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Incredible Etch-A-Sketch Artistry
gvetchedintime.com — With the average portrait taking 60-70 hours to complete, George Vlosich III has to be one of the most talented artists I have seen. It is incredible to gaze at these lifelike portraits of famous people.
Nik420- 2760 diggs
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- Knome, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14Thats wonderful, does anyone know how he keeps the sketchs from erasing once he is done?
- Nik420, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10Maybe he drills a hole in and removes the excess powder. Just a theory
- johnjreiser, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5He probably removes the back, dumps the powder, sprays the backside of the screen with adhesive and then replaces the back. Shake all you want, then.
- sv650touring, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13Better question: How the hell does he make diagonal lines?
- paulmike3, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8"He probably removes the back, dumps the powder, sprays the backside of the screen with adhesive and then replaces the back. Shake all you want, then."
Close... He's actually a friend of a friend of mine here in Cleveland... I think she had a sketch or two if his too...
He takes the back off and dumps the powder that clears the screen when shaken... Without that, there's no way to cover what is drawn... Seal it up, and the drawing is permanent... - drigz, on 11/04/2007, -6/+2Just very small zigzags no doubt...
- sasane, on 11/04/2007, -0/+5If you can remove the back cover and dump the extra powder, then couldn't you just do that to begin with and then draw the picture on the back of the screen with a stylus? Sure, it wouldn't be honest, but it would be a hell of a lot faster...
- haloevo, on 10/12/2007, -6/+5That is absolutely increadible...
As far as I know, you can't erase on these things too, is that correct?
Absolutely stunning.- Nik420, on 10/12/2007, -5/+6Yeah, you just shake them to clear the screen
- SkeletaLlama, on 10/12/2007, -3/+53Too bad he can't make a website without pop-up windows.
- a1programmer, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5You can only erase the entire thing. You can't erase a small part of it.
- haloevo, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3Well *****, that's what I meant...
- harrisonpowers, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Elf comes to mind..
Although this is truly incredible, I must wonder how awkward this man must be. - Scriptic, on 10/12/2007, -18/+5Probably is a very akward man.
I personally would just take a photo of an etch-a-sketch and photoshop an etch in. - joshness, on 10/12/2007, -10/+5Amazing, simply amazing! You can even order one of his sketches at http://www.gvetchedintime.com/web/order.html . However, imagine having to ship that thing. You order a Cal Ripken and you get a washed out sketch due to poor handling. There must be something that he does to preserve the image. Too bad his site doesn't give too much information concerning it. He only talks about how he has to retrace a line 20 to 30 times just to darken it properly. Also, how he can't make a single mistake.
- Steel_Blue, on 11/04/2007, -3/+31What if his gallery had an earthquake go through it?
- chris9902, on 10/12/2007, -4/+24I think there would be more important things than if your Etch-A-Sketch still had a picture....
- CamoChris, on 10/12/2007, -23/+4Quote from main page: "Little did he realize the Etch-A-Sketch would change pop-art ant (sic) his life forever."
Oh dear, you get dugg and that happens, a t instead of a d, how embarrassing. - Grimdotdotdot, on 10/12/2007, -7/+7This is simular to a guy who does drawings with a typewriter:
http://digg.com/videos_people/Taking_ASCII_art_to_the_next_level- Terc, on 10/12/2007, -8/+1Usually I mod people down for posting links to their stories in the comments section, however, this is somewhat relavent to this story, and very cool. Thanks for the link
now don't go spamming your articles all over other stories anymore.
- Terc, on 10/12/2007, -8/+1Usually I mod people down for posting links to their stories in the comments section, however, this is somewhat relavent to this story, and very cool. Thanks for the link
- Zaphrod, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Ive seen these before, they drill out the back of the etch-a-sketch then fix the powder with a spray adhesive.
- theLEGENDisBACK, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Thats talent...lol and time
- MightyGiant, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1Incredibilis
- notfred, on 10/12/2007, -38/+4The talent is in doing this on an etch-a-sketch. The actual drawings are mediocre. Look at them.
Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should.- Gutterpunk, on 10/12/2007, -4/+33You should consider applying your "Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should" before you post a comment ...
- missflibbles, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Man, this guy is really creating an affront to mankind with these etch-a-sketch drawings. Retard.
- Legion303, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1The art really is mediocre (and downright ***** in many cases). The only impressive element in this story is that he did it on an Etch-A-Sketch, and I've seen much better art in the same medium. I don't know why people are jizzing themselves over this.
- thorseth, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7This would be very zen like and cool if the images were just erased when he had to do a new one. Now its just a very awkward way to make pen style drawings...
- CosmicJustice, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9"Now its just a very awkward way to make pen style drawings..."
Agreed. It's not particularly clever, just painfully tedious. It's like watching those guys that hang themselves from hooks. - sstidman, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6An awkward form of pen drawings? I think that really understates the difficulty of drawing using an etch-a-sketch. A couple of things make this much more difficult than a pen drawing. The first is that he is limited to the X and Y directions for drawing. With a pen, you can draw in any direction you want. The second issue is that you can lift a pen and set it down anywhere you want on the drawing. With an etch-a-sketch, the entire drawing must be one continuous line. I think drawing this way is far more difficult than some of the folks on this thread give him credit for. So the sketches don't look as good as those done with a pen; of course they don't. Given that handicap, his work is really amazing.
Which brings to mind a question: I noticed on at least one of the drawings that he has drawn some completely isolated text with no line connecting it to other text. How is that possible without cheating? I can't think of any way that it can be done. - BLKMGK, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I met someone years ago who could make drawings liek this - not as good but VERY good. I watched him spend hours on my Etch-A-Sketch doing some drawing and it was wild to see him have to retrace the same connecting lines over and over. Honestly when I first read this I thoguht it might be the guy I met but it's not as this guy is apparently far younger. In any case this stuff is HARD, just try it sometime! I really do wish his site gave more details though and an animation of his doing a simple drawing would be cool too.
P.S. You can do more than X & Y if you turn both knobs at once. You CAN get angles but to get them straight is tough and good luck tracing over them on a return! Not somethnig I'd want to do for a living - it has to be hell on his hands after awhile! - Dhalgren, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1sstidman:
"Which brings to mind a question: I noticed on at least one of the drawings that he has drawn some completely isolated text with no line connecting it to other text. How is that possible without cheating? I can't think of any way that it can be done."
Give a link to an image you're talking about...
- CosmicJustice, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9"Now its just a very awkward way to make pen style drawings..."
- !3en, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I remeber this being on digg like a some months way back... But it's good to see other people discovering the site...
- Sibre, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0is a nice article, and nice to see people still like it :)
- cyberfly, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0Yeah it's been on Digg before, but is a nice recap nonetheless.
- Nik420, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I beg to differ. I searched extensively on Digg for anything to do with Etch-A-Sketch before I posted it. There is nothing about it anywhere
- Sibre, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0@ Nik420 - Actually, it has been on digg before. I have searched for articles on digg that I know I have seen before, only to come up with no search results - no biggie. No search engine is perfect, and digg is still in beta right now, so it's very possible that you just couldn't find the article
- samk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2http://digg.com/tech_news/Etch-a-Sketch_Pop_Art
googled it - Nik420, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I stand corrected. It was submitted before. I did everything I could to avoid a dupe. Since it is the same page on the other article, I am surprised the Digg engine didn't inform me.
- perryb, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Good to see that cutting edge art gets patronage at the Whitehouse.
- Xoligy, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2Deja vu.
- AlexApetrei, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Incredible yes,
on crack , evidently yes.
It is however not as incredible as that indian guy who makes masive color posters using a tipewriter and many sheets of paper.- Sibre, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I don't think the point was to say that he's any better than any other artist. It's just to point him out and say "Hey, this is kinda cool, and this guy's got talent, too." Digg an article about the guy who makes the posters with the typewriter and get him seen, too. I think that is the whole point anyway, correct me if I'm wrong.
