As a child, Barbara Holzapfel loved to draw and was compelled to sketch people’s faces. She was good at it.
“I’ve always resonated with people or animals because it’s important to me to capture their spirit or their essence,” she said.
“I have, over the years, done some landscape painting, but I don’t feel the energy that I get when drawing a living being. I compare the feeling to what an actor or actress in front of a live audience gets when they perform. The same happens to me when I create something especially with animals.
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“I have done 20 or so portraits of people over the years, but when a person looks at their own image, they are looking for an identical replication of a particular photograph and I’m reaching for the essence of the person to shine through.”
Holzapfel began her creative journey with pencil and sketched her way through childhood. She then tried to perfect her art using house paint. It was an unusual medium for an artist, but it allowed her the freedom of experimentation on a budget.
Acrylic was her next medium and marked the first time she used real artist’s brushes. But there were limitations with acrylic paint and the quick drying offered little time for experimentation.
“About four or five years ago I took a leap and switched to oils. I loved the buttery consistency of oils. There’s a style of painting called Allaprima and in Italian it means – wet on wet,” said Holzapfel. “It’s a quick way to paint without waiting for layers to dry. You can almost capture movement with this medium and I mostly used the oils for people portraits.
“But the problem with using oils is that it takes anywhere from three to six months to dry and then it has to be varnished. Because of the length of time it takes to deliver a portrait to someone, it really didn’t allow for many commissions. I felt I hadn’t yet found my true calling as a portrait artist.”
Everything changed in the winter of 2019 when Holzapfel lost her dog, Boomer, a faithful and beloved companion of 16 years. Like most animals, he had shared many highs and lows in life.
Devastated, she walked away from her studio for a time, unable to focus on her art. In spring 2021, she began dabbling with pastel pencils to see if the medium could capture the essence in animals for others who had lost their beloved animal companions.
“My friend gave me a small box of pastels and I started playing with them. I went on YouTube for examples of how to use Panpastels, which are little round containers of compressed pastel,” said Holzapfel.
“It wasn’t long before I was excited about the results I was getting from this medium. It took me back to when I was young and filled notebooks with pencil sketches and drawings. “
In her portrait process, the eyes appear very early and give life to the work.
“When I begin a painting I first identify the shapes. I use the Panpastel wand with the sponge at the end of it. This is a very loose process. The last mark I make with the sponge is to smear for the eyes.
“The next step is to use a pencil to draw in the eyes. Drawing isn’t only about seeing. It’s the feel of that spirit received through the eyes that I aim to express in any portrait whether human, dog or lizard. When I look at my reference photo subject’s eyes, I know whether I’ve done my job as a pet portrait artist.”
People may not remember the exact way a pet’s hair curled but will always remember how it felt. The pastel of Boomer, Barb’s former dog, is a good example.
“After I found my purpose using Panpastels and creating the pet portraits, I realized so many others would be comforted by my work,” said Holzapfel.
“Because I have fibromyalgia, I have limited stamina some days and with any other art I’ve done there has always been stress involved. Am I going to get it right? Is the person going to like it?
“For me this medium and my quest is really stress free. I get excited when I receive a photo of a living pet or one that has passed and I immediately connect with that animal. And I can hardly wait to start painting.”
Holzapfel, who lives in Indian Head, Sask., has found a way to connect her love of animals with her love of drawing. She seems to draw energy from every pet portrait and heads straight to the studio each morning.
She said she has noticed that even though the medium is new, it has become easier to capture the soul of each animal through their eyes.
Whether it’s capturing a dragon lizard alongside its sidekick, an entitled feline or any other young or aging pet companion, Holzapfel has become fulfilled in her quest.
“In the past five months, I’ve done portraits of dogs and some cats that are still with their family, but the majority has been for animals that have passed,” she said.
“It’s a wonderful feeling to be part of that healing journey that people go through when they lose a loved one.”
More of Holzapfel’s work can be found at barbspetpotraits.com or on her Facebook page barbspastelportraits.
