Sketching tips

[michaellxv]

There has been a bit of interest in sketching techniques recently so thought I'd start a thread to collect the ideas in one place. Add your ideas here and we can all improve.

I've been doodling on bits of paper tonight and came up with the idea of using a cotton bud as a blending stick. Gives better control than your finger and creates a very soft nebulous result. After a lot of use it will be black enough to use on its own.

For finer work get some microbrushes. Use for painting fine details on models.

[Paddy]

Great idea for a thread, Michael. Maybe even a sticky.

[pgc hunter]

Never thought of trying a cotton bud. Great idea Micheal, thanks.

For smudging in fine, granular detail, or things like dust lanes in nebulae/galaxies, a mouldable putty eraser sounds like an easy way of doing it without messing up your work.

Does anyone have any ideas on the best type of pencils to smudge in things like nebulae and galaxies?

[michaellxv]

I have used 2B HB 2H pencils and they all smudge differently and to different shades. I guess you could go the whole range with enough experience.

Another thought. Rub a cotton bud or similar on a charcoal stick and then apply that to the paper. Could produce some interesting results.

[Suzy]

Thanks for posting this thread Michael. :thumbsup:

Michael, I hope you don't mind me adding the link here to the original thread (Sept Obs. Challenge Thread), which also gave some great tips for sketching.
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=65405&page=2

[Max Vondel]

Yes sketching is a real fun challange
Quite unlike all those CCD's Photometers etc.

I remember observing Mars for an hour or more
Just to catch some glimpses and slight improvement of detail.

Most of those drawings were from 20 years ago or more.
Preparing the correct planetary templates
And trying to add colours.
All hard, imprecise and great fun!

Best of all it's so cheap compared to imagers, DSLR's etc
Improves your vision and teaches you HOW to view.
It's all too easy today in some ways.....
;)

[pgc hunter]

The B pencils seem to be softer and create a darker shade while the H's are harder and create lighter shading.

[michaellxv]

Spot on. For a full description see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pencil about half way down 'Grading and classification'.

[michaellxv]

Thanks Suzy, there's a couple of threads with good tips and I couldn't remember which ones.

[Paddy]

Ok, I'm finally getting the nerve to try sketching globular clusters. I have no problem imagining sketching fainter ones with no resolvable stars. Just shading. But does anyone have some tips for sketching the very close and complex ones? How do you approach something like M22, or even 47 Tuc or Omega Centauri? Through a 16" scope, these are just overwhelming.

Any ideas will be greatly appreciated.

[pgc hunter]

I'm really interested in knowing this aswell. So far, the only object I havent sketches is a globular. I've seen some great glob sketches, but how does one fill in so many stars accurately?

[mental4astro]

Said in his very best Irish accent:

"Good God, man! How many Guiness have you had this morning so far? Looks like one too many, and a Leprechaun has escaped into the belfry!"

The way I see it, in attempting something like a globular cluster, is the need for a good and constant scale, leaving the huge number of stars aside.

For this I have a couple of ideas:

1: locate three easily recognisable mini-patterns. Note these first as your reference points, and develop the drawing around them.

2: make yourself a reticle like I did (see pics & details below). This tool can assist with identifying the reference patterns and their scaled position. I used mine for the first time with the sketch I did of NGC 253 shown in the October Challenge.

But, one word of caution- unless you have a tracking mechanism on your scope, this reticle EP can drive you crazy trying to reposition the primary pattern back into position if you rely solely as your grid scale drawing method. Though I've only had one chance to use it so far, if your scope is only push-pull, I'd suggest this reticle idea only to find and position your reference "patterns". Attempting something like a GC will proove neigh impossible. Once you've got you reference pattern settled, change the reticle EP for your prefered visual EP, swapping to the reticle as needed to check on scale.

3: Start on a less populated GC to get your eye in.

4: Several nights viewing to complete the sketch patiently.

