Students joined forces with Red Bull and celebrated ‘doodling muralist’ Dave Draws to create a collaborative mural on our Falmouth Campus. 

Our students recently teamed up with celebrated ‘doodling muralist’ Dave Draws as part of a partnership with Red Bull Doodle Art, a student-focused initiative and global competition to empower a new generation of artists through “the magic of doodling”. 

Red Bull were looking to create a bespoke doodle piece in collaboration with a university known for its artistic background. That’s where Falmouth came in. In total, 13 students were involved in the collaboration, representing a range of courses including Fine Art, Illustration, Game Art, Textile Design, Business & Marketing. 

The production took places over three days, with the chosen students painstakingly creating their parts of the overall doodle mural masterpiece under the theme “What does Falmouth University mean to you?”.  

Helping the students, and creating his own signature artistic flair, was Dave Draws – a popular freelance illustrator, mural artist and serial map doodler who has travelled across Europe, Hong Kong and the US for his large-scale wall murals. Dave’s trademark is his ‘doodle maps’, which combine his unique doodle style with cartoonish illustrations creating a map of a city.

On working with Falmouth students and in Cornwall, Dave Draws said: "It’s nice to see all the different styles of the students’ work – it’s good to work with them, they’re really receptive and they’re bringing some great ideas. 

"I’ve worked on murals in big cities such as Paris, Prague, Hong Kong, New York. Cities tend to have big skyscrapers, in Cornwall there’s a particular type of architecture. This mural is so wide that I won’t be doing a map, but we’ll capture a mix of well-known landmarks and local businesses. There’s a lot of character in the town. It’s coming on really well...." 

First-year Fine Art BA(Hons) student Millie Smith completed the navy ship and RNLI lifeboat parts of the mural. Asked why she decided to get involved, she said: "When I heard about this mural and that it was about Falmouth scenery, I thought I could contribute. I do a lot of black and white line drawing. It was an opportunity that shouted out. I’ve never done anything like this... 

"I like to draw mechanical/industrial things – so a lot of boats. I’m not a sailor though, I actually get quite travel sick! I spend a lot of time at Falmouth Docks, getting inspiration.” 

Andy Martin, a final-year Illustration BA(Hons) student, was particularly interested in picking Dave’s mind. “I’ve followed his work on Instagram. I’m always doing doodles – it’s the base of everything. I draw in a naïve style – it’s nice to see doodling on a professional level. I like the charm of Dave’s drawings.” 

 

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