User:Chen Junyu/Graduation Project Seminar/ project proposal/2ed

Chapter 1 The Conversation with…

Chapter 2 Q&A Every detail about the process of drawing

1.What do you experience since you starts drawing? Drawing is a partner of mine since I can remember. I was three or four, as the single child in my family, drawing created rich happiness and release a lot lonelyness. Most of the inspirations came from Japanese Cartoon, and paintings and drawings I appreciated. I got in touch with traditional art at the age around 9, at that moment, Chinese painting or calligrahy has fundamental and original attraction to me. The gestures of holding the brush, the smell of paint and ink, the roughness of paper, even the baldness and the immersion I went through during the process of doing. However the way of using ink, the rule for chosing color are never my interest. I quited after two years of learning calligraphy, and even shorter for Chinese painting. One reason was my parents wanted me to concentrate more on upgrading. During the next six year in middle and high school, I kept drawing cartoons and got attentions by that in the peer. On the other hand, this endless copying others’ works makes me get mired into the circulation of physically training without enough subjective thinking. I began feeling frustration of making a work. I can remember or feel until now ( since this sequela still exists while I am drawing), the contrast or conflict between the physical need to draw and the spiritual rejection from mind.

2. What is the possible solution to improve this situation? Meditation. Thai, Chinese and Japanese “Zen” has different way to train mind -- meditation has different ways to touch. But, probably, the experince of feeling harmony and peace is the same. As my understanding of these three different genres of “Zen”( in China it should be “Chan”) , there are different characteristics of different types of Zen. Most obvious differences is their attitude to commandment, thus the final target is similar. Such as in Japan, learning Zen became a pratical way to train how to control mind, a master can shoot the target in darkness; for monks in Thailand, a master is someone can alway keep himself in purely harmony I realised the “harmony” or the “concentration” flicking in my process of drawing a few weeks ago, after two months keep drawing single lines using brushes and ink. Every morning, I draw two or three sheets of paper with horizontal lines, try to achieve the target -- a fully straight and evenly balanced line. Using the concept of “Zhongfeng” in Chinese calligraphy, keep the longest fur of the brush always stays in the middle of the line, keeps the edge of the line of each side shows the same darkness of color, and to draw the line smooth and satiation. When I repeat this process again and again, I started knowing the different condition of my mind of doing the same gesture. And it is true, the unbalanced or balanced condition of mind will reflect on the drawing completely. When I was in a calm and peaceful situation, sometimes I even didn’t realise what I was doing. But the disattraction was so easy to break in, when I realise I was “ drawing”, the calm and peace was gone before the “realization”. On day, at night, I wanted to do a drawing. I placed the paper on the floor, using an uncomfortable way to place myself. I had no idea about what should I draw, so I started doing the lines as I did usually. At the beginning I cannot concentrate at all, the floor was too cold and hard, my back was hurt because of the bad position. But after a few miniutes, the pain seems released, I started attracting by the movement of brush and the paper watered by the ink. The ink, moves very slowly and softly on the paper, and didn’t really go to where I want it to be. I felt my movement slowed down, the breath became a natual thing -- usually I had issue to breath smoothly. Then one idea came out, I replaced the paper with a new one and started.

3. What are the difficulties while I want to last the condition? Disattraction The most obvious difficulty is disstractions. The disattractions, either from the physical environment or mind, is also mentioned times in almost all the books and artcles I have read about Zen. Most detailed description from “Zen of Archery”( quote). Period