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night

2023/11/16

November 16, 2023
A dark night. Rearing up out of the ground is what appears to be a tree, although it's hard to make out in the gloom. The tree does not have any branches, it's just a winding trunk, extending upward. Hanging in the sky, right behind the tree, is a large orange moon with a smiley-face on it. Below, to the left of the tree, emerging out of the gloom, is a figure wearing a tall hat and carrying a lantern, which casts an orange light on the trunk of the tree. The figure is dimly illuminated by both the lantern and the smiling moon in the sky. The drawing is black ink on a dark blue background. The moon is orange; the lantern and lantern light is yellow.

2023/11/14

November 14, 2023
A large torso with two legs and no arms. Where the head and shoulders would be is a grassy surface. This is the lower half of a creature, made from soil. The creature stands on a field at night. No moon is visible, but there seems to be moonlight reflecting off the creature. Stuck in the grassy top part of the creature is a short shovel. Buried inside the creature is a crumbling skull, off which the moonlight is also reflecting even though it's totally buried in the soil. This is a black drawing on a dark blue surface, with the moonlight rendered in very pale blue.

2023/11/12

November 12, 2023
A scene at night. A ramshackle construction sits on a beach: a small shack, with another shack raised on stilts, fused into one corner of the first one. Both have windows, but the window in the ground-floor shack is lit. A television aerial is planted on the roof of the second shack. Flying over both of them is a large pirate flag, fixed to a pole emerging from roof of the ground-floor shack. This is a slightly different design of a pirate flag, though: instead of a skull, there's a smiley-face. The moon sits right above the horizon, reflecting on the ocean, either rising or setting. The drawing is rendered in black ink; the lit window is yellow; the moon is a pale white, and the rest of the scene is dark blue.

2023/10/31

October 31, 2023
A spooky house. The house is tall and thin—"spindly" might be a better word—with at least three stories, and two covered porches, one above the other. The architecture is almost cartoonish: curvy and warped. Most of the windows are dark, except for the very top one in the attic, which glows a bright, otherworldly green. Nothing is seen in this window, just the light. Above the house hangs a large, orange moon, the shadows suggesting a skeletal face. On the first-floor covered veranda stands a blurry, translucent white figure.

2023/10/27

October 27, 2023
A forest at night: the full moon high in the sky, and a black wall of narrow, twisted pines. A low fog hangs over a path. Walking along the path, on the right side of the drawing, is a person holding a walking stick, the moonlight reflecting off them. They are going to need that stick, because creeping directly behind them, crouched and ready, is something else: something vaguely humanoid but furry and brutish; something that does not look like it comes out during the day. The drawing is black ink on a dark teal background. The moon and the moonlight are white.

2023/10/24

October 24, 2023
A huge asteroid-like rock hangs suspended in a dark blue starry sky. Built on the top of a rock is a small concrete house that looks a bit slipshod in construction: uneven walls, uneven windows. In the back is a porch with a roof. Hanging from the bottom of the asteroid are what looks like weeds or Spanish moss. In the top right of the sky is a bright, full moon, the white light reflecting off the roof and sides of the house. The house has several windows, most of which are dark, but one of which is lit with bright yellow light. No living things are visible.

2023/10/20

October 20, 2023
A window on a bright yellow wall in a well-lit room. Outside the window, it is night: a deep blue. Also outside the window, peering through it, one large paw against the glass, is the huge, shapeless figure of the Groke. You will find the ground beneath this window frozen solid tomorrow, as though the dead of winter visited this one specific spot. Nothing will grow there until spring.

2023/10/19

October 19, 2023
It's night: a clear sky, and a bright full moon. A figure is standing in front of a large, abandoned-looking building, shining a flashlight beam on an arched doorway. Above the doorway is an ornate metal arm from which hangs a sign, sort of like what you'd see on a tavern in an old city. The sign has the word "exit" on it. There is an arched window above the doorway, completely black, except for a sinister figure looking out of it. The figure looks like it is wearing a coat and tie; the face, dimly illuminated by the moon, looks like a skull or mask.

2023/10/03

October 3, 2023
A roughly bullet-shaped creature—cylindrical body, domed head, two spindly arms—stands on the ground at night in front of a small fire. The creature's left arm is up, fingers apart, conjuring up a flame. A full moon and starry sky are visible over the creature's right shoulder. The creature's face is eerily lit from below by the small fire in front of it.

2023/10/02

October 2, 2023
A large stone archway with a small cylindrical turret built on one side of it. The turret has a glowing window on the side. A full moon is shining in a clear, starry sky. Inside the archway is built what looks like a decrepit wooden platform. Sitting on the platform is an oddly large humanoid creature smoking a pipe.

2023/10/01

October 1, 2023
A glowing, elongated, house-sized pumpkin at night. The two blazing yellow eyes look like upper story windows; the mouth is an open doorway. There is no nose. In the right window sits a black cat. The yellow light spilling out of the mouth is reflected off the ground as though the ground is slightly wet or icy. In the foggy sky sits a full moon, the pale light reflecting off the stem of the pumpkin. This beautiful Sunday the first of October is decorative gourd season, and we at #notesArt Industries have been awaiting this moment since the weather got warm half a year earlier.

2023/09/29

September 29, 2023
A small figure sits on the edge of what could be a giant cube or a building. The roof is deep blue; the left face of the cube is bright green, and the right face is bright red. The left face has a window in it, in which a cat is sitting. The strange part is that while the edge that the figure sits on looks like the outer wall of the building, the perspective applied to the window makes it look as if the window is set on the inner wall. The figure and the cat are looking at each other across the gap of two perspectives that don't match. Behind the figure is a dark night sky with a moon and some slight fog.

2023/09/19

September 19, 2023
A night scene, with three blazing white objects in a dark indigo sky. The horizon is crimson. In the middle is an archway with light blazing from it, suggesting a portal or gateway of some sort. A figure stands in the archway, silhouetted in the white light.

2023/09/16

September 16, 2023
A clear night, the deep blue sky dominated by a blazing white moon. Reaching into the sky are two tall, thin buildings: imagine very thin skyscrapers without the rest of a city. They're planted in the middle of nowhere. There's something eerily non-human about them; almost like some natural construction—wasp nests, termite mounds—rather than buildings. The ground around them is barren, reflecting the moonlight, and could even be snow-covered. In both structures, only one window is illuminated. In the one closest to the viewer, a silhouette is visible. The drawing style uses a texture comprised of rough, heavy brushstrokes.

2023/09/13

September 13, 2023
An eerie scene. A tall, spindly figure and a thick, crooked tree stand silhouetted against an unsettling green light: the atmosphere of a foggy wood or swamp at night. The figure stands on the left; the tree is on the right. The figure carries a small briefcase or lunchbox in one hand, and has a broom in the other. The unevenness of the ground suggests a swamp or wild area.

2023/09/08

September 8, 2023
A tall, oddly, thin building stands in the middle of nowhere. It's a dark, starless night. The building is about three stories high, but only as wide as two ordinary-sized doorways; imagine a three-story walk-in closet with no windows, except one at the very top on the left side of the building. That window is boarded shut, but something is clearly going on inside, judging by the eerie green light filtering between the boards. The door is closed, but the same light is trickling underneath it. The door has some papers stuck to it. The lower left side of the building seems to have a chunk taken out of it. The most distinctive feature of the building, though, is the giant vertical sign bolted onto the right side. The sign is about 2/3 as tall as the building itself and has the word "Diner" on it in glowing, radioactive-green lettering; the same color as the light from inside the building. The light from the sign illuminates the ground under it. Perched on top of the sign is a large bird that looks like a raven. In the background is the blurry suggestion of a treeline.

