pikajane
73512
877
37
Last year I was sent to India for the sole purpose of chronicling photos I took from my trip on an Etch A Sketch. Here's the gallery of finished work.
My primary source of transportation in India was the tuk-tuk, aka the autorickshaw. Nothing like sharing a road with vehicles, men dragging large carts, elephants and camels. Traffic in India is constant pandemonium.
Gif for context - photo taken in Old Delhi
This is an Etch A Sketch I made of some of the detail in the ornate ceiling of the Hall of Mirrors, in the Amer fort (near Jaipur).
Gif for context!
Made of sandstone and marble, Humayun's Tomb is reminiscent of the Taj Mahal. The moment I saw it I knew I was going to immortalize it on an Etch A Sketch.
Gif for context - notice the removal of foliage!
The last destination I traveled to in India was Agra, home of the Taj Mahal. We stopped at the Agra Fort first - a behemoth of architectural wonder. I was drawn to the sweeping arches of the Diwan-I-Am, known in English as the hall of public audience. It took over 10 hours to render this on an Etch A Sketch.
Gif for context - nice arches, right?
And finally - the Taj Mahal! This Etch A Sketch also took over 10 hours for me to render. Our tour group woke up at 3:30 am so we could see the Taj Mahal at sunrise, and it was definitely worth it. We were the first people in line and, for an ever-so-brief moment, we had a completely unobstructed view of the magnificent structure. It's a moment I will always hold close to my heart. And it was definitely fortunate for me - it allowed me to shoot a great reference photo for this Etch A Sketch rendition.
Gif for context! I took some artistic license with the foliage and removed the construction.
I hope you enjoyed this album - this series is the product of one of the craziest and most memorable weeks of my life.
JSymphony
Very talented @OP a cool take on a visually demanding country
raglems
You are so talented!!!
AchilleDemGaming
I'll take strange art skills for $300 Alex
enokidaki
What kind of savantism is this?
wetred
This is very cool. This is what I love about imgur. Thank you.
butmahitsjustmebooo
Then there was an earthquake and everything was lost.
CheckMyFolders
Now shake it
commentisrelevant
How in christ's name do you make the suspended lines?
pikajane
When it looks disconnected, it's usually a tiny clump of aluminum powder drifting behind the stylus as I work. It's all 1 line!
five09
That is cool as shit! I looked at all the other ones you have too and they're all pretty awesome
lifefeed
That's an oddly specific job.
Shartifartfast
emmalilly
I feel like Wes Anderson had something to do with this
napsmear
Unravelled
esleone
RobertEmmet
On the heavy perspective one from the Diwan-I-Am, I came. That is amazing architecture, a lovely photograph, and a mind-boggling etchasketch
youDontKnowMeByNow
You are a crazy one with insane skills +1
mythologization
WHERE IS YOUR PORTFOLIO
pikajane
ahaha, you can see my art at princessetchasketch.com
mythologization
Ty, needed more in my life <3
ImTheOA
Best I could do on short notice /a/RqNvx
pikajane
/a/4j8k1
pistachiomoustache
This is amazing!
Bob64
yvonnatron
careful, those tuktuks will run you over like it's their job.
pikajane
TELL ME ABOUT IT
whatinthehellisthat
This is cool as hell! FRONT PAGE! FRONT PAGE!
Zoltar666
I did a square once. Actually an rectangle. With one side bit too long. And a bump. It was shit really.
RatoMolhado
ErinFromTheOffice
Do you manage to do these on your first try or are there a a lot of "FUCK"+[flip]+[shake]+[start over]?
pikajane
I used to have to restart more, but I only rarely do now! I had to restart the tuk-tuk, though
CobraCommander04
Do you use a transparent trace of the photo? The gifs look like all the dimensions are exactly the same as the photos.
pikajane
I worked closely with a 1:1 scale reference photo and carefully planned everything out before beginning the final rendition.
pikajane
you can see discrepancies between the reference and etch images in the details - I had to work super slowly because I wanted accuracy.
CobraCommander04
That's cool! I can barely draw a straight line on those things.
Lampwall
GIF TOO FAST
pikajane
I agree - I made some slower transitional clips but I never converted them from mp4s to gifs so imgur is stuck with this.
Molotovbliss
I believe imgur has a tool for such http://imgur.com/vidgif may not work well on mobile but desktop works great or https://ezgif.com
pikajane
will do this going forward!
OdanargTheMajestic
Did you get any pictures of the street shitters?
kevlarbear
You would love those, don't you?
deadknightdistrict8
Lol
RdRymer
India super power by 2020
nedminsane
Street shitting our way to the top
TheEmperorOfSanFrancisco
@op how do you prevent shakage of the etch-a-sketches?
pikajane
I drill a hole in the back of the Etch A Sketch and remove the aluminum powder from the inside!
TheEmperorOfSanFrancisco
I did not know you could do that! Thank you!
CaptainCurvyCutlass
Okay so if this is legit? That's awesome as hell. I can barely make a straight line with an etch a Sketch.
Cisforstupidthatsgoodenoughforme
I can -only- make a straight line on an etch-a-sketch.
MIT3000
pikajane
It is! This is what I do for a living - but I am often accused of photoshoppery, haha.
CoPilotX
have you ever thought of doing a speed draw video on YouTube?
pikajane
I have a few on my youtube channel, actually! I upload from time to time here:
pikajane
https://www.youtube.com/user/pikajane
TedTheMan
So darn awesome!
TedTheMan
@DrMissAnonymous
Wolfbrother1
Who's paying you to make pictures with an etch-a-sketch?
pikajane
a lot of people, actually...this trip was provided for me by Intrepid Travel, and I've worked for Disney, Cartoon Network, MTV, etc.
AmatureSpaceCowboy
I'm more jelous of you, a complete stranger, than anyone I've ever met in my entire life.
BanadecCamberbootch
Dude, are you the person who does the disney channel etch a sketch cars etc?
BanadecCamberbootch
http://video.disney.com/watch/disney-compilation-etch-a-sketch-540be6ffadade63725ea5d64
pikajane
No! That guy's the best, man. His name is George Vlosich. And his work is God level, man.
BlackElkSpeaks
As someone whose been to all those places, what did you think of India overall? And would you ever go back? Me personally I think India(1)
BlackElkSpeaks
Is an absolute incredible place.. but I don't think I'd ever want to go back tbh.(2)
deGoodMan
Had the same feeling too. It was an awesome adventure but not smth I'd be going back to.
cklucario
You guys should try visiting the south next time. Almost entirely different culture, architecture, language and traditions, and equally nice
pikajane
It was definitely incredible. And way different from USA, in good and bad ways. The food, the fashion, and the architecture were (1)
pikajane
worth the trip alone. But the poverty and the weather (sometimes 110 and humid!) made it a tough trip. I'd pry go back, perhaps to Mumbai?
backstabbr1001
Nooooo do Bangalore. We're like Mumbai, but with better weather, more traffic and also just better in every other way.
BlackElkSpeaks
:9
BlackElkSpeaks
Yea, Mumbai would be really cool. If you ever do decide to go, be sure to read "Shantaram" before you go (: 10/10 book. Read it in 4 days
BlackElkSpeaks
While in Rishikesh.