5: Use a medium to high power EP to limit the number of stars and reduce the confusion in relocating where you were. This doesnot need to be a complication once your scale has been set either.

I made the reticle EP using a cheap 2" eyepiece, here a GSO 2" SP 32mm ($49 from Andrews), and optic fibre fixed in place with epoxy glue and placed onto the field stop which is where the focus of the EP occurs. I might get a 2" barlow now to kick up the power for small objects, and do the same reticle pattern to a 25mm 1.25" EP as one scope I have only uses 1.25". I might also add another few fiber strands to make a finer set of grids.

The pictures show the reticle set on the field lens side, and a view through the EP.

It works so surprisingly well, and without any type of illumination.

A globular cluster, heh! Another challenge to tackle.

[michaellxv]

I don't think you can. You couldn't get a pencil sharp enough to place them. I would try to aim for an overall impression of what you see.

Look back over you obs reports and what are the key features you descibe about a GC. These are the elements you should aim to reproduce.

[Paddy]

Thanks for your thoughts gentlemen. I was heartened by your comments about Guinness and little folk in the belfry, Alexander. It does seem an insane idea and I'm relieved that someone of your skill thinks so.

Sooo... I will follow both Michael's advice and yours and do some general impression sketches, experiment with a less complex GC, but still with some resolvable stars, take some time and perhaps make a reticle ep. And use modest magnification. 175X on 47 Tuc under dark skies with my scope would be a bit of a big ask.

I hope to get back to you with a satisfactory result at some time in the hopefully not too distant future.

[jamespierce]

I've fallen off the sketching wagon bait lately, but here are my tips and suggestions.

Get a copy of this book - http://www.amazon.com/Astronomical-Sketching-Step-Step-Introduction/dp/0387262407

I have a box of 12 derwent drawing pencils but when you are just starting limiting yourself to a few pencils makes life easier. 4B, B and 2H is about right. It doesn't matter though if it's 3B or 2B and 4H etc. A B pencil is my standard goto pencil. I never grab more than 4 pencils for any one sketch in the field.

Get a blending stump or three (you can get away without cleaning them all the time if you use the same one for really soft black pencils, and keep one pretty clean for light smudging). Get a couple of different erasers, including a soft ball style one and an eraser shield - The eraser shield might be the most important thing you buy.

Get a decent pad of A5 drawing paper.

If you go to an art store all of 2,3 and 4 should cost you less than $40

Ok beyond the tools, techniques... The most important thing to practice is figuring out your reference points, and drawing those first. For the moon, big craters, and the key shadows. For star clusters the brightest ones. For nebula etc, the bright stars and basic shape. Once you get those down, you just keep refining, and refining sections of the sketch. Breaking it down makes it much less overwhealming.

PS: I've never been game to sketch Omega Centaurs, 47 Tuc or M42 etc ...

[Suzy]

James, that book looks a goody and a thanks for posting all those great tips :thumbsup:. How about submitting some of your archived sketches - would love to see your work!

[mental4astro]

Hi all,

I did a google search for images of 47 Tuc, and I ran into this sketch!!! Bloody hell!!!

http://www.asod.info/?p=2315

[michaellxv]

That is an incredible sketch.


and the quote I love from the write up

[Paddy]

Very impressive indeed. So it can be done, with enormous skill and patience. And it would be absolutely overwhelming in a 22" scope.

[pgc hunter]

wow now that is what I'm talking about. How people do that is beyond me. Imagine the time and labour going into that, and in a dob nonetheless where you have to constantly manually re adjust .


My best effort to date is this, a sketch of NGC 3532 in an 8" dob.

[Suzy]

The Wishing Well (NGC 3532) is not only my favourite cluster, but also the first cluster I stumbled across when I first got my scope. Sab, that looks a work of great patience plotting all those stars in all the right places - I would think this would be so much more difficult than a glob. (?!)

Alexander, thanks for posting that pic- that sketch of 47Tuc is absolutely jaw dropping. I observed the *%#@ out of this the other night and it put a smile on my face when I saw this sketch as to how much it resembled what I saw. I wonder how long it took to do it :question:.

[pgc hunter]

Thanks Suzy. I'm pretty anal when it comes to sketches, I want everything to look as I see it in real time. Can't remember how long it took, but probably over an hour.

The 8" Meade starfinder I did it with was an excellent scope, absolutely fantastic optics. I borrowed it from a local astro club, I can only wish I owned it as a grab n go! I've made a few Jupiter sketches with that scope aswell.

[Paddy]

That is a magnificent sketch, Sab. So true to the view through the eyepiece.

[pgc hunter]

thanks Patrick. It's a truly overwhelming object though the eyepiece. I was casually trolling thru my folder and chanced upon it and was like "bloody hell I actually went thru with that?"

I want to sketch it with the 12", but even M42 looks overwhelming in the scope, let alone this 3532 bugger. Let's not even mention the Eta Carina nebula.... sketching that is my ultimate challenge!

Actually I do have a sketch of Eta Carina made with a 4.5" newt...

Also noticed I have a sketch of M42 with the 4.5" newt with the E and F stars showing...

[mental4astro]

You are very brave, Sab, with 3532!

And Eta Carina! I started a sketch of her earlier this year. So damned big and detailed too. I couldn't manage to complete it as I will need a good couple of nights of knock it over, and this season finished before I could. Next season.

You should be able to see the dark pillars in it too with your 12", Sab. I saw them from home, albeit with my 17.5", but Hickny managed them too with his 13.1" from Sydney. And there's the Homunculous Nebula, and the various clusters, and the various shock waves, and maybe a few Boks too...

[pgc hunter]

lol thanks Alex. I think it had to do with the fact, that back in those days (2005 lol), I had very limited time with my holy grail, an 8" telescope, and I was going to milk it to no end.

Once I trained my 12" on Eta Carina at 200x or so with a UHC filter.

I needed a change of underwear


;):P

[mental4astro]

In Paddy's first solar sketch report, he mentioned having difficulty achieving certain effects, and the use of an eraser wasn't doing what he would have liked to have achieved. I thought I'd add the suggestions I made there to this thread as it may prove helpful. It's more of a mind-set and a little technique:

Though Paddy's question specifically was on a solar sketch, drawing a DSO is the same, where you are laying your lines on white paper or black.

" 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 (this planning lines can be removed then as needed with an eraser if needed). 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" (a bright 'line' connecting various sunspots in a cluster of them), you can leave these areas alone preserving the maximum brightness of the paper, 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 seem 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? "

Michael also mentioned using an "eraser shield". It is a very thin, small sheet of stainless steel with several shapes punched out. You place the most appropriate "shape" over the area to be rubbed out, there by protecting the surrounding areas. Good gizmo too, :thumbsup:. Mine is now 27 years old, I use it, but not much. Too delicate to use in the field:

http://www.google.com.au/images?q=tbn:TPqf1Tjbxykt3M::www.ar tifolk.co.uk/images/products/5961x300.jpg&t=1&h=76&w=115&usg=__QIwGOT559kLqXJIW3Rumf-Fpe9U= (http://www.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http://www.artifolk.co.uk/images/products/5961x300.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.artifolk.co.uk/catalog/products/craft_tools_and_accessories/eraser_shield.htm&h=197&w=300&sz=13&tbnid=TPqf1Tjbxykt3M:&tbnh=76&tbnw=116&prev=/images%3Fq%3Deraser%2Bshield&zoom=1&q=eraser+shield&hl=en&usg=__vgxLbFsqRUTjJJj_NBFqktiSuKk=&sa=X&ei=jCTETKffHIXcvQOqvdnrCA&ved=0CB8Q9QEwAw)

Mental.

