HAMILTON, Michigan — With a column of eye-black painted onto one side of his face, Aidan Hutchinson's signature look this season has turned the heads of many Lions fans.
Jon Slagh, a long-time fan of U-M football and the Lions, decided to immortalize Hutchinson's iconic eye-black in his artwork on the west side of the state, in Allegan County.
"I really wanted to do one of Aidan, and because of some of his recent success and his popularity in the state, amongst both teams," Slagh said. "His eye black is kind of a trademark look of his so that's where the idea to draw Aiden came up next."
Slagh started drawing when he was young, honing his skills through high school and even taking some courses in college.
While he ended up taking the business route, he never really left his passion for creating artwork behind.
After a while of not creating any artwork, Slagh began drawing pictures for his cousins, nieces and nephews. Soon enough, his wife asked him to draw a picture of their twin boys, Adam and Owen, and their youngest son, Evan.
"I kind of put [the drawing] out there online to just get reactions, a lot of the reactions were positive. So I was like, 'Well, I might as well keep doing this,'" Slagh said.
Over the last year and a half, Slagh buckled down and got to work. He drew picture after picture of some of his favorite athletes, sharing his progress pictures alongside his final pieces on Facebook.
"I'm a huge sports fan, and I thought it'd be kind of cool to do that with some of my favorite athletes, or just athletes in general and see where it goes and what can come of it," Slagh said.
From drawing Tiger Woods:
To drawing Charles Woodson and his Heisman Trophy:
When Hutchinson came to a mall in Sterling Heights, Slagh waited in line for an hour and a half to meet him. When he finally reached the front, Hutchinson signed his drawing and shook his hand.
"It was really cool to actually have it right in front of him," Slagh said.
Hutchinson's mother has also reached out to Slagh on Instagram, letting him know she appreciated his art. He said Hutchinson's sister has also seen the drawing and said she thought it was "very cool."
Slagh said he owes much of his recent inspiration to his wife, who pushed him to keep using his talents.
"[I] give my wife a lot of credit, she really encouraged me to keep on doing this," Slagh said. Even though at first, it was kind of, you know, 'I'm just kind of doing it to see what happened.' But she kind of always said, 'God's given you a gift with this art and this ability to draw, you should continue pursuing it and working out and see where it goes.'"
Slagh said once he picks who he'd like to draw next, the progression of the piece and seeing it through is the most rewarding part of the process — even though it may take a few months.
Whether it's putting aside 30 minutes or one to two hours in his day to draw, Slagh said he believes consistency is key.
"Sometimes once I get to that hour and a half, two-hour point, it's almost like...I'm done for the night," Slagh said. "It's a fun thing, but it's like a labor of love. It's like, 'Okay, let's stop for the night, take a picture of progress and pick it up the next day or the next time I have a chance to do it."
He said he enjoys drawing faces the most, but also believes it's the most challenging route.
"Drawing the human face is like, my old art teacher used to always say, it's the hardest thing to draw, because it's the thing you recognize the most," Slagh said. "So that's kind of where the challenge comes from."
Slagh said his former high school art teacher, Tim Arnold, gives him pointers on his artwork to this day. The two get along particularly well because Martin also doubled as the school's football coach.
"He's been helping me a lot," Slagh said. "I reached out to him a few times. He's giving me tips on some of these things as well. He's been a big help."
Slagh has sold prints of his artwork to people across the country, ranging from Nebraska to South Carolina.
Anyone interested in purchasing a print or an original piece by Slagh can reach out to him on his Facebook or Instagram pages.
Although he isn't exactly sure when it will be done, Slagh's next piece will be a drawing of U-M's running black, Blake Corum.
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