Abstract: In this paper we present a method for the intuitive editing of surface meshes by means of view-dependent sketching. In most existing shape deformation work, editing is carried out by selecting and moving a handle, usually a set of vertices. Our system lets the user easily determine the handle, either by silhouette selection and cropping, or by sketching directly onto the surface. Subsequently, an edit is carried out by sketching a new, view-dependent handle position or by indirectly influencing differential properties along the sketch. Combined, these editing and handle metaphors greatly simplify otherwise complex shape modeling tasks.