Crater Clavius

[Nightjar]

I spent the early hours of Sunday morning studying the moon. Clavius was near the terminator surrounded by a jumble of other craters.

I wanted to capture some sort of image, but having struggled and failed to get to grips with my DSLR in the past I left it indoors and reached for paper and pencils.

For the first time, I tried using white conte on black paper. The finished sketch is not very accurate considering it took about 3 hours, but it does show the striking contrast between the bright crater rims and dark shadows.

Nightjar

[stefski]

Wow, Nightjar....This really is a great drawing! I always like looking at astro objects in a setting of some sort, e.g. DSOs in a star field etc.....I love the way you've got the surrounding craters around Clavius..Brilliant:) and only(!) 3hours work:p!

Stef

[Andrew*]

That is quite extraordinary!!

I was daunted about drawing Clavius, let alone its environs.

You've captured a large area of the moon with extraordinary accuracy and texture.

I also had a go at white chalk on black and have to say I prefer it to pencils on white.

Andrew

[Talitha]

Wow three hours, no wonder it looks so good! That's quite a bit of real estate you've got in there, too... how large is the finished work?

You said this is the first time you tried using white conte on black paper and I have to ask.. have you ever had any art training? I'm curious, because the first person I'd ever seen use that medium was a professional artist in another forum who introduced it there a few years ago.

It seems to have caught on like wildfire, but the only people (to my knowledge) who have been successful with it are those who have been artistically trained and I was wondering if "Little Miss Graphite":p should even bother giving it a try.

[barkis]

You have a great talent there Nightjar, and it has come up with an extraordinary likeness of this lunar area. One that is chocked so full of light and dark you deserve a medal for even contemplating doing it.

Great piece of sketching indeed sir.

Ron.

[Nightjar]

Hi Talitha

The finished drawing is about 15cm by 10cm - quite small really. I've had no art training since school, and in fact did no drawing at all for 25 years. It was sketches on forums like this one and in astro magazines that tempted me to pick up a pencil again, about a year ago.

White on black was more difficult - but you should give it try. And why not ? A white conte pencil doesn't cost much. If it doesn't work out, then you can just throw it away. It's not as though you've just invested in the top of the range CCD camera.

Just to prove my lack of training, I'll tell you about last week's sketch. I worked for 2 hours using white charcoal on black paper to sketch craters Hercules and Atlas. The result was spookily moon-like. White charcoal seems to be exactly the same stuff as lunar regolith. But it didn't stick to the paper well. Keen to preserve my hard won effort, I immediately sprayed the finished drawing with fixative ... and the whole drawing dissolved into the paper and never came back.

You live and learn, as they say.

Nightjar

[omneferuss]

Hi Nightjar, very nice work! ..I'm wondering how you got the mid tone around the outer parts.. is that the paper itself, and you used a black for the deep shadows.. or did you create all the tones with the white ?

[Nightjar]

Hi Omneferrus,

I used black paper and put in all the tones using white, but then realised that I'd smudged white into some of the darker areas. I touched the edges and the depths of the craters with black charcoal to restore the shadows.

Nightjar

[Paul G. Abel]

Very well done Nightja! Yes a stunning rendition of the area!!

Don't forget to try Saturn!

-Paul

[legion48]

That's a fine drawing Nightjar, quite some talent you have there.