Painting

“Zen (and Not)”

Lucien Stryk says of Zen: "to use the fewest … strokes of the brush to express their feelings."

In that case, my paintings – now – are certainly Zen: very few strokes, so many only one.

But, to go further: what feeling to express?

“An Artist’s Manifesto”

Dr. Diamond's short manifesto on art as egoless devotion, by those who feel so impelled by the Spirit: Altruistic, Soul-enriching, Bhakti-yoga, a union.

“Filling the Blank Space with Chi”

An unpainted space that represents the sky is not blank, is not empty.

“No-Mind Before”

There is a Japanese saying about calligraphy and painting: Izen hitsugo, “Mind before, brush after.”

“The Less the Artist Does, the Better”

All activities – including art, of course – are the result of Guidance. And the extent to which the artist’s ego intrudes is also Guided.

“The Power of a Black Dot”

Simple
and Still,
and Infinite.

A dot is still and simple and infinite.

Consider a black dot – singular – on a sheet of white paper.

Video: Painting – The Power of the Dot

Dr. Diamond discusses the therapeutic power of this most simple of devices. From the “Art for Healing” series of informal talks.

See more videos by Dr Diamond on his YouTube channel.

“Before Image, Only Movement”

Su Tung-p’o, the great painter and poet of the Song dynasty, stated that “To judge a picture by its resemblance is to have the critical faculty of a child.”

“Always the Feeling of the Movement”

Do I pre-visualize what I am about to paint? Not at all.

“Painting and the Depiction of Form”

Photography freed painting from having to depict form.