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By Mike Pearson
FightingIllini.com

"Art is not what you see," said famed French artist Edgar De Gas, "but what you make others see."

Thirty-year-old Aaron Rench of Edwardsville is the latest in a long line of individuals who have told the story of Fighting Illini athletics through their drawings and paintings. If you've attended Illinois football games in 2019, you've seen his work on the Illini football programs.

For this year's Homecoming program artwork, Aaron's brother who attended the U of I suggested that he sketch a campus scene that centered around the familiar scene at Altgeld Hall and the Alma Mater statue. In the foreground of Rench's drawing, Dick Butkus appears to be giving Dana Howard some advice, and in the background Bob Zuppke, Red Grange and Jim Grabowski surround "Alma".

Aaron Rench joins a long list of distinguished artists who contributed their work to Fighting Illini athletics programs and posters.

Rench was discovered online last summer by Adam Marantz, the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics' Director of Creative Services. Rench was contributing stories to TheChampaignRoom.com, a website that covers Illini athletics through its partnership with SBNation.

"Adam shot me a message through Instagram," Rench said. "At first, I didn't think it was reaI. I certainly didn't realize that it was for the University of Illinois. At the time, he thought maybe we'd print up some posters or use it for social media."

» Follow Aaron on Instagram @arench89

It wasn't until the Friday before the season opener when Rench saw a tweet that included his artwork. It displayed two Illini players—numbers 20 and 19—facing off on the football field against an angry Akron kangaroo mascot named Zippy.

"I was hugely, hugely surprised," Rench said. "I've had my art go to cool places before and go semi viral, but I had no words when I saw that it was going to be distributed at the game and be in people's hands. I was overwhelmed by how cool that was. I re-worked my schedule that day and made it up to Champaign so that I could get a copy of the program."

Illinois Football game program art vs. Akron	Illinois Football game program art vs. EMU
Illinois Football game program art vs. Nebraska	Illinois Football game program art vs. Michigan
Illinois Football game program art vs. Wisconsin	Illinois Football game program art vs. Rutgers

Rench's "day job" is working as a software developer for an investment advisor in St. Louis, but his greatest enjoyment comes when he's drawing.

"I want my art to tell a story and to do something that a camera and Photoshop can't do," Rench said. "I try really hard to make it something outside of the normal. Something whimsical."

A lifelong self-described "doodler", his roots as an artist date back to when he was a second grader drawing Garfield.

"I'll be in meetings today with my regular job and doodle," Rench said. "It helps me to sit still and focus. There's a difference between doodling mindlessly and then doodling with intention. If I doodle intentionally, the meeting will take a second priority."

Rench thinks that he may have inherited his creative gene from his great grandmother.

"A lot of her paintings are hanging around family member's houses," he said. "I always thought that was really cool."

As a teenager, the movies "Toy Story" and "Monsters Inc." inspired him to work for Pixar.

"I thought that was the coolest thing in the world, but through circumstances I've always put it on the back burner," Rench said. "Recently, I just wanted to start drawing more than I ever have before."

In terms of formal training, Rench has only taken a six-week sketching class. Plus, he says,  "watched a lot of video on YouTube." And like many of today's recent generation artists, instead of pencils, pens, markers and brushes, Rench uses the iPad Pro and its software called "Procreate".

"The biggest difference between conventional art and what I do on my iPad is layers," he said. "Think of it as if you have multiple clear sheets and you can draw on each one, and then you put them behind each other. Let's say I draw an Illini football player, I can do that all on one layer, then on the layer behind that I can make the background. If the player is in slightly the wrong place, I can easily move him from one place to the other. Regarding color, with a traditional artist, let's say you have ten tubes of paint. Every paint color you're getting is within those ten and the combination of what you want to mix. With digital, there's every single known color available."

Rench's most trusted art advisor is his wife, Nicole.

"She knows that what I want from her is an honest opinion," he said. "I want to know what stands out to her as soon as she sees a sketch I've drawn. Then I start working on the final piece. That usually takes anywhere from eight-to-sixteen hours."

Rench's initial experience at an Illini athletic event was in 2003 when he attended a Band Day football game at Memorial Stadium. He didn't personally witness an Illini basketball game until February of 2018. Nowadays, he's a frequent attendee and a big fan of the Orange and Blue.

Charles Bradbury began painting posters for Illini football in 1925.

Perhaps the most prolific contributor of artwork to University of Illinois athletics is Champaign's Jack Davis.

The father of two young boys recently was exposed to other famous artists who've contributed work for Illini program covers and posters, including early 20^th Century artist Charles Bradbury. Bradbury, a Professor of Art at the University of Illinois from 1931-56, painted in an Impressionist and sometime Pointillist style.

"Bradbury's posters are simply beautiful," Rench said. "The action poses aren't overly complex, but they're captured at just the perfect moment. His shadows and textures are beautiful."

Another artist who Rench recently discovered is Champaign's Jack Davis, a man who regularly drew Illini posters and program covers.

"In researching Mr. Davis, I realize that I've seen his art many, many times before," Rench said. "All of his exaggerated and distorted proportions give his work a unique sense of fun and life. He does a phenomenal job of capturing the likeness of a person, which, let me tell you, is not easy. But it's those crowd scenes that really catch me. The tiny details and the action really pull you in. His work gives me a new level to aspire to. He makes me want to draw more, and that's some of the highest praise I can give."