Meet Jane Labowitch, a Chicago-based artist and Etch A Sketch extraordinaire.
Labowitch — or, as she's dubbed herself, "Princess Etch A Sketch" — went on an eight-day trip to India with the tour group company Intrepid Travel, and illustrated her travels on Etch A Sketch when she got home.
THEY ARE INSANE.
Let's start with this beautiful "etch" of Humayan's Tomb, in New Delhi ...
... which looks like this IRL:
And then there's this drawing of the Red Fort, also in New Delhi ...
... which looks like this in person:
And this portrait of daily life in India ...
... which for many involves riding around in vehicles called tuk-tuks:
And then there's this sketch of the Amber Palace Hall of Mirrors, in Jaipur ...
And, finally, this ridiculous illustration of the only and only Taj Mahal, in Agra:
Can you believe that detail?
Labowitch, who's been "etching" since she was four years old, even busted out a quick sketch of her tour guide, Shakti Rathore, while she was in India:
But make no mistake: Labowitch admits Etch A Sketching is really hard.
"There's no room for error with Etch A Sketch! But I enjoy that everything is made using one continuous line, and the fact that it's such an unforgiving medium," she tells BuzzFeed Travel. "If I make a big mistake, my only option is to shake the drawing away and start all over again."
"Some of my quicker work can take half an hour or less on the pocket (small) size, whereas some of my most detailed work done on the classic (large size) has taken me more than 20 hours to complete," Labowitch says.
She also says she photographs her work after she finishes it, but ends up erasing most of it after that.
"It's an interesting feeling to shake away hours of work, but it's sort of liberating in a way to start with a clean slate," she says.
But she preserves her favorite work by removing the powder from the inside of the toy, and locking the knobs. "That way, I can keep it for forever without having to worry about it being erased when shaken — and I can sell my art around the world."
And in the meantime, let's all bow down for Princess Etch A Sketch.
