Sagitta Under Streetlights

[Demonperformer]

I can't draw for toffee, which makes "sketching" a weird exercise for me to engage in. However, I have produced my own method of making "sketches", which I will share, as sketches were specifically mentioned in the post that started this competition. I normally image with my scope, but that is not practical with binoculars (for me, anyway) and, as most constellations are quite expansive, I thought this was a good opportunity of sharing my procedure and a result. Which is all a long-winded way of saying that, if it is considered that my method is not kosher, I won't be offended if my entry is disqualified - the method may still be of interest to other members who would describe themselves (as I do myself) as "spelling artistic with a 'u'"

One of the problems I have with astro-sketching is that my dots never look like dots ... they always end up comma-shaped, or shapes that are even weirder. I get round this by making the drawing part of my sketches using little x's. Another problem is that I find it impossible to put those x's in the right place! I always end up with a drawing that has a bit scrunched up, or vast expanses of nothing where things should be. So, along with my "sketch", I use a dictaphone to record copious notes on how the drawing is wrong and, as important, the relative brightness of the stars I see. This last bit is important because the size of my x's is more determined by how many stars I try to fit into a given area than anything to do with how bright they are. I like to centre these sketches on something that is relatively bright that provides a solid central anchor for the entire exercise.

The process now moves inside, where I produce a second "sketch" of x's using instruments (ruler, protractor) to guide me, making adjustments to positions from my outside sketch using the recorded notes. This second sketch then gets scanned into PaintshopPro (my drawing program of choice). I now produce a blank canvas and, using the airbrush tool, produce a "star" at the positions in the scanned drawing (using the x-y coordinates), using a bigger size for stars recorded in my notes as being brighter.

This produces a passable rendition of what I see in the binoculars.

Which brings me to my entry below.

This is a compilation of four sketches, each centred roughly on one of the four main asterism stars of the constellation of Sagitta, made with my 15x70 binoculars on a monopod. Nestling between Aquila and Albireo, this small constellation is all but invisible to the unaided eye under my local streetlights, but reveals some quite nice star patterns with the bins. I can just about get the entire constellation into the field of view of my 7x50s, but not the 15x70s - another reason for making four sketches rather than one. There was considerable overlap with these four sketches and so this allowed a certain amount of "averaging out" of positions of stars in the overlap, which certainly did not hurt the final result. The one obvious omission from the result is M71, which I have never seen with binoculars from my location. Applying a slight blur to the finished result I feel has enhanced the overall effect. Et voilà … Sagitta Under Streetlights.

The process of combining several of my sketches together is new to me, but I am quite encouraged by the result. As the competition runs for another couple of months, I may try another one on something more expansive ... watch this space ...

Thanks for looking.

 

[mariosi]

Wonderful result! 

Marios 

[Mr niall]

That’s a fab sketch well worth the effort

[Hawksmoor]

Excellent sketch of Sagitta. I've never seen M71 through bins either.

[Pete Presland]

Interesting to hear your technique, especially as I am also not very good at drawing. nice end result as well.