Enrolling in an ink painting class may seem as entering a new world. You have a brush, some ink and a plain piece of paper, but now what? Honestly, it is rather a mystery. At first, you’re unsure. All of the strokes of the brush appear too thick or too thin. However the true beauty of it is to allow the ink to lead. The brush moves, the ink spreads and you soon learn that it is not about accuracy but it is about the process. It is all about observing where the ink would prefer to flow and how to allow it. For full lesson descriptions, read full article about the course curriculum.
The best thing about ink painting is that you do not necessarily need to have it all figured out. Nobody will explain to you that you are doing your brushstrokes wrongly, since ink is amoral. It is untidy, it is uncontrollable, and it is utter freedom. You will experiment and experiment with various methods, find out how much pressure to exert and what will happen when you leave the ink to mix or bleed into the paper. There will be strokes which will be wild, and others more restrained–but whatever the case, they will add something interesting to the table. The less you are certain about something, the better time you will have with it.
Today you may want to paint a quiet landscape- such as a quiet mountain with sweet strokes. The second, you may end up making big, sweeping movements that are not comparable with what you originally intended to make. Ink does not want to know what you are up to. It will do what it desires doing, and you are merely there to instruct it. It is the magic when you stop making it perfect. Rather make the brush an extension of you. Let it say what words may not. Your ink drawing may be a dialogue between you, brush and paper.
Ink painting is not about hurrying through a work either. It has a meditative rhythm. You can’t hurry ink. The brush swings, the ink drips and each stroke demands your complete attention. With time, you will enter a quiet place as you continue painting. It is sort of a miniature break out of the everyday clatter. Every minute turns out to be the time to concentrate, to create, and to experience the process of making something with your hands. The ink is a means of losing yourself in thought, or simply forgetting about them.
Whatever you may think about taking an ink painting course; just jump into it. You do not have to see the completed work before beginning: the beauty lies in the doing. Take that brush, dip it in ink and allow the paint to perform its job. It is not about being perfect, but instead enjoying the messiness, the unpredictable, the creative surprises with every stroke. The ink is a life in itself–let it take you where you never dreamed to go. You may well be surprised at what it leads to.