Masakatsu Agatsu, True victory is Victory over Oneself, Japanese Aikido Calligraphy Painting

My artwork comprises Zen calligraphy, watercolor and ink paintings, and abstract calligraphies. My mediums are ink, watercolors and natural pigments on rice paper, mainly Xuan paper. I wield the Chinese and Japanese brush, preferably the flexible sheep's hair brush. Many of my Zen calligraphies express the Emptiness teaching from the Heart Sutra, which has been the original inspiration for my Japanese calligraphy artwork. Other calligraphies focus on the teachings of the Diamond Sutra, Platform Sutra, or depict Zen koan, Zen poetry or single kanji. In my watercolors and ink paintings I strive for a pictorial synthesis of the subject, in the spirit of Japanese ink painting, using bold washes and vivid brush strokes.