Soot as a Medium for Drawing

Abstract

The study carried out; "A studio exploration into possibilities of using soot as a medium for Drawing". It was intended to investigate practical ways that can qualify soot as an exceptionally recommendable medium of drawing. The study was conducted under three objectives; (a)To examine how acclaimed visual artists have applied soot as a medium in drawing, (b)To establish attributes that can aid the use of soot in drawing as a discipline, (c)To experiment with the potentials of soot and produce drawings . The study used experimental survey structure to investigate into potentiality of soot in drawing through application of various techniques and selected proverbs as an underlying direction of meaning. To fulfil objective a and b, the researcher used interview, direct observation, Library and archival survey methods selected population; thirty (30) respondents and thirty (30) artworks from acclaimed artists respectively . The information from that population guided the researcher during studio experimentation in fulfilment of objective c. Basing on the related literature, the study discovered no acclaimed artist in Uganda has ever experimented with soot to create drawing projects and it is minimally used by artists in the rest of the world with no proper documentation revealing their studio processes. The finding for objective c; through surface as a drawing attribute comprising of bond papers, canvas, plywood, and mounting cards, revealed that soot is a medium that can be used to register designs. The study further revealed that wavy, smudging, hatching and automatic under the technique attribute can be attained by dragging different tools on surfaces. The third attribute which is media comprising of chalk, charcoal, powder colours used in some compositions to complement soot the primary medium revealed that soot is a medium that can easily blend with other media. Soot also exhibited the remarkable potentiality to portray Content in the study which was based on following Selected Ganda proverbs inspired by musical instruments; Endege ziba nyingi neziyogaana and Engoma ennene weri entono tevuga. The Ganda musical instruments like Endege (rattles), Ensaasi (shakers) and Engoma (drum) were selected as inspirational objects to enhance the study and soot was still profound in capturing their form and creates a sense of depth. The findings in this guide book which are presented in both text and photographic formats were interpreted in consideration of techniques, surfaces, media and content attributes. They affirm soot to be a commendable medium for drawing. The research in an investigative sense was limited to behaviour of soot of few selected surfaces and media. Therefore this study recommends further research in a need to find out its reaction on other materials like stones, glasses, plaster and media which are outside the scope of this study.