes down only on the brown lines and dots, and at the edges the shading thins into stipple rather than stopping at a border. Ivory is its own shirt and makes it look like a page from an old field guide. White is crisper and more graphic, and butter, chambray and seafoam are offered too - one dark brown reads clearly on all of them.
The preview lets you switch between every shirt colour this design is offered in, so you can compare them before you decide.
Price, shirt and shipping
- $34.99
- One shirt, artwork included. Listed at $49.99; there is no separate design fee and previewing costs nothing.
- Free US shipping
- On every order, no minimum, US addresses only. Typically 7-12 business days door to door with tracking.
- Comfort Colors 1717
- A garment-dyed heavyweight tee in 5 sizes (S-2XL). Printed in the USA; the blank itself is imported.
- Free preview
- Three free previews a day, for everyone. Nothing is printed or charged until you approve one.
Custom-printed items are not returnable for change of mind, but a damaged, misprinted or wrong order is reprinted free or refunded within 30 days - see the FAQ and the size guide.
The Dad Stare questions
Is it a good Father's Day present?＋
It is drawn for exactly that, so the only thing to plan is time. Printing starts once you approve the preview, and delivery typically takes 7-12 business days after that.
Is it in colour?＋
No - the whole portrait is one brown ink. Markings come through as lighter and darker hatching, so a white blaze or a dark mask still reads, just in sepia rather than in colour.
What if my dog looks happy in every photo?＋
Try one anyway. The design asks for the stare, but your dog's face comes from your photo, so a beaming picture can soften it into something friendlier. The free preview shows exactly what will print before you pay anything.
More preset looks
Put your own dog in The Dad Stare
One photo, a free preview, and you decide afterwards. The preset is already selected - you only have to upload.
Start with The Dad Stare →