How it works

To become an Etch-a-Sketch pro you have to understand how the toy works.

It is simply a hollow box filled with aluminum powder. Inside is a vertical and horizontal pulley system. At the intersection of these pulleys is a stylus. When you turn the knobs, they pull on the pulleys and move the stylus. The stylus scrapes clear a tiny path on the screen and the darkness inside the toy contrasts against the white powder coating the screen. If enough time is spent moving the stylus in a systematic clearing path, the screen can be cleaned enough to see inside the toy.

Its important to realize the distinction between normal drawing materials and the Etch-a-Sketch: Pencils, pens, paint and everything else uses addition to function. That is they add material such as paint or ink to the surface being marked. The ETch-a-Sketch, however, uses the removal of material to make marks.
This distinction creats some unusual advantages as well as some rare problems. The trick to mastering thses advantages is playing around with the toy and learn to spot tricks and shortcuts in your sketches. It all comes with time.