[mental4astro]

Hi all,

Jeff Young's rendition of M3 is incredible. This link takes you to his sketch which also contains some of the technical details used to create this stunning sketch. It is very much electric, but unlike a sketch transfered onto black paper, it is an inverted scanned image:

http://www.asod.info/?p=1295#comment-7878

While you are on Astro. Sketch of the Day, look through the Gallery. Scott Mellish features prominently. This fantastic Aussie sketch artist has produced some of the most extraordinary work I've seen, including the one of 47Tuc I noted here in post No. 17 below.

[pgc hunter]

geez how do these people do it? 5 hours sitting at the eyepiece plotting every star in accurately? Or do they plot in rich parts randomly while plotting the brighter stars according to their actual positions? Jeff Young, he's known for rather spectacular sketches and regularly posts them on CN.


eidt--- upon posting that i just noticed he gave a detailed description of how he actually does it :lol:

Inverted scanned images are a good way to go IMO, you get the effect of a white pastel on black, but with the accuracy and convenience of a pencil.

[Paddy]

It is a beautiful sketch indeed. And well worth a look at Scott's work. Love the NGC 1365. And even his signature is beautiful.

[mental4astro]

The current ASOD show's how one fellow does it. As he's done two sketches, one at low and the other high power, the main brighter stars are plotted, the remainder is 'random' to achieve the overall effect. You can see the variations in this 'random' nature when you compare the two sketches, while he's maintianed the brighter ones.

http://www.asod.info/?p=4221

Another is to plot the brighter ones first, then take 'sections' bounded by the brighter stars and then plot the remainder as finely or randomly as you like.

[Paddy]

Another amazing rendition. As one of the comments puts it, it's like looking through the eyepiece .

[michaellxv]

I found this (http://www.baalunarsection.org.uk/drawingjohnson.htm) article on sketching the moon from the BAA Lunar Section. Lots of other good info and observations also available at the site.

[mental4astro]

Great link, Michael. Thanks. :thumbsup:

[Paddy]

Looks very helpful - thanks, Michael

[mental4astro]

Here is one to get your mind, fingers & pencils, in a real knot.

I've been speaking to an illustrator with many decades of experience with the pencil, and this is his pearl of wisdom-

"If you need averted vision to see a feature, then that is how you should see it in your sketch"

Holy cow! One thing is to look directly at your work, it is another 'NOT' to look at your work whilst you do it. :eyepop:

This is the ultimate test in your lightness of touch. So fine a touch that it requires averted vision to see it. Groovey I say! :thumbsup:

The way I see this to be achieved is not to use just a white pencil to do the shading (assuming the work is being done onto black paper). A grey colouring pencil, or a very pale blue, for the very faint details. White will have too much 'punch', building the layers gradually.

[Paddy]

That doesn't appeal much to me. I use averted vision to see some things because my photopic vision can't under low light - only my scotopic vision can. I'm not going to view the sketch under low light conditions. In fact, my scotopic vision won't work well under full light and I'll be using cone cells, not rods. So using averted vision I would just be using peripheral cones and I have fewer of those than rods, from memory.

[michaellxv]

Let us know how you go with that one Alex. Sounds like it would either be a big surprise or a complete disaster.

[mental4astro]

Pending my next sketch, when the clouds, Moon & life, all align to allow me to pen one, have a look at Scott Melish's latest offering- USE averted vision here:

http://www.asod.info/?p=4283

By the way, I've managed a prelimanary Lunar sketch. Needs a little more work to achieve the desired effects. I also need to aquire a few new pencils. The 'EE' pencil is no longer produced anymore I've come to find out. My sister has told me that the 'replacement' grades come to be the 8B & 9B, and oddly enough, she tells me that they lack the 'shine' typical of graphite. Just what I'm looking for.

[mental4astro]

Hi all,

Susy had asked me to do a bit of a sketch 'how-to', and with the sketch of Posidonius I posted in the thread "Lunar sketch night", Paddy also asked a question and prompted me to make the same notes here in the Sketching Tips thread.

