The permanent line

Keeping a drawing forever

Every good drawing on our screen lives one bump away from a blank slate. There are three ways to deal with that, and one of them cannot be undone.

First, the obvious one

Photograph it. Flat light, no flash, camera square to the glass so the frame does not warp. The silver screen reflects like a shallow mirror, so shoot from a slight angle away from windows. This preserves the picture and keeps the toy a toy, which the next method does not.

The shelf method

A finished drawing left face up and unshaken keeps for years. The powder only recoats the line when it tumbles across the glass, so a frame that sits still stays drawn. Artists who show their screen work simply never let the piece travel loose. A shelf out of reach of small hands does most of the job.

The one-way trick

Serious screen artists make a drawing permanent by opening the case and pouring the aluminum powder out. With nothing left to recoat the glass, the line is fixed for good. Understand what this means: the toy stops being a toy, forever, in exchange for one picture. It is framing, in the most literal sense, and there is no pouring the powder back.

Who actually does this

Gallery artists working on our screens, including Jane Labowitch, who once spent about eight hours turning the knobs to recreate a Seurat, seal their finished pieces exactly this way. For one drawing your kid is proud of, take the photograph. For the one drawing of your life, you know where the screws are.