Noob DSOs

[SwiMatt]

I just had a session on my balcony, and sketched some DSOs: I started from IC 4665 (not particularly overwhelming in the telescope, but good training), then found the open cluster M29 and the globular cluster M71. Here are the results, with inverted colors (I will need to use my scanner at work for better results on the inverting).

It's only my second sketching session, so the results are still very rough, but I'm enjoying the process!

EDIT: uploaded versions with better contrast.

 

 

 

 

Edited November 17, 2023 by SwiMatt

[RobertI]

Lovely sketches, well done! 🙂

[SwiMatt]

2 minutes ago, RobertI said:

Lovely sketches, well done! 🙂

Thank you! Your appreciation means a lot 😄

[bosun21]

Great start Matt  The only thing I can draw is my breath.

[SwiMatt]

28 minutes ago, bosun21 said:

Great start Matt  The only thing I can draw is my breath.

Weirdly, I also believed that of myself until this summer... just sayin' 

[The60mmKid]

Beautiful! Thank you for sharing!

[IB20]

They’re ace. Very realistic. 👍🏻

[josefk]

11 hours ago, SwiMatt said:

Weirdly, I also believed that of myself until this summer... just sayin' 

i wouldn't repeat this out loud to anyone really artistic but i have a few (non-astro) "learn to sketch" type books and one of them opens by saying "sketching is a skill not a talent" meaning it can be practised and perfected by anyone 🙂. i live in hope even if so far i may be the exception that proves the rule 😂.

...meanwhile i bet you now you will recall the observations above far better in a few months time from having taken the time to sketch them and i would hazard a guess you probably saw them better at the time from setting out to sketch them and really looking (no offence to anyone not sketching).

Cheers

[SwiMatt]

28 minutes ago, josefk said:

i wouldn't repeat this out loud to anyone really artistic but i have a few (non-astro) "learn to sketch" type books and one of them opens by saying "sketching is a skill not a talent" meaning it can be practised and perfected by anyone 🙂. i live in hope even if so far i may be the exception that proves the rule 😂.

I guess learning is different for everybody, and maybe you just got the wrong books. As long as you enjoy the process, there is no shame 🤨🤩

30 minutes ago, josefk said:

...meanwhile i bet you now you will recall the observations above far better in a few months time from having taken the time to sketch them and i would hazard a guess you probably saw them better at the time from setting out to sketch them and really looking (no offence to anyone not sketching).

Maybe all those things, but for me it's much more about learning to take my time with these objects. I suck at being patient and look for details, but if I'm sketching I will have to and will enjoy the process much more that pleasure alone is worth it!

[Nicola Fletcher]

These are fantastic sketches! They look very realistic - I’m sure they will be a great reminder of the night you observed them.

I haven’t done a huge amount of sketching but I really enjoy using pastels on black paper for DSOs which avoids the need to invert. I’m just getting into sketching on white paper now and I definitely find it more challenging. I’m determined to keep going though, especially for planets.

Thanks for posting your sketches- they’re a great inspiration 😊

Edited November 19, 2023 by Nicola Fletcher

[SwiMatt]

11 hours ago, Nicola Fletcher said:

These are fantastic sketches! They look very realistic - I’m sure they will be a great reminder of the night you observed them.

I haven’t done a huge amount of sketching but I really enjoy using pastels on black paper for DSOs which avoids the need to invert. I’m just getting into sketching on white paper now and I definitely find it more challenging. I’m determined to keep going though, especially for planets.

Thanks for posting your sketches- they’re a great inspiration 😊

Thank you!

I never worked with pastels, while I have experience with pencils on white paper for non-astro sketching: that is why I went with this technique - but I don't exclude to try something else soon. For example, it's quite hard to get colors on the paper if one needs to invert (although orange becomes blue and viceversa, so we are covered at least for Albireo) 🤣