Paddy had asked how to gauge the scale of a drawing according to how you see things in the eyepiece: do you draw to the same size as you see it, or do you make things larger. In a nut shell it depends on what you are trying to draw. How you go about this is detailed below.

I'll show how I go about it with a rough process on the sketch of Posidonius, following the pics numbered 1 to 3, and starting with a really hard pencil in numbers 1 & 2, like a 6H as these lines will be rubbed out as you go. The last pic is my finished sketch which I nutted out at the eyepiece last Friday night.

1: Have a good look at the area in question. Then squint a little to get an overall notion of the light and dark areas as this will give you the direction of the main axis of the feature to be sketched. Then you set the scale by 'boxing in' the main feature- here a crater. The rest of the sketch will follow this very scale. How do I determine how large to make the scale - just decide on the boundries of the area to be sketched and just get the 'boxing in' done. Nothing more. The rest will follow.

2: Next position the other major feature along the axis in proportion to the principle one. Then roughly mark the other main craters and any significant BLACK features, here a mountain ridge.

From here, rub out any lines that are now redundant as you need to.

3: Start shading in the black shading, being careful to note the fine lines that are in black. This takes time as most of the detail sits here. Use no harder pencil than 2B as these need to be definite. The rest of the softer features can then be filled in. Write any notes you like with 6H pencil that will help remind of details.

Back in the house, these black features I went over with a black felt-tip pen. Make sure it is a permanent, water proof marker because if you go over the highlights with white paint the ink may bleed. The softer shading is also worked on. Highlights with white paint need to be done with a very fine brush and with next to no excess water in its bristles or the page will warp.

I hope this makes sense.

Mental.

[pgc hunter]

AWESOME sketch Alex! Never attempted lunar sketchiing, but your instructions will help if I choose to do it.

[mental4astro]

Hi all,

I've just been to my favourite art supply store, and have found out that the Staedtler Lumograph "EE" grade pencil has been discontinued.

The "EE"s have been replaced with the Staedtler Mars LUMOGRAPH 7B & 8B. These are just like the old EE. They are NOT graphite pencils. The more resemble the China Graph in texture, and produce a flat black line with NO sheen like graphite does.

NOTE: other brands of pencil also have 7B, 8B & 9B, but these are all graphite based. They will not produce a sheenless mark and are grey in colour.

[Mousehound]

A great drawing and good advice on technique! Drawing is something of a dead art. I recently went back to UNI to do a fine art degree after 18 months at TAFE. The TAFE HOD hunted up an old Russian trained drawer. She was amazing. At UNI they had no one teaching drawing at all. I now teach design graphics and architecture. I insist on students gaining hand drawing skills. If I see smudging I want the drawing be done over. Most students don't use enough white - this can be drawn over the grey/black to get the correct levels. I personally like to leave my guide lines in a drawing as it gives it a certain dinamic feel. Also I feel a good drawing is often democratic ie. as much effort goes into the parts that are not really the main focus of the drawing. Working from one part of the drawing then on another helps this. An appreciation of "negative space" drawing is also valuable.
But in the end everyone has their own style.

[mental4astro]

I thought this is a good place to give a head's up on the article I wrote on DSO sketching, using an innovative technique developed by a fellow Aussie astro illustrator Scott Mellish:

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-614-0-0-1-0.html

It is an extremely useful technique to use on just about all DSO's, galaxies, nebulae, open and globular clusters.

The good thing about this technique is that it doesn't need to be used exclusively at the eyepiece. If the only materials you have at hand happens to be a pencil and sheet of paper, you can do your initial sketch with these, making notes, guide lines, star plotting, etc. Then you can translate these onto black paper with the Mellish Technique in the comfort of a warm, dry room, ;) :lol: . It can be confusing to have and use all the tools listed in the Basic Kit in the dark, so just a simple pencil and paper approach may be a good first step.

