Ink wash painting 酒精墨水畫 is not simply a piece of art it is a process of letting go. It is magic when you lose control and allow the ink to run free. These are colorful, unpredictable colors that move in a manner that defies logic, and invites you to accept chaos and perceive beauty in the unpredictable. Once you begin there is no turning back, you are in it and the colors are dancing and mixing and forming without any clear plan in view.
It’s a lesson in freedom. You do not tell the ink whither to flow, you just rely on letting it flow. This may seem weird at first, art is not meant to be messy, right? But under alcohol ink, disorder is of the beauty. You begin to realize that the soul of the piece was imperfection. These colors are not arranged in a uniform manner but rather are arranged in a manner that appears to be natural and organic. It is not about being able to control it but seeing the ink come alive on its own.
And there in the letting go the magic lives. Alcohol ink pushes you away out of perfection. No longer does one have to worry about doing something right. It is more about presence, instead. Every stroke, every splash is a discharge–a dispossession of the necessity to control. The ink flows where it pleases and you are along to play.
The process will teach you how to be patient with the unexpected. The ink can sometimes bring you to a place that you had not expected–that is where the beauty is. What might begin as some random swirl, may well end up being spectacular. You get to know with alcohol ink that you do not learn how to be beautiful through control. It is the result of letting something wonderful unfold itself.