Drawing with a White Gel Pen
Known as the smart, quiet girl who sits in the back of class and draws on everything, I’ve never exactly stood out among my peers. Only when I rolled up the left sleeve of the black jacket I wear everyday, did everyone do a double take. On my arm are flashes of brilliant colors (usually neon highlighter), interspersed with white lines swirling and looping my left hand and arm. The white comes from a white gel pen, special to me because it is a gift from my best friend. Almost every day, a new drawing appears on my left hand, each with its individual, unique meaning.
Most days, the back of my hand will be covered in intricate designs (like Henna) with bright, neon colors. These sporadic splashes of color among a sea of white patterns, are similar to a western parotia’s green throat patch, which contrasts with its black body. When I first watched the documentary Our Planet, I was immediately drawn in by the depictions of this bird. Watching Our Planet and other nature documentaries like Life, Planet Earth, and Night on Earth inspires me to learn more about all sorts of animals. The knowledge I’ve gained from the documentaries and my school’s ecological habitat, the Living Lab, makes me want to protect the natural world against the harmful effects of humanity as a veterinarian.
On days when I am feeling reflective, large, five-petaled flowers with pointed tips appear on the back of my hand. These giant flowers consist of a gradient that shifts from navy blue to deep indigo to warm magenta to rich orange to a brillant, sunflower yellow. These colors mirror the gorgeous sky of a West Coast sunset, a sight I seek out when I stay late at school for e-sports tournaments. Each time I gaze into the sublime sky, my thoughts drift to ideas for future writing projects, or the evolutionary advantage of a peacock’s colorful tail. Sometimes, my mind crowds with unhelpful thoughts, too. I’ve learned to focus on the sunset, and to shut off the thoughts that stress me out.
Every three years, after taking a twelve hour flight to Shanghai to visit my relatives, stars and plants appear on my arm and hand, which characterize the night sky. In China, nighttime is a welcoming respite from the humid heat during the day, which is why I spend a lot of time with my relatives at that time. Since my visits to China are brief and rare, I value every second I spend with my grandparents, cousins, aunts, and uncles. I realize how important it is to study Mandarin and understand traditions like Chinese New Year and Midautumn Festival, because if I do not honor my cultural connections, I will lose the glue that keeps me connected to them.
My white gel pen is not reserved for creating flowers and patterns on my own hands. When I volunteered at MOCA’s summer camp, my white pen was often the center of attention. Many days, a line of children formed at my table, waiting for me to draw flowers on their hands. Whether it’s my classmates at school or the kids that I volunteer with, it is easier for me to open up to people when I’m drawing on them. At MOCA, I was also able to teach the kids that creativity can be expressed almost anywhere.
My drawings rarely last more than a day; I start over every morning with a blank canvas, containing plenty of empty space for more patterns, flowers, and stars. As my future opens up, there are different colored gel pens to explore and many more creative outlets to experiment with. When I get to college, I hope to be known not as the quiet girl that sits at the back of the class and draws, but as the artistic, thoughtful, cultured, friendly, aspiring veterinarian.