This is the approach I used with my sketch of NGC 2818 & 2818A. My Basic Kit wasn't at hand for me to use, so a pencil and paper was used to do the 'at the eyepiece' first sketch. Sometimes we just need to adapt. :thumbsup:

[mental4astro]

If you're not sure where to start with sketching, or with the Mellish Technique, this might help. The picutures in the Mellish article where done by reproducing black and white images of the selected targets. They were also images that weren't too far from how they appear in the eyepiece. More detailed images can only serve to confuse.

Have a look at the image and the sketch development. This will give you a very good introduction to using this method. Then at the eyepiece, you are leaving the guess work out of it.

[overlord]

Your pictures are very awesome and professional! :thumbsup:

I just use a 2b or 6b sometimes and smudge it with an eraser.

[Paddy]

Thanks Alex, that's a very useful adjunct to your article.

[mental4astro]

Hi all,

First I need to say that the following IS A SKETCH OF A PHOTOGRAPH. It was done as an experiment to try out a new technique that I'd like to share.

I was inspired to this after seeing the stunning sketch by Erika Rix of the crater Bullialdus (http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/4684838/page/1/view/collapsed/sb/5/o/all/fpart/1). Not only is it an amazing sketch, but that she only used two bits of gear: a crayon and a charcoal pencil.

The sketch I did was using white and black charcoal on a deep violet paper. This paper allows me to see where I've used the black charcoal, and this feedback I wouldn't get if I was using black paper.

The purpose of this post is to encourage expeimentation away from the eyepiece. It all doesn't need to be done under testing conditions. Mind you, I'd be drowning right now if I was outside! So a wet night like tonight is the perfect time to tryout something new.

This experiment has me thinking about using a white pastel pencil, as the pigment would be more intense. I may also look into trying a crayon as Erika has, as its pigment would also be a little warmer, not just brighter. It also showed me it was also quite a quick sketching method. The white and black charcoals are very forgiving - you don't need to use an eraser, just go over a white mark with the black, or a black mark with the white. Easy. A crayon may not be so easy as that, but the texture of the paper would be less of a factor.

Have a go some time.

Mental.

[Paddy]

That's another great result Alex. And not a bad idea to work from a photo when it's too wet. I gather you're talking about rain, but at the moment down here the dew is more than enough to turn even a well protected sheet into mush.

[mental4astro]

Hi all,

Jeremy Perez may be a name familiar to some of you as one of the fellows responsible for ASOD (http://www.asod.info/). Jeremy has been greatly influenced by the work of Scott Mellish, and we have been corresponding on the topic of astro sketching. He has also showed me a little added spice he's come up with to highlight those occasionally exceptionally bright stars we encounter. While I've described marking bright stars with the use of a small diffraction pattern, Jeremy has furthered this by adding a soft glow to this diffraction pattern to simulate the glare that we would experience at the EP.

The picture below shows a scale of star brightness, including that added glare effect, and a little random collection of dots to show the effect of such a combination.

[Paddy]

Very nice effect Alex. Only problem is at the moment the blurry glow around a lot of the stars that I see would have to be half the FOV due to the atmospheric moisture:lol:

[mental4astro]

A little while ago I was having a bit of a fang of my sketching kit, just to see what would happen when I did things. As the materials used in the Mellish technique are so forgiving and adaptable, I thought I'd build on the in-the-field layering I had a go at.

The following sketches are of a ficticious dark pillar, very loosely based on the Fish Mouth of M42

With this layering, I started with the faint white background glow, not concerned with the dead accuracy of the size of the dark pillar, just its position. I then added the dark pillar in the same way as the white, by making dust of the black charcoal and painting it on with a fine soft brush. The leading edge highlight was then layered over the black, and final adjustments of the highlight done again with the dusty black.

The only time I used a sharp point of black charcoal was to mark out the edge of the dark pillar's leading edge.

The two pics below show the pillar with and without the 'energising star field', which was added after the pillar was finished. I was struck at the effect that these tiny dots had on the drama of the pillar.

