FIVE KEY PRINCIPLES OF CHAN PAINTING
Your mind should be empty and clear,
without the slightest hint of dust,
and the landscape will emerge from the depth of your heart.
1 – Meditate before painting: Start with a very open mind.
“In, out, deep, slow, calm, ease, smile, release, present moment, wonderful moment” in the words of Thich Nhat Hanh
Bring your attention to the hara (tantien) which is the center of the energy (Qi), silence your mental agitation and put yourself out of the equation.
Spend a few minutes to contemplate the model (or your inner inspiration) and then take the brush, like an eagle swoop down on a prey.
2 – Simplicity: Picasso: “it is so difficult to be simple”. To express with a minimum brushstroke the visible essence of the invisible, finding the shortest way between the inspiration and the stroke, between the heart and the paper, without remorse or retouch. In Chinese terms, it’s called Xie Yi, “to transcribe the music of the heart”
A painting is finished when the energy of the nowness is gone.
3 – Suggestion: “Looking for resemblance is childish”. Allusive and unfinished, trying to catch the fleeting nature of all phenomena, a middle way between the over achieved meticulous and total abstraction, each painter being the ruler of his own cursor. But always prioritize the suggested plausible over the exactitude.
To suggest the invisible within the visible, the universal within the simplicity of a bamboo shoot, the emptiness within the form, our art is a spiritual quest for non-evidence, a vision beyond appearances. The subject is therefore less important than the act of painting itself…
4 – Empty space: has of course something to do with Buddhist emptiness or with Taoist Supreme Void, the primordial essence of all phenomena. Its primary purpose is to immerse the spectator into a vast, limitless universe, giving free reins to his/her own creative imagination. It is not a tool or an accessory: it gives light and life to the subject, linking the visible world to the invisible, and an universal dimension to the most insignificant subject. Traditionally it was recommended to leave 2/3 of the painting empty.
5 – Paint without intention: Get yourself out of the picture and without expectations or purpose, “paint like birds fly, like river flow, without intention” says Shi Tao and let your brush take you towards unforeseen and unknown territories with audacity. Remaining in presence, in nowness, let energy and life flow through your brush, which is life itself.
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