Quote:
Originally Posted by mental4astro
Hi Paddy,
One thing that helps me is squinting at the image I'm reproducing on black paper. It helps me gauge the intensity of the 'ruddings' or soft details. If you squint at your picture of M8, you will see how the dark lanes become even more pronounced, and M57 is so much like "through the scope" like.
What this technique does is help you in determining how much to work the white pencil. Starting really soft and then intensifying the white is easier than trying to remove the white, which sometimes can't be done.
I squint all the time with my black repro's.
It is all a thing about practice and trying and using paper and trial and error. No right or wrong.
Reason why I don't smudge, even though it can give a more life-like appearance, is my own drawing background, where my teachers said "if you need to rely on smudging, you are not controlling the pencil- it's controlling you". Now this has become a cross I bare!!    
I feel like a recovering alcoholic "go on, just one little rub, it's not cheating" |
Very interesting indeed. With squinting, are you softening the focus or reducing the light? Your advice about starting really soft is very helpful also.