Gallery: Here's How to Draw With 400,000 Volts of Electricity

  • Image may contain Plant
    Luke Evans
    01

    Xero-Edit-3

    Luke Evans' *Xero* series visualizes electricity.
  • Image may contain Soil Ground Nature Drawing Art and Outdoors
    Luke Evans
    02

    Xero-Edit-1

    To make them, Evan deconstructs the xerography process, which is used in machines like laser printers and photocopiers.
  • Image may contain Drawing Art Sketch and Doodle
    Luke Evans
    03

    Zero-Edit-6

    Some look like irises.
  • Image may contain Nature Outdoors Snow Storm Winter Blizzard and Ice
    Luke Evans
    04

    Zero-Edit-9

    Others look like snakes.
  • Image may contain Outdoors Nature and Mountain
    Luke Evans
    05

    Xero-Edit-2

    To start, Evans uses a high-voltage Van Der Graaf generator, to zap a piece of acrylic with 400,000 volts of electricity.
  • Image may contain Outdoors Nature Snow Ice and Texture
    Luke Evans
    06

    Xero-Edit-8

    This leaves a static discharge on the acrylic---the same fuzzy feel you get from running your hand over the top of an old TV.
  • Image may contain Drawing Art and Outdoors
    Luke Evans
    07

    Xero-Edit-4

    From there, Evans sprinkles toner powder on the acrylic and presses a sheet of paper against it. He uses an iron to heat seal the image on the page.
  • Image may contain Drawing Art and Sketch
    Luke Evans
    08

    Xero-Edit-5

    The shape is determined by variables like humidity and the shape of electrode used to zap the acrylic. This was made with a metal ball.
  • Image may contain Drawing Art and Sketch
    Luke Evans
    09

    Xero-Edit-7

    They look cool, sure. But Evans says every piece comes with a price: lots of shocks.
Read More
Get Wired With the Best USB-C Cables for Your Phone, Tablet, and Laptop
Unravel the tangled world of cords and find the ones you need to charge your gadgets and transfer data.
Simon Hill
Donald Trump Is Ready for Fight Night. So Are Donors
The UFC event on the White House’s South Lawn is the president’s birthday gift to himself. Sources expect it to be a lobbying extravaganza.
Hugo Lowell
Wrongful Arrest Exposes Failures in One of the Oldest Police Face-Recognition Tools in the US
The ACLU is suing two Florida police departments over the arrest of a Fort Myers man in a child-abduction case, saying officers treated a flawed face-recognition match as a near-certain ID.
Dell Cameron
China Opens World’s First Wind-Powered Underwater Data Center
With an initial capacity of 24 megawatts, the innovative data center uses seawater as a natural cooling system.
Fernanda González
These Are the Best $400 Digital Notebooks
The newest Kindle Scribe means there are now three digital notebooks you can buy in the $400 price range. Here’s which one you should get.
Nena Farrell
The Best Kindles to Take Your Library Anywhere
I’ve tried every single Kindle. Here’s how Amazon’s ebook readers stack up.
Nena Farrell
Get the Most Out of Your iPad With These Accessories
Kit out your Apple tablet with our favorite stands, cases, keyboards, and styli.
Julian Chokkattu
Finally, Some Affordable Laptops That Won’t Fail You in College
Laptops for college should be portable, offer long battery life, and remain reasonably affordable. Based on testing hundreds of laptops, these are my top picks.
Luke Larsen
Soccer Fans, You’re Being Watched
From anti-drone tech to face recognition, 2026 World Cup stadiums in the US, Canada, and Mexico are subjecting fans to an array of surveillance tech. Here’s what you need to know.
Vas Panagiotopoulos
Artificial Intelligence Sneaks Into the World Cup Thanks to Google Gemini
The Argentine national team will be Google’s test bench and technological showcase during the World Cup.
Rosa Jiménez Cano
This World Cup, You Can Watch the Game From a Ref’s Point of View
Referees for the 2026 World Cup will be wearing cameras positioned at their temples, allowing TV audiences to see a live view of the pitch from a vantage point they never have before.
Ben Dowsett
The World Cup’s Trionda Ball Challenges Traditional Aerodynamics
According to new research, Trionda would show less unpredictable movements in actions such as corner kicks or free kicks. However, in powerful and long-distance clearances it would lose range.
Fernanda González