2023/09/05

September 5, 2023
A large bird-like creature stands on a branch at night. The creature looks a little like an owl, with long pointed ears, but has a face more suggestive of a cat. In the center of the creature's chest, there's a round, brightly lit yellow window with someone looking out of it. The creature's eyes are also round and yellow. The creature stands against a starry sky.

2023/08/29

August 29, 2023
A vast desert plain. Above, the sky is black and starry; below, a light blazes on the horizon, less like a sunset and more like a bonfire. Hanging above the plain is what appears to be an asteroid with a huge eye on it. The eye is looking down at the desert, where a tiny figure stands, both arms raised, seemingly signaling to it.

2023/08/25

August 25, 2023
A cliff, and then a ravine. It's that part of the evening where it's mostly night: not quite black, but a deep blue. Parked on top of the cliff, at the left, is a car with its lights on. To the right, the cliff drops into a sharp, rocky ravine, filled with weeds and small trees. Down in the depths of the ravine is a person hunting for something with a flashlight. In the background is a blurry suggestion of woods. There's no moon or stars in the sky. The sky is empty.

2023/08/21

August 21, 2023
A large person with a shaved head and a suit and tie, apparently walking down a city street at night. Behind them is a streetlight; further behind are the suggestions of skyscrapers. The whole scene is rendered in rough textures and bright red, green, and blue, suggesting a neon woodcut.

2023/08/19

August 19, 2023
A hillside, gleaming in the moonlight, possibly covered with snow. In the sky sits a blazing full moon. The whole scene is blue. Cast sharply in the moonlight, moving up the side of the hill, is a shapeless lump of a figure: a troll-like creature with large paws, a heavy brow, a long nose, and white, staring eyes. It appears to be transfixed by the full moon. This, for anyone who is familiar with Tove Jansson's Moominland series, is the Groke: out and about on a night when no one but the Groke would be stirring.

2023/07/19

July 19, 2023
A scene through a tall, grimy window with venetian blinds at the top. The window looks out onto two tenement buildings, either next door or across the street. It's night, but not a dark night so much as a dull, cloudy, light-polluted night. The buildings are mostly dark, with no street lights or external illumination visible. There is no moon or stars. A few of the windows in the buildings are dimly lit, suggesting television screens or reading lamps inside. No figures can be seen behind the windows.

2023/07/16

July 16, 2023
An overcast night, with no stars and only a hazy moon in the sky. Below is a house; more specifically, the cross-section of a small house. By "small", it appears that the house has only three rooms: a cramped little attic, a living room area, and below, a basement. The interiors of all three rooms are visible, like an open dollhouse. The attic is very dark and mostly empty, except for some boxes, dimly illuminated by the light coming in from a skylight. The living room is empty, except for a glowing television and a person standing in front of it, slightly hunched, hypnotized by the light from the screen. There is no light in the living room other than that which comes from the television screen. There is one indiscernible picture hung on the wall, and no other furnishings. But it's the basement that's most startling. The basement is totally empty, except for an enormous red blob with tufted fur, horns, and no facial features to speak of. The blob has one outstretched, clawed hand, reaching through a hole it has evidently punched in the basement wall. It appears to be digging a tunnel under the small porch of the house. If one is going to harbor monsters, one needs to bury them deep and remain alert.

2023/07/11

July 11, 2023
A mailbox post rises up from a ground covered by thick fog. Placed on the arm of the post where the mailbox would be is a small house-shaped box that does indeed resemble a mailbox. The door on the front is closed. There are suggestions that it is no ordinary mailbox, however, like the glowing, circular window on the side, and the large bell hanging over the door of the mailbox. Below the mailbox, nearly engulfed by the fog, stands a small figure. The size of the figure compared to the mailbox post suggesting that this post is as tall as a multi-story building. The figure is reaching up and grasping a string that dangles from the bell, as though ringing the bell to alert whoever's living inside the mailbox that they have a visitor.

