Etch-a-Cake

Just a small update today. I'll be starting on a new picture tomorrow. In the meantime I have to empty the sand out of a new etch. I'll be documenting the process from start to finish, so watch for that in the days to come.

A few weeks ago I left one of my jobs and my kind and wonderful supervisor, Sally, baked me this beautiful Etch-a-Sketch cake as a going away gift. It was so awesome that I took a picture to show to the internet.

Thanks, Sally!

Philadelphia FINISHED

Three weeks, probably 15-20 hours in and Philadelphia is finished.

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Philadelphia near complete

It's incredibly difficult to photograph an etch-a-sketch, especially after the sun starts to set. This is the best I could get right now, hopefully the next one will be a little bit clearer. Still pretty happy with this etch, as I haven't made any major mistakes yet (knock on wood).

Philadelphia still under construction

I'm starting to see an end in sight, as there are now less things to etch than there are things etched already. Need to finish this soon so I can start on something new...

Pocket Etching at the Park

Had a day off today, so I went to a park and sketched some scenery. Pocket Etch-a-Sketch's drag tool/pen isn't as fine-pointed as the modern full size etch-a-sketch, so drawing things in great detail isn't as easy. I'm not too excited about this etch, but I did it, so here it is.

Philly 5

Fifth update featuring my current work in progress, Philadelphia. Should things continue to go well, I do believe this will be my best etch yet. But anything can happen, so we'll see...

Pocket Etch-a-Sketches

Sometimes I like to use pocket etch-a-sketches to do a rough version of my next work. Here's a quick rendering of Boston I did to get an idea of how to space things out. I was going for speed on this one more than precision. Probably about 10-15mins.

New York is a pretty nice state to begin with, but the town of Saratoga is an oasis of greatness in the middle of New York. No other town takes as much pride in appearance as the upstate horse racing city. There's one storefront in particular that is always spectacular. Yesterday I sat on a downtown bench for a while and sketched a random city block. I didn't fit nearly as much into this pocket etch as I had planned, so I'll probably do something more recognizable there soon. This etch came out awful, but they're for practice, so it's all right. About 20-25mins work.

Philadelphia progress 4

Did some more etching today while watching the Wizard of Oz. Sometimes I like to throw on a DVD to play in the background to occupy my mind while I tend to the tedious sketching. Here's Philadelphia, so far:

(click to enlarge)

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Finished etches.

Here are all the etches I've done so far. The first one is New York City. I did this over 5 years ago and it still has the sand inside of it, so I've been keeping it level for a very long time. Now I drill holes into the back of the etches and sift out all the sand before I even begin the drawings. The New York sketch looks different than the others because it was done from memory, whereas the others are all done off of a source image. Growing up in the suburbs, this sketch is a summation of all the things you see while going in and out of the city, via car and train. I started the etch on Yankee Stadium and then worked my way out from there, which is why the quality of the rendering is probably the worst of all my sketching. I hadn't etch-a-sketched anything since I was a kid and I would draw my local A&P supermarket. I hung onto this NY etch for years and would show it to friends, roomate's friends and party guests at my happening downtown upstate apartment. People were always surprised. I didn't do another after this for a very long time. Took about 4-5 hours over about three days to complete.

New York


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I did this Chicago etch for a friend who lives out there who didn't believe I did the NYC sketch, so this became a half a year late birthday present. 14-20hrs to finish over a long period of time.

Chicago


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And finally, Boston. I posted my previous etches to my favorite social media website, Reddit, and got a great response, which inspired me to continue doing these. Boston is the first etch I did based on requests, and next will be Philadelphia, also by internet request. 12-16hrs.

Boston


(click to enlarge) Thanks for checking out my Etch A Sketch art! Visit again soon for something new or check out my other pages online for things that might not appear here...

For my most up to date work, please follow me on Instagram!

Art Inquires, Parties & Commissions:
BryanLeeMadden@gmail.com

City Hall near complete

I get pretty upset when major aspects of the etch don't come out exactly as I'd like for them to. Luckily City Hall went according to plan. No major mistakes yet, still very happy with this sketch.

(click to enlarge)

Photo quality isn't great, took this with my phone while my battery charges up.