Sketchbook (I Don't Think I Suck)

✒ The Night

I am going to be posting something very out of the ordinary today.

I am going to post a small, 400+ word essay I typed in a burst of literary inspiration. This was after a 10-hour shopping spree, so I apologise for all typos and grammer problems.

When I look out the window of my mother's car, I see things that others don't.

When I look out the window, I find myself start studying how the world blurs into static and how the dotted lines flicker so fast they become contours of the road. How the world narrows down to the cinematic music in my ears, the double exposure of the world beyond and my own in-out face.

And the dying need to become a photographer.

This need only appeared at night, a nostalgic wish that I could screenshoot what I was experiencing. A simple photograph would not incapasulate the out of focus frame of my glasses, the refraction off my negative lenses, the expanse of what I was seeing, knowing it was more than pigments and pixels.

But never have I tried to capture the night, contain it into a easy misplaced SD card. In a pessimistic, cynical manner I knew that the I would not be able to get the perfect shot, even with my decent camera and its speed setting. I knew all those pictures were too sharp, it's edges too ingraved and jagged. The preciousness of the view would be lost; the awe of it was in how slowly you marvelled in its beauty and how quickly it was flew past under the wheels of the car.

I liked the way everything transformed as the sky did; in the day, nature ruled, the sun painting everything from a rainbow palate. Where all colour was free to their individualism. At night, the reign of mankind could be truely felt. Everything was black, nature confined into silhouettes. Buildings lit up, a landscape of street lamps that replaced the stars. Sometimes I wonder, when I see this glowing city at night, if we were the stars of the sky and the sky the dark and medival land.

In this night dimension, everything is the same but different. Like looking at a picture of yourself in a colour manipulation filter, a face familiar but alien.

The world becomes one big artpiece at these late hours. The contrast is carefully increased, an electric foreground and a black background. In this electronic gloom, light angles come from everywhere; the car, the lamps, the shops, the phone. Each arrival gives a brand new pictures because everything down here gives off glow. The sun bleaches all of this detail away, dulling all other light. Takes away all the mystery, illuminating the shadows where creativity lurks.

But can you do me a favor next time you're driving late at night? I want you to look out at the window, take note of the background, middleground and foreground, how refelctions glow and shadows are absolute. Absorb the compositional perfection that surrounds you everyday, do your best to be grateful about this space and it's intricacies. It makes life so much worth living.

So that's basically how writers doodle. This is unlike anything I have ever written before; I tend to be more literal and narrative. Instead of airy fairy in the air talking about the beauty of the world and my... *adjusts collar uncomfortably* feelings.

But if you enjoyed that and want to give my written pieces a try, I have two. Both are crossovers of Percy Jackson, one with Maze Runner (Labyrinth Runner) and the other with The Amazing Spiderman (Annabeth & Spidermen Don't Mix).

I may post more of these, although I doubt they will be good and emotional as this one. Most of them will be from my point of view, about me... basically. A poetic rant would be another way to put it. The options range self descriptions, why I love my cat to how the universe is a beach where I am only a speck of sand.

You will know if it's a written piece if there is a ✒ symbol in the part name. I won't rate it since I am always so proud of my essay but I get s~~t marks. I seriously doubt my ability to rate my written pieces properly.

But if you don't like this idea of written art also being included, wanting this story to be exclusively illustrative art, please comment.

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♥ Jamie Edge