The red frame and twiddly white knobs are strangely familiar but the astonishing images on the screen are not. Rather than abandon his Etch-A-Sketch to childhood, Jeff Gagliardi decided the simple toy had huge potential – and turned it into an art form.
Over the last 35 years, he has grown more and more accomplished, reproducing masterpieces by Van Gogh, Dali and Leonardo da Vinci.
And perhaps the most extraordinary part of his incredible talent is Jeff did not even have an Etch-A-Sketch as a child.
He first took up his nephew’s board when he was a college student at the School of Visual Arts in New York.
"I did a drawing of the Taj Mahal complete with reflecting pools.
"Quite frankly, I didn’t think it was a big deal, but my family wouldn’t let me erase it," he said.
"From that point on it became apparent that I had some sort of gift for drawing on this silly little toy.
"People would walk past the serious work I was doing as a painter and want to see the Etch-A-Sketches."
Jeff, who is married with three children, combines Etch-A-Sketching with more traditional painting.
He describes the art as "a quintessential American art form, where the medium truly is the message."
"I love creating works that you wouldn’t expect to see — like a reproduction of a Renaissance master’s work, or the corner of a five dollar bill," he added.
"It’s a totally familiar subject, but it now has an element of disbelief."
Part of Jeff’s skill is to create works that hang vertically despite having to sketch sideways and producing lines which seem to have no connections.
His art has been displayed at the Denver Art Museum and the Berkshire Museum in Massachusetts, as well as galleries around the country.
The Etch-A-Sketch was created by Arthur Granjean and discovered at a European toy fair in 1959.
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if you’d like to see another Mona Lisa done on the Etch, (as well as the Taj Mahal and a couple dozen more pieces)check out http://www.flickr.com/photos/etcha/