FAOLÁN Smyth has just sold his second picture and is being talked about more and more within Irish art circles. And he’s still only eight-years-old.
Faolán – which translates as little wolf – is a pupil at St Patrick’s Boys National School in Carndonagh. When not buried in maths and spelling lessons though, he can be found sketching the drawings that recently caught the eye of a buyer in Canada.
“I’ve been drawing since I was old enough to hold a pencil,” says the young artist.
A school bus as drawn by Faolán. Sketching cars and vehicles is a particular passion of the young artist.
Faolán Smyth is the son of established artist Sinead Smyth and it was mum who first spotted his talent.
“As an artist I work with young people and I found it quite amazing that he had such perspective so early on,” said Sinead.
“That really jumped out at me and I’ve saved all the pictures he has done so far.”
Mum Sinead says that she has literally hundreds of original Faolán Smyth artworks tucked away at home. And if his star continues to rise as it has been, it could prove to be a highly lucrative stash.
Recently one of his pieces was snapped up by Canadian visual artist Jan Yates while a second has just been bought by an artist in Fermanagh, both buyers insisting that the schoolboy signed his works before handing them over.
For Faolán though, it is not about the money. Not yet anyway. For now he is simply drawing, having fun and exploring his real passion, cars.
A sketch like this takes Faolán minutes to complete.
“Cars are my favourite. I like cars and I like the design. A few days ago I made a Toyota mr2. The one thing I don’t like though is colouring. I think it’s over-rated and I prefer drawing in black and white.”
His dislike of colours arises from the fact that Faolán has been diagnosed as being colour blind. But it makes absolutely no difference to his work and certainly not to his ability to create stunning sketches and landscapes.
“I was drawn to the idea that he might be colour blind because he had such an aversion to colouring in,” explains Sinead.
“But it makes no difference to him, it’s just that his perception of colour is different to that of a colour-sighted person.”
A particular favourite of Faolán’s is Marcello Barenghi, an Italian artist known for his three-dimensional ‘hyper-realism’ style. So good is Barenghi that it can be difficult to tell the difference between what is art and what is real life.
“He does realistic drawings and sometimes I can’t tell if they are real or not. Most times I can’t tell,” says Faolán.
Back at school and the eight-year-old’s love of art is greatly
Flowers from a budding artist.
encouraged by his teachers. Just not all day everyday.
“My teacher when I was in second class, I’m going into third class now, he wouldn’t let me draw until I was finished my work because I would draw all the time and get distracted.”
The youngest of three children, Faolán Smyth is a little brother to Darragh who is 23 and Kate who is 16. Darragh is working in Dublin as a financial analyst while Kate’s love is musical theatre.
And while Darragh and Kate may still be charting their paths, their youngest sibling already has plans.
“I don’t draw that much, maybe half an hour or an hour every day. So when I’m older I might be a part-time artist or an engineer because I really engineering.”
At eight-years-old Faolán Smyth has, literally, already made his mark on the world. And if he continues to draw the eye of the Irish art world as he has been doing, then the future is looking very bright indeed for the boy from Inishowen.
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