[mental4astro (Alexander)]

Hi Paddy,

Man, we've got a rush on solar sketchs happening!!

Nice stuff too, Paddy.

I have a couple of suggestions. One is to plan your sketch first! How? It's in the methodology in drawing development.

Here is where pencil grade selection helps.

Using a hard pencil, like 2H or even 4H, lightly mark the position of the main features, boundaries, highlights, fading direction and the such. Then there are two choices- darkest next or lightest next. Darkest sets the tone for the lighter areas, the reverse for the lightest first.

By marking the highlights in "AR 1117", you can leave these alone, then only shade the surrounds. Using a rubber to only create the highlights is harder to control the edges and softness sometimes needed. It can leave the 'highlights' dirty or too sharp or the wrong shape. If the highlights are planned for, using an eraser can be less trying and more deliberate.

One tip my sister gave me (and I mentioned this in another thread) is to do a little drawing exercise before sitting down to your task. It might seen trivial or a waste of time or 'I can't be bothered' thing, but it really, really works. Like any form of exercise, our fingers, eyes and mind need to be prepped to optimise performance.

It is a logical thing. Heard of "getting your eye in"? Same thing, hand-eye co-ordination and tricking up your fine motor skills. Noticed how as your sketch progresses, the first lines you laid down are less than convincing?

And what was this "exercise" she suggested? A cube in perspective, say with 40mm sides, and with three roughly equal sized sides showing, then shade in the three surfaces, lightest to darkest. NO erasers or rubbers or smudge sticks or what ever! Just you and the pencil tip. It's all about control and impression.

See why I don't use 'smudging' now?