"It
is the stage where the ch'i of the painter is effortlessly
transmitted through the painting. In one respect, it might
be described as the stage at which his whole personality is
revealed in a painting, since the co-ordination of brushstrokes
and of the composition is a direct expression of his character.
Such an interpretation, however, misses the vital point: that
all the steps of the painter's arduous training, all his accumulation
of all the means available, all his efforts in the long process
of the development of the self, should be directed by the concept
of Tao and so be ritual acts sanctifying the painting that
he produces. Then the tactility of the brushwork is evidence
less of the personal touch than of the power of Tao. The anonymity
of the ritual act is, in effect, oneness with Tao. And painting
is not self-expression but an expression of the harmony of
Tao."
The Way of Chinese Painting, by Mai-mai Sze.
You paint a line. A brave line. Or a timid line. But one that
expresses at the core who you are in that moment. Sometimes
the line is happy enough by itself. So stop. Sometimes it begs
for company. I tell you now, there are ten thousand lines you
could draw next to your original one. All except a handful
of those will but weaken or neutralize your first. It is a
challenge to effortlessly and without hesitation (for that
is the only approach with any odds at all) paint the line that
will shine in its own right while brightening the first.
Try it.
Good.
OK, now go have a conversation with your friend.
Same thing, right?
(I just have my conversations on paper occasionally.)
I am far more intrigued by the
space within the form itself, and the form of the space around
the form ("negative space" or emptiness itself ).
Some artists are interested in presenting what the eye sees.
I am interested in painting what the spirit sees.
-K. Kain