The whole point of this post is to show how flexible the Mellish Technique is. I didn't use an eraser here at all. If I didn't like what I laid down, I went over it with the opposing colour and then relaid the effect I wanted. To use an eraser here would have been too much of a risk, even with an erasing shield.

Mental.

[CChelle]

Alex, your sketches are AMAZING! Thanks so much for sharing this. I read in the intro to the StarryNight program that came with my scope, that sketching was a good way to record what you see and I did an EXTREMELY basic sketch of Jupiter with all 5 of her moons last night. Then I got my first good look at the Orion Nebula and wished I had a black pad and pastels. This morning I found this thread and I am so excited! Today I am going to turn this house upside down to find my plack pastel paper and some pastels and pens (they've been packed away years ago when I got bored with pastel drawing and went on to goodness knows what hobby followed that one). Even if there is not good viewing tonight I am going to start practicing this technique and just draw some imaginary things from the memory of what I saw.:D

I just remembered something that I learned from my pastel days. There is a pastel paper that is like a very fine grade sand paper. It has fabulous tooth that is great for building up layers and it would be wonderful for this type of drawing. You can paint it first with black ink and then draw on it when the ink is dry

[qld]

Congratulation Alex Massey the winner of both catergories in the inaugural Scott Mellish astro sketching competition hosted by the Astronomical society of NSW at this years SPSP held this weekend,once again congratulations Alex
qld

[mental4astro]

Following on from my recent experience with binoculars I thought it would be appropriate to share some of my ideas.


It's interesting how I'm comfortable pointing my 17.5" dob at some big and complex DSO, like Eta Carina, no problem. But my recent experience at a dark sky site with a pair of 11X70 binos had me stumped on EVERY aspect - where to start, how to go about it, what to use, boarder or none?

Why the problems with a wide field? Under a dark site sky, the background glow of the Milky Way is astounding! It is omnipresent, and complex in its structure. What may seem like a modest aperture with the binoculars reveals such an involved image, it is not so much about the actual wide field view.

The silver lining in my binocular session was that I didn't get to do a sketch! Clouds saw to that. But the result was that it got me thinking on how to tackle such a sketch. Inspired by this experience with the binos, I had a go at a sketch at home. I sketched the region around M8 and M20, for the striking dark nebulae around them, the extraordinary expanse of M8 itself and I also had another "wide field" sketch of this area done with my 8" f/4 scope from home a couple of months before as a reference for the placing of the key stars in this area.

First I envisaged how I wanted the final sketch to look like, and then developed a process to achieve this. The various illustration techniques are those used in the Mellish Technique - I've just employed them in such a way to give me the effects I was after.

I started by marking the boarder circle with a Chinagraph pencil. The Chinagraph would be able to resist being rubbed out with an eraser when the time came to remove the material that extended beyond the sketch - a part of the final sketch I wanted to achieve would have a sharp, clean edge to give the viewer an indication of the brilliance of the image compared to the blackness of the inside of the binos.

I next used a big soft brush to start laying down an overall glow to the circle. I deliberately went over the boarder as it is the only way to achieve an even colouration to the FOV. As mentioned above, this "overhang" can be removed later.

I then used a large stiff bristle brush to give me the tiny starkle, a stronger glow, and to provide the mottling. This is a little time consuming to cover the necessary area, but the effect is well worth the effort.

Once the background glow is finished I start adding the nebulous features with smaller soft round brushes. The dark nebulae & dark lanes are also added using charcoal and the various brushes. The star fields are next added.

What may need to be done afterwards at the desk is accentuate the intensity of the background star field. This is done by lightly pot-marking the entire background with a sharp soft pastel pencil. This too is time consuming, and I had to do it in over a couple of sittings. The depth that this pot-marking achieves is beautiful.

The finished sketch below shows the brightest stars with difraction spikes. I'm not too happy with them, particluarly with the sting of them across the area where M20 sits. They could be too big, too bold, incorrect orientation, that they are there at all. As this sketch is just an experiment I'm not too concerned and will help me be more careful in my next sketch.

