Andrew* Posted November 17, 2008 Share Posted November 17, 2008 I was viewing the moon last night and showing my grandparents. This very dymamic crater caught my eye and I just had to make a sketch. It turns out I picked quite a challenging feature, but I got so immersed and couldn't stop until my feet were frozen solid - 100 minutes later! It was quite incredible to witness the terminator closing up as I drew - several times I had to amend the shadows.So here we have scarred old Janssen split in two by Rimae Janssen. Metius bottom left, Fabricus above it, and Lockyer top right.Date and time: 16th November 2008, 10.40pm - 12.20am.Lunation: 19 daysEyepiece: Meade 18mm UWA (102x) - no filterTelescope: Meade 16" Lightbridge (newtonian orientation - N is down, E is left)Seeing: 2/5(click to enlarge)Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ Posted November 17, 2008 Share Posted November 17, 2008 wow great sketch Andrew Must give this a go myself, i'm quite handy with a pencil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightjar Posted November 17, 2008 Share Posted November 17, 2008 That's fantastic! Loads of interesting features in and around this crater and you've captured them all brilliantly. NJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barkis Posted November 17, 2008 Share Posted November 17, 2008 There's a load of talent emerging on SGL in this field. This is a really good detailed sketch Andrew. It is a pity the exposure times are longer than Conventional imaging, but more rewarding to the creator. Nice work mate. Ron. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stefski Posted November 17, 2008 Share Posted November 17, 2008 Great work Andrew .....Is that charcoal you were using, or a 6B pencil?You mentioned the teminator moving....I've thought that it would be quit cool to make a film (if I had a slr camera ), using lots exposures over a few hours, of the shadows growing/receding on the lunar surface......Anyway, once again, nice one matey Stef Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew* Posted November 17, 2008 Author Share Posted November 17, 2008 Thanks a lot for all your comments! I'm really pleased how this turned out as it's only my third attempt. It's not so elegant and smooth as most of the other sketches I've seen, but then again it's a pretty packed area of the moon!Great work Andrew .....Is that charcoal you were using, or a 6B pencil?All the black is done with a 5B. Mid-tones mainly B or 2B, and an F for the rilles.Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew* Posted November 17, 2008 Author Share Posted November 17, 2008 A PS reprocess: this is how I meant it to look, but black is very difficult to get using pencils. Gaussian blur and resharpen to lose the pencil marks. Better than the original, or too unnatural?(click to enlarge)Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barkis Posted November 17, 2008 Share Posted November 17, 2008 Looks good Andrew, almost like a fotee now though. Ron. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted November 17, 2008 Share Posted November 17, 2008 Wow well wicked.100 minutes, thats either dedicated or as mad as a hatter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kniclander Posted November 17, 2008 Share Posted November 17, 2008 that looks staggeringly good for your third attempt!?personally I preferred the originals cos in the retouch the black was almost too black; then again, the shadows on the moon are very black so maybe I prefer the retouch. I just don't know.... btw - how big is the actual sketch?dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew* Posted November 17, 2008 Author Share Posted November 17, 2008 100 minutes, thats either dedicated or as mad as a hatter.Err, well actually, just lost! I was just sitting there looking drawing non-stop for the whole time until I was satisfied with the result. Looked at the watch at the end and said to myself "wow, is that the time?". Truly brilliant feeling.that looks staggeringly good for your third attempt!?personally I preferred the originals cos in the retouch the black was almost too black; then again, the shadows on the moon are very black so maybe I prefer the retouch. I just don't know.... btw - how big is the actual sketch?danThanks very much! Yeah, I did imagine I might have over-blackened it...What you see here is only about 6x8cm, so I was workign in a small space.Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talitha Posted November 17, 2008 Share Posted November 17, 2008 Andrew, this is excellent.. you're a natural! Yes, I agree with you that the reprocess looks unnatural, but it might have turned out well if you'd have stopped after deepening the shadows and not continued on with the gaussian blur. To me, that's what makes it look too unnatural.. 'artsy' TBH, but that's only my opinion. I know what you mean about wanting to deepen the shadows, though. Does your scanner have adjustments for midtones, shadows and contrast? If it does, you might be able to deepen the black during the scan.. works well for me. Btw, the urge to amend your sketch's shadowline can be controlled by 'locking in' the shadows at the beginning of the sketch (see the tutorial link in my signature). Your time frame sounds about right for something this intricate, too. Mine take about 2 hours. Well they used to anyway. Too much back pain now, but hopefully some night I'll be able to get nice and comfortable for a few hours and have another go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew* Posted November 17, 2008 Author Share Posted November 17, 2008 Andrew, this is excellent.. you're a natural! Why thank you Carol, coming from you! :notworthy: Yes, I agree with you that the reprocess looks unnatural, but it might have turned out well if you'd have stopped after deepening the shadows and not continued on with the gaussian blur. To me, that's what makes it look too unnatural.. 'artsy' TBH, but that's only my opinion. Yeah, I did that to hide the raw scratchy look from pencil marks etc., and so that it might take on a more photographic appearance. As it's a sketch though, it should look like a sketch, I guess, so I have settled with this:(click to enlarge)I know what you mean about wanting to deepen the shadows, though. Does your scanner have adjustments for midtones, shadows and contrast? If it does, you might be able to deepen the black during the scan.. works well for me. I didn't like the result from the scanner, so I photographed it instead.Btw, the urge to amend your sketch's shadowline can be controlled by 'locking in' the shadows at the beginning of the sketch (see the tutorial link in my signature).I had that in my head when I was doing it, but I decided to ignore your wise advice as I then had an easy method to cover up mistakes :oops: . Plus, I work from simple details to more complex*, so I did a rough shadow outline, then came back to it later to add the finer details only to find out it's totally different! So there was me pencilling those shadows in again, your voice in my head saying, "Told you so!".*Criticise that if you will, but that's just how I draw - it's very important to get the basic positioning of everything right first time, instead of doing one bit to perfection and then finding out it's totally in the wrong place. Your time frame sounds about right for something this intricate, too. Mine take about 2 hours. Well they used to anyway. I was glad I managed to follow it through. As soon as I started I was thinking, "silly me - I've picked a ridiculous target - this will take over an hour to do any justice to." And it did, and I was happy about it!Well they used to anyway. Too much back pain now, but hopefully some night I'll be able to get nice and comfortable for a few hours and have another go. I really hope so, Carol. Hope the back gets better... Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talitha Posted November 17, 2008 Share Posted November 17, 2008 Looks great! I definitely see details in this version that were lost in the blurring process. "I work from simple details to more complex"Doesn't matter what technique you use, as long as it works for you.. that's what's important. One thing to remember about those sneaky shadows, though. Luna's waning right now, and it's easy to add to the shadows as they increase. But when she's in the waxing phase it's difficult to remove shadows as they slowly decrease (especially if you use a 9B like I used to ).Again, excellent work and thanks for the well-wish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saturn5 Posted November 17, 2008 Share Posted November 17, 2008 Why would you want to blur out pencil marks on a sketch? :scratch: That really has got me beat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew* Posted November 17, 2008 Author Share Posted November 17, 2008 I did say... AndrewP.S. and thanks for the compliment, S5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saturn5 Posted November 17, 2008 Share Posted November 17, 2008 Your compliment is beside the ones i got from you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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