Graffiti Skills taught to Me by Imran Azad

"Innovation Katogo" was the theme for the last Wapi Event in 2008 (organised by the British Council plus Silk Events) and I managed to spray paint my very first amateur Graffiti before making my annual Christmas pilgrimage to Arua the next weekend (Didn't even attend my Old Fellow Jona's Wedding).

My very first professional painting was around August 2007 but it wasn't graffiti, just an interior decoration for an old boy. The second followed immediately just before CHOGM.

Imran Azad, the uniquely colourful artist taught me some valuable techniques I applied to produce my 'INOV8RZ' Graffiti piece, maybe you can use them too! Someone said he liked the way I did the Z, I liked it too. Not bad overall but I felt I needed to do much better than I did, paint dripped in some areas even after I started fantastically. I lost my nerve somehow close to the climax and even held my spray-can with two hands. Some stranger who came late and couldn't get a board wanted to help me finish my name smoothly. I let him do it; he advised me to spray once (that is continuously) while creating a letter. Another guy asked me to spray on his trousers, wow! Was that fan courtesy? Naah, I think I was just available. Roland who did a live painting during Kirk Franklin's previous Serena Concert was on my right side. The girl on my left side was also doing it for her first time and told her friends I was quite 'good' despite everything else but the highlight guy whom my second cousin Edwin (holding a videocam) told me to check out was a white painter whose meticulous touch was so smooth that it attracted several watchers. Owl (real name Derrick Muhiirwa) had remarkable stuff near the fence. Imran , my mentor was also loud with about two pieces. The master (who bravely appeared in Desire Luzinda’s song “Bingi” while other men shunned the bare-chested role in the video) painted great stuff too. He later confessed that I did better than he thought I would on my first attempt. I know that everybody has a certain talent but we need practice to perfect our disciplines.

Here are a few guidelines he shared with me before and during the December drill. I have chosen to summarise them into seven entries:

1. Spray from a distance, it may be faint but it prevents the dripping of paint. (Remember to always wear a mask covering your nose to avoid poisoning!)
2. Learn to use the index finger, weaker than the thumb but allows flexibility. The thumb may not give you very good results compared to the index finger (aka second or forefinger)
3. Do not try to rub away paint when there is another colour around, will cause a mixture and result in a new colour
4. Be free (and not uneasy). Don't be nervous, relax, YOU CAN DO IT! (He said that just about the time Obama became the First Black President of America)
5. To create a line that is smooth, depress the aerosol and spray once while making lines
6. To keep the paint mixed, you can turn the can upside down in addition to shaking
7. Start by spraying light colours like yellow first, then add dark ones (As for me, I don't mind the reverse as long as you know your vision)!

(Personal Exploration) Maisha Filmlab Master Class taught on Eid el Fitiri (8th August 2013) by WILLIAM WHEELER [Screenwriter of Mira Nair’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2012 Film)]:

''If you have an Idea, write it down! We are all given Ideas. Some of us bring them to fruition, some of us don’t. Don’t say you are not good at this; who cares? Don’t say ‘I’m the most Boring Person in the World’! Forces inside of us come up with Ideas that slow us down yet Stories unite us and change Cultures. A brilliant entertaining Film can take Someone’s Cares away after a long Day at Work. Make Time to write daily, you are most likely to finish! What is the One Thing a Story needs? Characters! The more deeply connected viewers are to the characters, the more they will be interested in the film. Share the Hopes and Dreams of the Person in the Situation; it’s their Life and Reality! Your Characters have no Idea that it’s just a Story. Viewers can connect with the Person even if they do not like them. All Characters possess Traits, Desires and must make Decisions. Character is the Problem a Story solves. Complications take a Character through a Metamorphosis of his Desires from conscious to unconscious for instance in The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Changez was chasing the American Dream, but after the 9/11 World Trade Centre Terror Attacks, he wished for a Pakistani Dream instead. As a Private Exercise, Wheeler advised that you should honestly write about your Problem while answering some specific Questions! In the End, you will have written a Story that obeys the Laws of Drama, Triumphs and Transformations based on the Parts of yourself investigated. Draw Narratives from your Experience!''

In the Afternoon, the Movie screened was “Tootsie” from Columbia Pictures about an Actor named Michael who cross-dressed as a Woman in order to get a professional acting Role that had eluded him for 20 Years. One line that summarizes the Drama in the Story came at the end when the Main Protagonist speaks to Julie, a fellow Cast Member with whom he shared a Dressing Room throughout his Falsehood, “I was a better Man with you as a Woman than I ever was as a Man with a Woman…”

During the Question Session, Maisha Filmlab Founder Mira Nair confessed that she likes the creative Uniqueness of Ugandan English just like Indian English, and narrated an Incident at Makerere University Kampala where a Campuser dressed in Army Fatigue was asked where he was going. His amusing reply was, “I’m going to attack the Library!”