- cope, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3how bad would it be if they sneezed and drew a line up the screen.
lol - stinkstank, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5Most excellent, yet old, item. He sure has a bizarre choice of subjects, tho. Not so much 'artist' as 'superfan of mediocre celebrities and athletes'.
- Egoist, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6Please, regail us with tales of your successes and exploits. I'm sure we'd all love to hear how you've achieved so much more than the Beatles and Muhammad Ali.
- CamoChris, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3The Beatles and Ali are one thing, but as I live outside of the US and have little to no interest in Baseball or Basketball I don't know who Iverson or Ripken are.
- slugicide, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1That's exactly what I was thinking! Not really an artist, but I can appreciate the time taken.
- aramael, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9The Etch-A-Sketch FAQ: http://www.flin.demon.co.uk/humour/etch.htm
- thorseth, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Please read this! I was almost crying...
- cgallant, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1This guy sure is amazingly talented. There are also some amazingly talented artists who make portraits out of elephant poo. It would be great if this guy put his amazingly disciplined precision towards something other than Elvis portraits.
- CamoChris, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"There are also some amazingly talented artists who make portraits out of elephant poo." Thanks for sharing that revelation with us.
- spine, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I give this guy props. I can't even draw a cirle without making it look like a rectangular oval of some sort.
- bwilstyle, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0With a new Digg comes rehashed stories.
- digitallysick, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1great skills! i used to love etch a sketch but this is extremely impressive!
- operator99, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1craftsman or artist - you decide.
- noliberalbull, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I believe this guy was on that Nickelodeon game show where a panel of four tried to guess what the kids talent was... can't remember the name... all I remember about the show is Summer Sanders...
- davemail, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Graphic designers (old ones) will likely agree that this guy's style echoes Clipper art from the 1970s. Good stuff, nevertheless.
- WhiteNoise, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2How about a time lapse video of the process.It would be awesome to watch.
- V1ncent, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Disaster struck the Etch-A-Sketch museum which lost all it's works in an Earthquake...
- tehgooch, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2And I thought that article on here a while ago was joking about web sites made purely out of images. Spooky.
- speaker219, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Here is a link to the gallery:
http://www.gvetchedintime.com/web/shaking.html - speaker219, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Here is some more amazing Etch-A-Sketch art:
http://www.etchartist.com/Collection.htm - CoolWind, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3If you remove the back before you begin, then you might be able to "pick up" the pen the pen to move it without creating a line, and you could erase mistakes by carefully applying powder where you want it. This is not meant to be critical or negative, but just realistic.
I think it's great that someone masters a toy that others can do little with. And if you can turn it into a career, more pow[d]er to you. - uownedge, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Very cool! I never was all that great with an Etch-A-Sketch.
Well fine! I'm going to go draw boobs on the Etch-A-Sketch!
Fine! They always come out square anyway! - fledglyng, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Remember that 11 year old girl that painted horribly ugly pictures, but was a 'genius' because of her age? I kinda feel the same about this guy: His mastery of the Etch-a-Sketch is indeed impressive, but his choice of content and execution is bland at best. Reminds me of old Trapper-Keeper art.
- RareSaturn, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1meh
- 1337d00d, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1all i can say is WOW
- alf86, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1And I used to think I was cool when I managed a halfway decent circle.
- hiisee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Hello,beautiful they are!
- videogamechamp, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0That's pretty damn amazing.
- Codee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1When i was a kid I always wanted one, until the jerk across the street ate the powder out of his. My mom freaked out. Never got one.
Oh well, nice work. - ceagan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Here is an idea:
Let a robot manipulate the etch-a-sketch to perform the drawing. Then you can shake it, and change it between when people come over, and they will always question their own memory of what the picture was the last time they were there... - bug20k1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1hax!
- snoday, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I never had an etch-a-sketch as a kid, but I was always interested. I bought one when I started high school, and it turned out I was really good. I would purposely do something good and then shake it up just to see people's reactions. My problem is, I can't get the back off to remove the powder or anything. They seem to have heat-sealed the plastic. How could you possibly get the back off without messing up your picture?! (Or hurting yourself.)
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