Theo pencil was born in the year, 5th may, 1993 and raised in Accra/Ghana. He attended firm foundation senior high school which is a private institution in Ghana. His real name is Theophilus Boateng Kwaku Sarpong but popularly known as Theo pencil. He discovered his talent as an artist at the age of eight years when he used to draw cartoons just for fun. Theo pencil advanced as a pencil artist at the early ages of seventeen as a self taught artist, he is good in color works but most of his master pieces are in pencil which inspires him allot. At the age of nineteen,Theo pencil made presentations of realistic portraits to some popular personalities such as: Nana Akufu Addo{the presidential candidate for the new patriotic party}, honorable Shirley Ayorkor Botwe and Jackie Appiah who is an actress.he never took any art lesson or classes.He mostly works on human figures.At the age of nineteen,he also made realistic portraits of some of the world’s famous personalities like Barack Obama,Nelson Mandela,Kofi Annan,The late president of the republic of Ghana known as John Evans Atta Mills and Jerry John Rawlings who was formally the president of Ghana in the 1980′s. Theo pencil is found of listening to music when ever he is working on his artworks which serves as a source of entertainment to him.

MESSAGE FROM THE CHAMP HIMSELF
                                         

I want to capture and describe a persons presence and specific inner self. Similar to what a detailed writer might employ in their analysis of an individual, I portray not only the physical attributes, but more importantly the subjects inner presence of life. It’s not too obvious as my work appears most detailed, but I understand my approach as both representational and lyrical, using marks like words and textured areas like paragraphs. All parts of a whole, telling a story about a human being. 

I choose drawing over painting as this allows me to create many layers over layers of lines and dots which react to each other in order to create a vibrant texture with directions and movement. This approach enables the finished work to be viewed more by the “senses” as opposed to the standard visual observation of a photo. Personally, I view the practice of drawing as reminiscent of scratching on a surface to observe what’s hidden underneath, where as the nature of painting projects more the inverse, covering and hiding details and forms that might have contributed to a sensuality of a work. 

I work in a style that most people refer to as photo-realism or hyper-realism. I use photos as references for my hyper-realistic drawings and paintings but I am not after a perfect reproduction at all. I use a photo very loosely once the proportions are established. I usually work as if I were drawing from a live model actually. I work with movement and expression, working fast on larger, more unimportant areas, and slowing down on parts that need more attention. I am actually improvising a lot. My main concern is to capture the essence and substance of forms in order to get close to a perceptible presence of the subject. 

He currently has a set up at the Accra Mall where he works and exhibits some of his latest art pieces. 

He was one of the main exhibitors at the maiden edition of TLOTA exhibition in January 2014. Where he  exhibited some of his amazing works.

TLOTA is proud to have such a  talented brother, pushing art across borders, who has also been meeting with great people like, Former President John Agyekum Kuffour, Kweku Sintim-Misa (KSM), Her Ladyship the Chief Justice Georgina Theodora Wood all to talk about the future of art in Ghana as the talents of young ones grow wild. We say Long Live  hyper-realism and  Ayekoo to Theo !!