A studio exploration into the possibilities of using wood ash as a medium for drawing

Abstract

"A studio exploration into possibilities of using wood ash as a medium for drawing" is a study that explored the possibilities in which wood ash can be used as a medium in drawing, resulting into tangible drawings. The main objective of the study was to investigate the use of wood ash as a medium for drawing to complement the already existing media like charcoal, graphite chalk, pen and ink to mention some; and the specific objectives of the study were; (I) To establish the current situation on the use of wood ash as a medium for drawing, (2) To identify possible types of wood and their ash, (3) To experiment with the potentials of wood ash and produce drawings. The study was carried out at the department of Art and Industrial Design, Kyambogo University because it is a suitable ground for material exploration and experimentation basing on the fact that being an art academic community with several endless questions to handle in drawing. Whereas practical studio was carried out at the Department of Art and Industrial Design, Kyambogo University, the different types of wood and their ash were collected from the accessible localities like timber stores, homesteads and brought to studio. A sample of five types of trees/timber, as source of wood ash was selected to be part the study, depending on their availability in the timber stores that are accessible. A purposive sampling strategy was employed. The research study design was exploratory survey structure with research methods including direct observation, studio experimentation, library and archival survey and recording and photography. The data collected was subjected to studio experimentation to come up with the tangible drawings. The findings showed that; ( 1) a very small number of artists have tried to use wood ash as a medium for drawing, (2) there are 11 wood species found with similar wood ash in appearance and, (3) wood ash has great potentials to produce drawings, but with an adhesive. A good number of drawings were executed on various surfaces.