A creative Art and Craft teacher should never complain about the

scarcity of art materials.

Joseph Mutumba
Artist and teacher, KVTC Kampala (U)
April 2009.

Introduction

Materials in art and craft refer to the media through which realisation of creativity,
expression and communication is done (Oteng, 1992). Lowenfield and Brittain
(1982) also say that an artist must have an understanding of the materials s/he is using
for the execution of a given art work so as to utilise their intrinsic qualities. Still in
doing this, as seen above, the artist develops skills to pass on his / her message and
the art itself comes out of the human being himself or herself. Generally speaking, the
materials should be appropriate for the age of the learner so that they do not impede
artistic expression. Usually schools have been faced with shortages of instructional
materials, those for art and craft inclusive; and this is where the scarcity referred to by
art teachers comes in. The solution to this is improvisation, resourcefulness,
imagination and creativity on the teacher’s part (Mazinga, 1974).

Art materials and approaches in Drawing or Painting

No one single-handed approach would be used by a creative art and craft teacher in
using local available materials for Drawing or Painting. For instance understanding
colours using the environment would be very instrumental in generating local
materials from the same for use in drawing or painting. This could be done using the
instructor-student centred approach. Discussions and ideas would be shared about the
possible local materials within the environment that could be used in painting or
drawing. Students would be asked to participate in the collection of various samples
of materials with natural pigments and then study them collectively, make
observations and then draw conclusions.

The materials that would require some specific procedures for preparation would
require the teacher to use the instructor-centred approach to prepare them. A good
example is the selection of natural pigments from the environment for painting or
drawing. These pigments have to be stable and chemically inert, i.e. able to withstand
light, air and moisture. Soils and clays with aluminium silicate have different shades
of red, yellow and white and can be crushed and used in painting (Ssennyonga, 1985).
They form an opaque paint that mixes easily with water. The learner-centred approach
could then be employed in the actual execution of the painting or drawing e.g. in the
choice of the theme and the style used to portray it by the learner, using the materials
prepared.

Following the above example, the teacher could also use the experimental approach in
teaching painting or drawing using the natural pigments from soils and clays. He or
she would first study them, use them and note the results before the lesson(s) with the
learners. The learners would then be allowed to experiment with the various pigments
from these soils and clays to do their work under the facilitation and guidance of the
teacher. The scope of materials for experimentation could be widened by other
pigments or dyes from plants, seeds, roots and soot. For instance many pigments may
be extracted from leaves and flowers.
The integrated approach is another one that the teacher would employ in using of
these local materials for drawing or painting. The knowledge of the chemical content
of soils / clays learnt in biology, agriculture and chemistry would be combined with
helpful identifying the pigments e.g. soils with iron oxides would be good for browns
for instance. This would even help the learners to appreciate art and craft as a subject
and link its purposes with these other subjects and their purposes for a more holistic
training. It is a practical way to assist the learners to relate skills and knowledge.

Local materials to make support for painting could also be made with the learners
using the instructor-student approach. Examples of these supports would include use
of bark cloth, banana fibre, gunny material from the jute plant and the pieces local
sponge sewn together with sisal to form reasonable formats (Ssennyonga, 1985). All
these could be treated first with boiled starch from cassava flour for instance; which is
still an available local material. Old paper from the school environment is yet another
material that could be recycled and creatively used for drawing or painting. Further
still, the learner-centred approach could be employed to allow the learners to

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innovatively add to these supports for painting from within the school environment.
This would help to more develop the thinking and curiosity of the students.

The learner-centred and experimental approaches would be used to accord the

learners the necessary freedom to choose between or among these different locally
made supports for painting. Still with the experimental approach, slow drying colours
could be developed by mixing powder colour pigments with soya bean oil or sun
flower oil. These are oils that are obtainable in upcountry regions where soya beans or
sun flower is grown. The instructor-student approach could be employed to see how
this slow drying paint can be used in painting classes. Group work would be done and
the learners together with the creative teacher would share ideas.

Conclusion

In conclusion, there are various alternatives that may be got from within the
environment to be used as materials for drawing or painting to address the scarcity of
materials in art and craft. Many teachers meet this as a challenge given the relatively
high costs of the imported art materials. Some examples have been given of local
materials and the possible approaches that may be used in drawing or painting with
some local materials from plants, soil and clays, saps, roots and so on. Not a single-
handed approach may be used but a creative combination of two or more approaches
depending on the kind of learners, the subject and the context.

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References

Lowenfield, V., & Brittain, W. L. (1982). Creative and mental growth. Macmillan
Publishing Co., Inc.

Mazinga-Kalyankolo, T. M. (1974, July). The development of art education in

secondary schools in Uganda. A dissertation in partial fulfilment for M. A. Education.
Makerere University.

Oteng, B. W. (1992, September). The effects of art and craft materials among
students in selected Kampala secondary schools. A dissertation in partial fulfilment
for M. A. Education. Makerere University.

Ssennyonga, B. (1985). A study of the use of local materials in sculpture and painting
in Uganda. A dissertation in partial fulfilment for B. A. F. A. Makerere University.

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