Newbie sketching question

[Craig20264]

Hi all,

Firstly I'm impressed with the quality of artwork in this section, and would like a bash myself.

I'm biased towards the white on black sketches and was wondering what you use, is it just normal black art card or are there special ocular view pads available?

Also what sort of pens/pencils do you use?

Regards

Craig

[RikM]

I use normal 2B, 4B and 6B pencils onto an A5 cartridge paper pad. I use a paper blending stump to smooth things and a soft eraser with a thin metal shield. I sketch at the eyepiece, then scan and invert in Photoshop to get the white onto black appearance. I am not much of an artist so I usually tweak the contrast etc in PS as well, to get closer to what I saw. Recently I have started 'overdubbing' the stars with a star layer using different brush sizes.

Jeremy Perez's website has a wealth of info on how to go about this.

[Craig20264]

Many thanks Rik, as you say, a wealth of information.

Regards

Craig

[tbird]

Thanks Rik, I was looking for some help myself.

Has anyone bought this book Astronomical Sketching: A Step-by-Step Introduction, I thought it looked interesting, can anyone recommend it ?

[darrenbushnalluk]

Thanks Rik, I was looking for some help myself.

Has anyone bought this book Astronomical Sketching: A Step-by-Step Introduction, I thought it looked interesting, can anyone recommend it ?

I have seen it and looks well worth having, shows you everything you need to know.

[RikM]

It does look to be a very good book. Unfortunately, I am far too much a cheapskate to part with £25 for it when there are so many fantastic resources generously offered on the web for free. Not to mention the help and advice given by SGL folks.

[tbird]

I agree Rik, the price is off putting, but I like books especially for reference.

[SallyR]

Hi all,

Firstly I'm impressed with the quality of artwork in this section, and would like a bash myself.

I'm biased towards the white on black sketches and was wondering what you use, is it just normal black art card or are there special ocular view pads available?

Also what sort of pens/pencils do you use?

Regards

Craig

Hi Craig,

I do white on black (lunar) sketching, and use either white pastel pencil or white Conté sticks (or a combination of both) on black Canford paper. All of these should be readily available from any good art supplier. Personally I like to use a red light to illuminate my sketchpad when working on black paper - if I sketch with graphite (pencil) on white paper then I use white light.

You might be interested in this new volume from Springer which should be available for browsing on the Springer stand at Astrofest:

Sketching the Moon: An Astronomical Artist's Guide (Patrick Moore's Practical Astronomy Series): Amazon.co.uk: Richard Handy, Deirdre Kelleghan, Thomas McCague, Erika Rix, Sally Russell: 9781461409403: Books

There are many white on black worked examples in this book

[Craig20264]

Many thanks Sally, will check it out.