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Once I was happy with the end result I removed the overhang with an eraser, being careful not to cut into the circle.

All the dark nebulae and lanes were added with a brush and over the background glow. This allowed me to texture the FOV very easily and accurately. Amazing stuff black charcoal!

Have a go at a wide field sketch. My biggest hinderance was just were to start, so I just did an experimental sketch first. I'm ready to tackle the real thing now, :)

Clear skies and sharp pencils,

Mental.

[Paddy]

That is amazing Alex. You've really caught the feel of looking through binoculars. Looking forward to "the real thing".

[mental4astro]

Sketching rig and some dew control

Being comfortable while sketching is important. Keeps cramps at bay and makes the process much more pleasurable. Below is the rig I use for sketching DSO's, and some ways I keep dew under control as much as possible. I am exploring other methods, but these are a way off from being tested.

My main DSO scope is my 17.5" push-pull dob. While the eyepiece at zenith is not too high up, I, :rolleyes:, still need one step up to reach it there (I blame my gene pool for this... :(, :lol:). So I have a step ladder, which also comes in handy when other squirts like me, or little kids, have a look through the scope.

And, as the step ladder is only three steps, it has a tall supporting arch and a table that folds out to take pots of paint, brushes, whatever. This got me thinking on how I could exploit all this capacity. So, using the stuff I had already at home (net cost - bugger all! :) ), I came up with:

* A rig that hooks over the top of the supporting arch. The hook is placed just above the middle of the rig as it was the most useful position after playing around with different locations of the gross rig at different heights on the ladder and on chairs. The hook is also large enough in gape so I can hook it over most chair backs, including those plastic moulded ones that are frequently encountered.

* An MDF off-cut I shaped into a makeshift clamp with nothing more than a couple of countersunk bolts, and a pair of washers and wing-nuts. The sketch pad just slips under the loosened MDF 'clip' and I tighten the wing nuts. This also allows me to very easily rotate the sketch pad during a long sketch and I begin to notice rotation of the field.

* The 'shield' is a piece of black Coreflute. As I am right handed, it attaches from the left hand corner of the rig. It reaches some 10cm, 15cm beyond the right hand corner of the rig as it cannot come down that side or it would obstruct my sketching hand. The overhang allows for more protection from dew as it cannot come down that side.

* My feeble red lights I attach along the left hand side of the shield, and are aimed across the face of the page. This reduces how much glare is reflected back off the page to me. I can also reposition the lights as I need.

Dew protection by the sheild is pretty good. While things around me can be soaked, the paper barely begins to curl on the edges. Not total protection as the paper is still exposed to the air, and I breath on the page too. But dry enough to be able to work.

The pencil case I use is a BIG sucker. It is not packed with much, but its size is great to offer my materials shelter from dew, and its big mouth gives me easy access during the night. Again, not perfect, but as above, enough to keep me going.

When at home, I mainly sketch the Moon, and use my C8. I have the creature comfort of an observing stool now, :D. To protect my materials, I just use a box put on its side, and placed on a chair. My sketch pads I hold in my hands, so protecting it from dew is a lot more difficult. But there are measures I can take to help:

* Don't water the garden that afternoon or evening if you are thinking of doing a sketch. This will greatly reduce the amount of moisture in your yard.

* Consider the rainfall during the day or recent past as this will also release a lot of moisture into your evening yard.

* Understand your local weather patterns. Some places are more prone to heavy dew of a night time than others. If you live in a place that routinely gets soaked of an evening, it might inspire you to come up with ways to help you control this having too much impact on your situation.

* Work at a good pace. Stuff around or overwork a piece puts the paper at risk.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Alex.

[SadisticSarz]

I like these ones. they my favs

[mental4astro]

Well, after much threatening, I have finally made a video on the method I use for sketching with the Mellish Technique. I hope you find this video informative and useful:

https://youtu.be/aeFVBHjsvT4

Alex.