NEWS

Art of the autograph: Neenah native gets superstars

Duke Behnke
USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Ben Erickson, a Neenah High School and St. Norbert College graduate, paints portraits of famous NBA, NFL and MLB athletes at his studio in Whitefish Bay. A majority of Erickson's portraits have been autographed by the athletes.

WHITEFISH BAY - Neenah native Ben Erickson has found a way to stand out among the throngs of fans seeking autographs of professional athletes.

As collectors gather outside hotels and sporting venues in hopes that superstars like Aaron Rodgers or Steph Curry will sign their glossy photographs or trading cards, Erickson holds up 16-by-20-inch portraits of the athletes that he's painted himself.

"I'm sure it gets boring signing the same photo hundreds of times," Erickson told USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin. "I thought if I do these portraits — original artwork that they've never seen — it might get their attention."

In the past four years, Erickson has painted 80 portraits of pro athletes. Of the 72 he's shown to the athletes, 56 of them have been signed, a success rate of 78 percent.

Famous athletes who have autographed his artwork include Rodgers, Curry, Clay Matthews, Adrian Peterson, Odell Beckham Jr., Drew Brees, Andrew Luck, Larry Fitzgerald, Dez Bryant, Kevin Durant, Dirk Nowitzki, Carmelo Anthony, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Ryan Braun and Mike Trout.

After getting his portraits signed, Ben Erickson mounts the paintings on a wall at his apartment in Whitefish Bay.

Erickson has been approached by people offering to buy his paintings, but they're not for sale.

"I keep them," he said. "Two walls in my apartment are covered with them. I have a bunch of them in my cubicle at work. My dad's office (in Appleton) has several of them."

Erickson, 23, was a three-sport athlete at Neenah High School, playing volleyball, basketball and baseball before graduating in 2011. He earned a bachelor's degree in graphic design at St. Norbert College in De Pere in 2015 and works as a graphic designer for Boelter Brands in Glendale.

RELATED:  NCAA men's tournament bracket

RELATED: Neenah steps up its promotion of the arts

His interest in collecting stems from his childhood. He and his brother received sports trading cards as gifts for birthdays and Christmas, and they organized them in big binders.

Their father, Jim, took them to the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel in downtown Appleton to get the cards autographed. Opponents of the Green Bay Packers stay at the hotel before games at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.

"We had cards and pieces of paper — nothing really too big — for the players to sign," Erickson recalled. "We collected them to see how many we could get."

NBA All-Star Paul George poses with Ben Erickson after signing his painting.

Erickson's interest in art dates to elementary school, and he became an accomplished artist at Neenah High School. One of his former high school art teachers, Henry Van Damme, described Erickson as a leader in the classroom who "went way over and above the expectations."

"He always had a great interest in sports, and he took that interest and his passion for art and merged them," Van Damme said. "It's really taken off. His work has been just incredible."

Erickson models his portraits from photographs and paints with acrylics on canvas. Each portrait takes about 10 hours to complete, though his early ones took longer.

"You learn a few tricks along the way and refine your skill," he said. "I'm always looking to find ways to cut the time it takes."

Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson was the first pro athlete to sign one of his portraits. Before a Jan. 5, 2013, playoff game against the Packers, the Vikings stayed at the Holiday Inn Neenah Riverwalk in Neenah because the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel was booked. Erickson took his painting to the hotel, and Peterson signed it before he got on the team bus. Erickson was overjoyed.

"I thought, 'Wow. One for one. Maybe I should start a little collection here.'"

Erickson's three most cherished autographs are Rodgers, Curry and Beckham.

His portrait of Beckham is three times the size of his other paintings. He brought it to the Radisson when the New York Giants were in Appleton before their Oct. 9 regular-season game against the Packers.

While waiting outside for Beckham, Erickson and his friend recognized Beckham's mother, Heather Van Norman, as she went for a run down College Avenue. When she came back, Erickson propped up his painting so she would see it. He said she did a double take before going into the hotel.

Erickson failed to get Beckham's autograph as the players boarded the team bus among a crowd of fans. He went home disappointed.

During the game, Erickson's mother, Tami, suggested they drive to Lambeau Field to take another shot at getting the painting signed, as it could be a long time before Beckham and the Giants return to Wisconsin. (They didn't know the Giants would be back for a playoff game three months later.)

Ben Erickson got Odell Beckham Jr. to sign his painting, but he needed help from Beckham's mother, Heather Van Norman, to make it happen.

After the game, Erickson again saw Van Norman. His mother approached Van Norman with the painting, and she recognized it from her run earlier in the day. They struck up a conversation.

"While we're talking, she's actually texting Odell on her phone, saying, 'Hey, there's this kid here who's done this painting of you. Is there any way you can sign it?''' Erickson said.

When Beckham came out, Van Norman took the painting to him to sign. In return, Erickson gave Van Norman several of his prints of her son.

"That was one of the coolest experiences," Erickson said. "Every autograph has a story."

Erickson has obtained all of his autographs in Wisconsin. He charts which visiting teams and players will be coming to Appleton, Green Bay or Milwaukee before putting his brush to canvas. Some of the portraits are done six months in advance.

The process to land an autograph requires patience, persistence and a bit of ingenuity, such as wearing a star athlete's jersey. It typically takes Erickson one or two days to get a signature, but he waited several years before Rodgers signed.

"It's all worth it in the end if you get the signature," he said.

Ben Erickson's portrait of James Harden hasn't been signed by the NBA All-Star.

One athlete who wouldn't sign his painting is retired Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch. "He's kind of a different personality," Erickson said.

Others who declined to sign include Cam Newton, LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, James Harden and Russell Westbrook.

"I've had (Westbrook) in multiple one-on-one situations," Erickson said. "They come up with a lot of excuses like, 'I'll get you tomorrow,' or 'I'll get you next time I see you.' When you've done this for as long as I have, you hear all kinds of excuses."

Erickson said high-profile players might not sign because they've inked contracts with companies for exclusive autographs.

"LeBron James, I think that might be one of my paintings that goes unsigned for a very, very long time," Erickson said. "He's one of the hardest guys to get."

Duke Behnke: 920-993-7176, or dbehnke@postcrescent.com; on Twitter @DukeBehnke