Detailed portraits of furry and canine pets dot the walls of Hank and Dolly’s Gallery, artwork created with an unusual medium – dry-erase markers. In his first solo exhibition, Rescatados, self-taught artist Henry Garcia introduces viewers to the beloved rescue pets that have shaped his and his family's lives.

Henry Garcia's path to professional art is both surprising and unexpected. In 2020, Garcia was working a stressful call center job with long days, angry customers, and little to do. He was bored, and instead of turning to screens, he pulled out a whiteboard and started doodling. A big animal lover, Garcia began sketching his pets with a dry-erase marker and pencil, spending hours scratching away to form detailed cat whiskers and dog snouts.

Not thinking much of it, Garcia would erase them after he finished. His coworkers started commenting on his incredible art; they convinced him not to erase it and even commissioned him to make pieces specially for them, typically portraits of former pets. "I just started creating an animal a day," Garcia said, and as the commissions grew, he eventually quit his job to pursue art full-time. More recently, Garcia received recognition when he had pieces accepted to the 100th Hoosier Art Salon, Indiana's most prestigious annual art exhibition, and the 101st Salon the following year. He also displayed several works at the Indiana State Museum in 2024.

Dry-erase marker is an unusual medium demanding careful attention to detail, but one that also has plenty of room for creative experimentation. To begin a piece, Garcia starts with a rough outline using a black dry-erase marker. He colors in a section and then scratches away to reveal the whiteboard underneath, repeating over and over until the animal is complete. Some pieces take over 30 hours to create. The unique scratching and stippling techniques Garcia uses produce artwork reminiscent of etchings and block prints, but with incredibly fine detail and intricate texture. His simple materials are a whiteboard, a dry-erase marker, and an eclectic collection of homemade tools, including a mechanical pencil, a thumbtack, sponges, and cactus spines from the plant on his desk. He also uses his hand to create unique textures with thumb prints and palm prints. To finish each work, Garcia seals the piece with acrylic coating spray to prevent smudging.

Garcia's first solo exhibition, Rescatados, translates to "rescued" and is a moving tribute to all the pets his family rescued and loved, both past and present. Each piece is a dynamic, black-and-white portrait brimming with the animal's unique personality. The stories behind these rescues are often tragic but full of hope and transformation, like Skittles, a cat abandoned during a severe thunderstorm who has slowly learned to trust and love humans again. Garcia even created drawings inspired by before-and-after pics of the rescued animals. In Rescatados, an illustration of an unkempt, uncared-for animal hangs beside one of a healthy, thriving, beloved pet.

Garcia has always had a passion for animals, but never had a chance to work with them like he dreamed; perhaps this is his outlet for that now, he acknowledges. And when he's not working on pet portrait commissions, Garcia enjoys drawing endangered species, including jaguars, chameleons, hummingbirds, and more. Through his artwork, he advocates for a focus on animal preservation for endangered wildlife and abandoned pets. Garcia calls us to pay greater attention to and love the rare and wonderful animal world, from exotic jungles to the ordinary, everyday streets around our homes.