Sketches: M8 & M57

[Paddy (Patrick)]

Here are my sketches for the Sept observing challenge. Had a look at NGC 2573, but it was just too faint to sketch. These were done at the eyepiece, photographed and inverted in GIMP but otherwise unprocessed. Thanks for any tips - sketching is still very much a learning curve for me.

[orestis]

Awesome sketches Patrick.

keep up the good work

Regards Orestis
ps-i was going to try and do a sketch of m8 tonight and guess what.yes clouds.

[michaellxv (Michael)]

Great work Patrick.

As for tips. Keep practising. I don't think any of us has mastered this craft yet.

[mental4astro (Alexander)]

Impressive work, Paddy.

This Obs. Challenge seems to have made a mark.

[Paddy (Patrick)]

Thanks chaps. Looking at how these have come out, I think it's time to ditch the sketch pad and use sheets on a clipboard. The sketches seem to have picked up bits from other drawings in the book. A clipboard would allow me to use one of those clip on lights that you've mentioned Alexander instead of a red light dangling from the finderscope.

[pgc hunter]

Nice sketches there Paddy. I remember getting a fantastic view of M57 back on that one night of awesome seeing I had.

Get that clipboard, and get a quality paper like Reflex. Don't buy cheap brands such as Coles, because the texture of the paper is much rougher and therefore is not good for sketching fine detail. Btw, that clip on light sounds like a plan....cos juggling a flashlight, pencil, clipboard and Hood, all the while alternating between eyepiece and sketch every 10 seconds ain't no fun!

[Paddy (Patrick)]

Thanks, Sab. Reflex it is. And fortunately I have a number of reams of it in my cupboard. Should keep me going for a while.

[pgc hunter]

Originally Posted by Paddy

Thanks, Sab. Reflex it is. And fortunately I have a number of reams of it in my cupboard. Should keep me going for a while.

Good on ya. After ages of using crappy Coles paper, Luckily I just discovered a half ream of good paper in my draw which has evaded my detection for the last decade....it will now have a purpose


Man I had no idea that the paper quality varied this much between brands. You can easily feel the texture by running your fingers along it, a good paper will feel smooth like a laminated board, a bad one will feel like a lint cloth.

[TrevorW]

Good ones Paddy

[Paddy (Patrick)]

Thanks Trevor.

[Rob_K]

Nice job Patrick!

Interesting to read about people's sketching methods and materials, in this and the other thread. I just take out any old bit of paper with a circle drawn on it, and use a micropoint felt-tipped pen. For my M57 sketch I cheated by having a few key field stars marked in by tracing over my FOV brought up on Starry Night. It helps enormously when you're not tracking and the field keeps drifting through. Then went out, drew in the rest of the field stars I could see by larger or smaller dots according to brightness, and drew M57 as I saw it. Went in, scanned the grubby bit of paper, inverted it in Photoshop, pasted over some of my crossing-outs, then applied a blur to M57 until the brightness & smoothness matched the eyepiece view, approximately. Then applied a blur to the rest of the stars until they looked OK! The white background around the FOV was done with 'fill'.

For anyone seriously wanting to sketch though, I strongly recommend Carol Lakomiak's series of articles in Sky At Night magazine. I'm in awe of what she does!

Cheers -

[Paddy (Patrick)]

So many interesting methods. I like the idea of tracing anchor stars from a screen.