Ximending / 西門町

西門町不是我喜歡去的地方，可是我最近很想挑戰畫西門站出口的廣場，那些高高低低的廣告牌總讓我想到紐約的時代廣場。

I am not a fan of Ximending, but I couldn't resist my latest urge to draw a sketch of the square near the exit of Ximen MRT station. The colorful billboards there always remind me of Times Square in New York City. 

抱著得在人群裡速寫的決心，我就這麼去了西門町，不知道是不是太不自在，我很少在一個地方繞來繞去卻還是覺得猶豫，想畫那些滄桑的阿伯，想畫那些年幼的少男少女，最後我捨棄西門紅樓，在這裡有歷史的古蹟比不上如流水般的人群，因為後者是西門町的特殊風景。

Knowing that I would have to put up with the crowds, I set out for the hotspot of teen subculture.  Still, I felt ill at ease because I hardly felt so hesitant after having taken a long look at a place. Since I wanted to draw the aging veterans that hang out here and the trendy adolescents, I gave up the Red House. Here, historical buildings don't compare to the river-like crowds because the latter are what makes Ximending unique. 

速寫本的形狀也決定了圖像的可能，新的Rhodia速寫本是長方形，我只能把半圓形廣場截成一半，然後開始人物的堆疊，畫完一層人物有另外一層，多半是等待的人，講手機的人，眼前晃過來的有很多老人，好玩的是，這裡的人那麼多，卻沒有一個人和我說話，連坐在我身旁的老人，也只是默默地看著我畫圖，離去之前還正面瞧我一眼，無言地。雖然人潮像螞蟻群，我的畫面都快擠滿了人，這卻是我畫過最寂寞的地方。

The shape of a sketchbook plays a key role in the formation of an image. My new Rhodia sketchbook is rectangular, so I couldn't help but cut the square into halves. I started by drawing people in the foreground, then I moved on to the second layer of people, the third and the fourth. Most of them were waiting and talking on the cell. In front of me walked by several limp old men. It was funny that though  the square was packed with people, no one came to talk to me. Even though the old man sitting next to me leaned sideways to look at my drawing from time to time, he didn't say a word. Before he left, he turned to look at me in the eye, in silence. My image was almost full, but this is the most lonely place I have ever drawn. 

通常回家之後我都忍不住上色，因為著色是件很快樂的事，可是我想不出來西門町的色調，因為太多了，而又如凱特琳娜說的，白色是所有色調的混色，那麼黑白應該最適合此處吧！

Usually I can't help coloring a sketch at home for I derive much pleasure from doing it. Yet I can't figure out the color schemes of Ximending since there are too many. And like Caterina said, white is the color when you combine all colors, so maybe black and white are for the place.