2023/07/10

July 10, 2023
A scene in a dark room. A tall, thin person stands by a grimy window, looking out at the tenement building next door. It's night, one of those dull gray city nights that's never really that dark. The windows in the building next door are illuminated with the blue glow of television screens. The light from outside illuminates the inner frame of the window, and the Venetian blinds at the top of the window. The person by the window is seen in profile. The person is smoking a cigarette and has short, crew-cut hair and a leather jacket.

2023/07/09

July 9, 2023
A smartphone rises up from a layer of dense fog. The base of the phone and the ground can't be seen; just an amorphous carpet of clouds. The screen of the phone is very blurry, as though obscured by a layer of vapor. The screen shows glowing colored squares, arranged haphazardly, not in the usual grid of app icons. Silhouettes are visible in the squares, like people looking out of windows. Above the phone, a blurry moon is in the sky. The moonlight reflects off the top of the phone.

2023/07/06

July 6, 2023
It is very late evening or very early morning. Standing in a grassy meadow is a giant round sign, maybe 10 feet in diameter: a smiley-face that appears to be constructed from metal and plastic, like a sign for a gas station or roadside attraction. The sign is falling apart: panels are missing or broken, revealing the metal framework underneath, and plants dangle from the frame. In the background is the suggestion of a foggy tree line. Standing to the right of the sign is a person, shining a flashlight up at it. The darkness and the beam from the flashlight throw the seams and contours of the sign into sharp relief, making the smile empty and menacing. As Lon Chaney once said, "There's nothing funny about a clown in the moonlight."

2023/07/02

July 2, 2023
A dark, starless night. A small, barren island in the middle of a large body of water, which is perhaps the ocean, since no other land is visible. Rising straight up from the island is a tall, craggy tower of rock. The bulk of the tower is rough and misshapen, and, while bizarre, still looks naturally formed; the top is an actual, cylindrical turret that appears to be crumbling. There is a dark window on one side of the turret, and a limp flag at the very top. About halfway up the tower, standing on one of the more prominent crags, is a dark figure holding out a blazing white lantern. Far out on the water is another white light from a ship. The figure and the ship seem to be signaling each other. Something is afoot.

2023/06/28

June 28, 2023
A house stands on a rocky hill at night. Behind the house, the sky is filled with billowing phosphorescent green clouds: could be fog or maybe even the aurora. Fog appears to be hanging low to the ground as well. On the second floor of the house, two windows are lit.

2023/06/03

June 3, 2023
A tall, very narrow, white building of approximately two or three stories that looks a little like a church. There's a regular door at the base of the building—more like a closet door than what you'd expect the doorway of a church to be—and a fancy arched window at the top. It's a clear, starry night. The building has a crosslike ornament at the pinnacle of the roof, and three abstract figures carved into the front of it. The door has the same crosslike symbol. Fastened to the right side of the building, in the most haphazard way possible, is an extremely crudely-constructed shack: an irregular concoction of boards and scraps with a rope ladder dangling from it. A television aerial sticks out of the roof of the shack. The window is illuminated, suggesting that someone is home, but no one is seen.

2023/06/02

June 2, 2023
A small, grassy hill, far out in the middle of a forest. It's early evening on a damp, foggy night. The sky is a deep blue, not black. There is a full moon wrapped in fog, with a blurry tree line in the background. On top of the hill stands a pink, glowing vending machine (the soda kind, not the food kind). On top of the vending machine sits a cat.

2023/05/30

May 30, 2023
On the left of the drawing, a stark, perfectly vertical cliff wall, interrupted only by a doorway set in the wall, a small deck with a railing jutting out from it. It's night; stars on a slate gray sky. Above the doorway is a glowing spherical lamp, similar to a streetlamp. Next to the doorway is a red train signal. Pulled up to the deck is what looks like a subway car, except it is floating in space and doesn't have wheels.

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    All work © Chris Silverman