Preparing to Sketch

[Robny]

Fancied the idea of giving sketching a go, particularly the sun, not sure why. So i have armed myself with the following:

Selection of pencils from hard to soft

Good Eraser

Blending Stumps

Sharper

Eraser Shield

A5 notebook

All of which must have cost under 15 quid. Any advice or useful links to tutorials would be much appreciated, im a TERRIBLE artist by the way but will be happy to share my mess and progress with you all.

Rob

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[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Go for it! Looking forward to the results

[RikM]

Have a look in the useful links etc thread at the top of this sub-forum. http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/171747-astronomical-sketching-links-and-sources/

Loads of interesting info there. Looking forward to seeing your sketches. I am useless at solar sketching but quite like the other subjects.

[Phil Fargaze]

I was and still am a hopeless artist but with a little practice and the right equipment ( your equipment list looks good ) I surprised myself. Just by sticking to what I saw wasn't as hard as I thought it would be to get across. Plus an extra bonus is, sketching really does train the eye to see as much detail as possible from what you are observing, especially on faint objects such as galaxies. The Sun would be an excellent source to get started with though.

[Robny]

Thanks for the encouragement, I plan om keeping my failed attempts also (there will be many) so I see my progression.

Being a photographer it was hammered into me not to show your bad work for obvious reasons, with this I dont mind

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[goose35]

Im about to throw the towel in on imaging due to equipment deficiencies and cost lol

Took my first dip into imaging with just paper and pencil and found it rewarding

[MAN or ASTROMAN]

Hi Rob. I enjoy looking at members' sketches here,and I'm completely awed by some of the hard work,not to mention sheer talent exhibited. Just the other day,I was checking out the sketching forum on 'CLOUDY NIGHTS' and they have a pinned thread dedicated to members first sketches,which gives one some hope that sketching could be worth a try! As I've read many times before,one of the main effects of sketching at the eyepiece is that it makes you slow down,and actually LOOK at what you are seeing in far more depth.Anything of  'artistic' merit produced is a bonus! Might even give it a try myself sometime to help with my observing skills.

[acr_astro]

Hi Rob,

when it comes to possible objects to sketch, I can only recommend to have a go with the moon. There's lots of details to be observed and sketched and it changes quicker than the sun -- you can sketch different craters every evening.

Have fun!

Achim

[mikeDnight]

I began sketching at the eyepiece over three decades ago and ive kept all my drawings. Many of them would be thought of as rubbish, but never the less, they are truthful. One such early sketch of Jupiter through a 60mm Astral refractor has a foot note stating "Jupiter displayed intense colour tonight. The colours red, green and blue were very evident." It might not tell you much about Jupiter but it does tell something of the telescope, or more likely the eyepieces.

It doesn't really matter if the end result is a bit ropey, as the act of sketching helps to really focus the observers attention on the object being studied. And in time everyone's draughtsmanship will improve greatly with practice and experience.

Attached are a couple of sketches of the Orion nebula. The first using a 4" refractor, the second using a 14" Schmidt Cassegrain.

[ghostdance]

Mike, excellent post! I have only done a couple of small Jupiter sketches and rough grabs in pencil ( & one juvenile watercolour impression by way of experiment, something I want to return to) but it's really inspirational to see yours and others' sketches. Time to gird up my graphite and have a more in-depth attempt. Just ordered some blending stumps, so all set...er, in a very small way 

[Venus_is_my_friend]

The best advice I can give is not to get into the trap of concerning yourself about other people's sketches. Some people are better than you, some are worse, you are your own person and are sketching for your own pleasure. In time you will see a personal improvement, like with anything you practise. Most importantly, if something doesn't work or doesn't look good, who cares it's the end of the world and you can always try again

[MAN or ASTROMAN]

The best advice I can give is not to get into the trap of concerning yourself about other people's sketches. Some people are better than you, some are worse, you are your own person and are sketching for your own pleasure. In time you will see a personal improvement, like with anything you practise. Most importantly, if something doesn't work or doesn't look good, who cares it's the end of the world and you can always try again

This is just the sort of encouragement I need to get me started.Maybe.

[todd8137]

Hi there and get ready for the ups and downs of drawing ,there's no wrong or right way , I have done a few sun spot drawings it's cool try the moon or dso targets as ever only draw for your self and not others

Here's a sun spot sketch from ages ago ,did you manage to get any thing done ?

Pat

[ghostdance]

I'm thinking of perhaps a heresy - given I'm not currently using my scope much, I'm going to practice copying from a b&w photo. This at least will, alright may, improve technique...especially in trying to sketch nebulousity, I think.

I would not pass these off as observed records, of course

Anyone else practice by copying?

[jkwhinfrey]

Nothing wrong with practice ghostdance. I've certainly copied images to practice drawing in the past. Not astro ones though.

I noticed you really filled the page with Kepler todd8137 :-) I remember being told to draw as big as possible, especially when starting out. It's much easier to correct errors and get proportions right that way.

James

[todd8137]

Nothing wrong with practice ghostdance. I've certainly copied images to practice drawing in the past. Not astro ones though.

I noticed you really filled the page with Kepler todd8137 :-) I remember being told to draw as big as possible, especially when starting out. It's much easier to correct errors and get proportions right that way.

James

Yes it took over a little in the end but hey ho the end result was more better I usually keep it with in the ep but it usually spreads ,for example look at the first sketch of galaxies it took over ,the other is the terminator which does not look good in a circle I love any style every one as there own style I look forward to all your drawings

Pat