Learning to trust a new partner in a dance is akin to taking an ink painting course. At first, it’s awkward. You are indecisive, indecisive, trying to work out how to get your brush to move in a certain way. You are trying to play with the strokes, but ink does not. It possesses its own beat, its own stream. It is beautiful to release, have faith in the ink, and leave the brush to lead you. At first it is chaotic–here and there splashes, lines that have no meaning. You will see, however, soon enough, it all comes together. Unsure if this class fits you, check this out for details.

The exciting aspect of ink painting is that it is unpredictable. Ink painting does not require perfection, as it does in other art forms. You do not need to have a fine line or a perfect shape, you must take what the ink provides. At times, a spot of ink can be the centre of attention of your work. Then, there are cases when a large, sweeping line becomes quite unexpected. The magic of such a course is that you learn to embrace the errors–because, after all there is magic in the mess.

Something freeing in working with ink. You are able to experiment without being bound by expectations. Conventional ink paintings may be about the landscape or flowers but that is not all. The brush turns into a way of expressing what you think, what you feel and what you have been through. There are days when you may want to paint a tranquil scene of a mountain. On other days, you could just leave the brush unkept and make abstract swirls, which are your mirror images of your inner mess. The possibilities are inexhaustible.

It is not only about ink painting. It is the process–the sensation of the brush in the paper, the ink falling and spreading, the silent intervals of concentration. It forces you to slow down. You have no haste when dealing with ink. You must be there, you must hear the brush go over the page. Each stroke takes you closer to the art and closer to yourself. It is a kind of mini meditation, but there is an element of creativity involved.

So, in case you are interested in ink painting, immerse yourself. It does not matter how one begins. You do not have to have some great vision that you start with. You only have to pick up a brush and follow the ink. It is about the process, the twists and the little wins you discover in the process. You may not make a master piece on the first day-but you will make something that will count.