LONGVIEW (KYTX) – Even though country music legend Merle Haggard recently passed away, his music leaves behind a strong influence for many. One Longview artist is taking a unique approach to remember Haggard in his own way.

Growing up in East Texas, Tony McCullough found himself instantly inundated by music.

“My dad played music and my two older sisters loved all types of music,” McCullough said. “Pretty much exposed to music since day one.

While he has played music throughout his life, McCullough’s true passion is a different type of art.

“I started drawing when I was a little kid,” McCullough said. “I don’t even know how I started drawing, but it always comes back. No matter what I did or what I do, I start drawing again and again.”

It’s therapeutic for McCullough. He said when he’s stressed, he picks up a pencil.

“You get totally wrapped up in it,” McCullough said. “All that stress goes away. You’re not worried about anything. You’re not worried about what time it is. It’s relaxing.”

McCullough has always been able to draw but drawing people has been a bit of a struggle.

“No matter how hard I tried, they always kind of looked like aliens,” McCullough said with a smile. “It looked like a first grade art project.”

Until about 10 months ago, when a friend recommended taking up painting.

“I went to Hobby Lobby to get everything I needed,” McCullough said. “Once I finished, ‘Wow, that wasn’t really that bad.'”

McCullough then started to paint musicians, as this has always been such a strong influence in my life.

“Whenever I get the chance to draw something I would like to, it’s going to be a musician,” McCullough said. “I want to bring out that music and the memories in the art.”

McCullough’s work has become more than “not bad” as people have started to take notice of his musician paintings. After drawing B.B. King, he decided to take it with him during a trip to Memphis, donating it to B.B. King’s House of Blues.

“I dropped it off along with my card and didn’t really think much of it,” McCullough said.

Not only did the restaurant accept his painting, instead of placing it near many other paintings and drawings already in the restaurant, the staff decided to hang it front and center above Lucille — one of King’s guitars.

“That’s the first time I’ve ever brought tears from art work,” McCullough said. “I was thinking, ‘You got to be kidding me?'”

Now McCullough is working on a painting close to his heart — Merle Haggard, who he once met as a DJ.

“I was waiting for him outside with a white guitar for his autograph,” McCullough said. “I knew he was a big bass fisherman, and so was I at the time.”

Knowing Haggard had a similar interest in bass fishing, McCullough decided to ask Haggard if he had done any fishing recently as he signed the guitar.

“He kind of looked at me like, ‘You bass fish?'” McCullough said. “I told him I did. Next thing I knew, he brought me on his bus and we were talking about fishing. I don’t think he ever, ever thought of himself as a superstar. When it came down to it, he liked music and he liked to go fishing.”

Tony McCullough has worked about 10-12 hours so far on his Haggard painting, with about 1-2 days of work left to go. If this new venture of his keeps up, he hopes to at some point paint full time.

“I can sit in front of a canvas for eight to 12 hours,” McCullough said.