First try with black paper

[ronnietucker]

Normally I make the paper dark grey using pencil/charcoal then apply blacks and erase to get white. Here I have to apply white and erase to get black! Agh, my brain!

[jammo]

Thats great

[Pug]

Now that's a sketch and a half! Fantastic!

[Jim-a]

thats stunning - would love to hear more about the technique you use

[Mike73]

Normally I make the paper dark grey using pencil/charcoal then apply blacks and erase to get white. Here I have to apply white and erase to get black! Agh, my brain!

haha now I've got used to sketching white on black I cant for the life of me sketch with normal pencils and paper!

Was this all sketched at the EP Ronnie? Its a stunning drawing!

[NGEddie]

Wow that's almost like viewing through the EP, superb job, well done

[Astro Imp]

Lovely work, well done.

[RogerTheDodger]

Wow, that's brilliant!

[Stargazer Jack]

That is stunning! Well done

[ronnietucker]

I'm afraid it wasn't drawn at the eyepiece. My lowly 130P won't let me get that close to the Moon. I wish it did! It was drawn from a photo I found on Google Images.

As for technique: I used a white pastel pencil to lightly rub some white onto the paper. From there I used a bit of kitchen roll to blend the white into the paper to give me a pale grey on black paper. I used the same white pastel pencil to draw in the white highlights and a kneadable eraser to erase back to the black paper for the shadows. That's about it really.

Thanks for all the nice comments!

[ItIsOnlyMe]

Astronomy meets art - fantastic!!

[Fordos Moon]

You could make some money for yourself producing that quality of artwork. Just a thought from a failed freelance artist!

[Pug]

My first scope was a skywatcher explorer 130 Ronnie, you'd be suprised at the detail you can pick out lunar observing on one of those. I use a sort of shorthand shading at the ep, then go inside to tidy it up with a blending stump and pop back out to add finishing touches. Would love to see more of your work, you've got a talent there.

[ronnietucker]

You could make some money for yourself producing that quality of artwork. Just a thought from a failed freelance artist!

I do try to sell my stuff (landscapes, cartoons, etc.). Not having much luck at it, but I'm trying.

[ronnietucker]

For anyone interested in how I produced the above image, here's a similar one: