Advice on sketching

[PatrickO]

I've never done any drawing before, but I'd like to sketch to enhance my visual observation.

I'm thinking of an inexpensive A5 black paper sketch pad and a white pencil. Derwent white pencils get good reviews.

Advice much appreciated on best paper and pencil. Also any other tips?

Thanks, Patrick 

[josefk]

hi @PatrickO - here's a prompt i keep at the back of my sketch box for white on black:

The Sakura Gelly Roll pens are good for stars, the Pitt pastel is good for fuzzies, the Derwent charcoal and harder Derwent pencil are good for the moon but i freely mix and match all media. The Faber Artist Brush is more useful than it looks here, I use it for putting in faint stars and for putting underneath the gelly roll pens for brighter stars.

For paper i like black index cards because then i can bin my mistakes 🙂 and not too much paper is getting soggy in the field at one time (its amazing how damp paper gets outside at the scope)

Pastels (even pastels in a pencil format) also get soggy outside in my experience. So i have one that goes outside and gets soggy and others kept inside for nicer work at home. 

Sketching in my experience is THE biggest teacher of good observation skills. I didn't do it at all till 2022 and now i do it for something like 60% of my obs and i'm a better observer because of it across all target types. My method is for scruffy thumbnail sketches  with notes in the field transferred to tidier index cards the next day except for Luna where typically i sketch it once straight to card. This also helps with the "soggy paper problem".

Enjoy.

 

Edited March 5 by josefk

[Tomatobro]

Mary McIntyre has some excellent YouTube Vids on sketching. Worth a look

[josefk]

...and i've promoted these 'really useful boxes' on here before as well as both a handy portable desk and a way to keep dew off kit not in use at that moment:

[Paz]

I do sketches now and again, not to have a nice sketch but more because the process of sketching makes me see more.

I have an A5 pad and a single HB pencil/rubber and that's my lot.

The other aspect of my sketching set up is that I have to be using a tracking mount and I have to have my observing chair otherwise I find it too difficult.

[jjohnson3803]

I've only done a few sketches of doubles and wide fields, but I just use a soft black pencil on white paper.  The sketch can be scanned and reversed to show white on black and then reprinted if I want.

Enjoy!

 

 

[Ratlet]

I use a Uni POSCA pen for my white stars.  It's got a fibre tip.  I've sometimes found that ballpoint style can leave a sort of ring instead of a dot.

Some cheap black card stock can be a bit of a mare for blending. It doesn't seem to want to play ball and the pencil/pastel just dusts off.

I also second Mary McIntyre on youtube.  She also presents the Radio Astronomy Podcast from Sky at night.  Her youtube channel is here: https://www.youtube.com/user/Spiceyspiney

I'd also suggest going for normal pencil on paper.   It's a bit harder I guess to relate to what you see to what you sketch, but you can invert the image in basically any photoediting software and it's like hitting a bit I WIN button.  Makes them look awesome.

Sketching from photos is good practice, but you end up with LOADS more stars in a photo than you'd see through an eyepiece which can complicate matters.  Using other people's sketches as a reference can sometimes be easier, or some really old astro photos done with film/.

I really need to get out sketching again

[mikeDnight]

    I've used all kinds of sketch pad and paper types over the years. I have used these two types over several years and tend to buy several at a time. The hard back black sketchbook I get from Hobby Craft and it has a slightly off white colour and a rough texture. The grey spiral bound sketchbook  has a smoother, pure white paper, and is available from W.H. Smith.  I have used black paper and white pencil but prefer to draw in negative using graphite pencils as I find it easier to get the desired effect. Then image the sketch and using the negative option in Editor, change the black on white to white on black. It looks great!

Then there are the smaller sketchbooks which I use at the eyepiece.  Drawing at the eyepiece can often result in something akin to road-kill, but as long as you understand what the scribbles and crossings out stand for all ends up well (usually) in the final sketch made indoors. 

 So the gadgets I mostly use are graphite pencils, Putty erasers, paper blending stumps (Not spliffs!), and ear buds which I also use for softening edges and blending of soft albedo features on the planet's and nebulae.

 

 

Now with the possibility of boring the pants off everyone, I've attached a few examples that may illustrate the effects of blending. Using black on white to produce white on black, and the use of watercolour pencils (dry)! 

The Moon:

Planetary:

Stars:

Comets & Nebulae:

The above drawn in negative, then using negative in Editor to change to white on black.

Easier, after a little practice, than you might imagine! ☺️

 

Edited March 7 by mikeDnight

[Ratlet]

My absolute top tip is to either scan or photograph them and upload them here.  I love seeing sketches.  You'll get good feedback and often people will see things in your sketch that you didn't realise was significant.

The cloudy nights sketching sub forum is also pretty positive and a good place to post them.

[SwiMatt]

Late to the party, but I would like to stress one thing, which is the same advice we give for telescopes: the best tools are the tools you use. Don't get stuck on black paper and white pencils just because the sky is black and the stars are white.

I have had two kits fundamentally. One is the "luxury kit" for sketching with the Mellish technique, with A4 black drawing paper, pastels and brushes, white and black pastel pencils and accessories (sandpaper, kneaded eraser, etc). The other one is a "simple kit", which is two or three pencils (HB and 2B, sometimes one softer for the Moon) and a few A4 normal sheets with a log printed and space for sketching - it's fast ti grab. I always only use them when I observe from home and I can have a little table or a second chair - it's just too much for me to take to the field away from home.

I will now go in the direction of a nature/astronomy sketchbook with few pencils and colored pencils. This will double as my logbook - à la @mikeDnight. This switch is simply because a book format is easier to carry out in the forest and sits in my laps very easily.

All this to say: test it out. Find what works. and @Ratlet is 100% right. Post your sketches here, we love to see them

[Richard N]

Definitely give sketching a try. I can’t draw but I like my sketches as memory of an evening. It’s very satisfying. It also makes you look a lot more closely and, for me at least, details are glimpsed over time. Hard to explain but others mention this too. The other nice thing is that sketchers are a rather special group. At star parties I notice lots of “gawpers” and “snappers” but few sketchers. 

[mikeDnight]

7 hours ago, Richard N said:

Definitely give sketching a try. I can’t draw but I like my sketches as memory of an evening. It’s very satisfying. It also makes you look a lot more closely and, for me at least, details are glimpsed over time. Hard to explain but others mention this too. The other nice thing is that sketchers are a rather special group. At star parties I notice lots of “gawpers” and “snappers” but few sketchers. 

We're special alright! 

The late great planetary observer Richard Baum once wrote "Many look - few observe"!

 

[JeremyS]

3 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

We're special alright! 

The late great planetary observer Richard Baum once wrote "Many look - few observe"!

 

You ought to put that quote in your signature, Mike.

🤣

[mikeDnight]

14 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

You ought to put that quote in your signature, Mike.

🤣

Do you mean Richard's quote, or mine Jeremy? Deep down I realise that's a silly question. ☺️

[mikeDnight]

13 minutes ago, mikeDnight said:

Do you mean Richard's quote, or mine Jeremy? Deep down I realise that's a silly question. ☺️

Are you P.A.Sing it this year Jeremy? It would be good to have a group pic as we perform a scrum around some expensive refractors. Lots of lenses to lick!!!

[JeremyS]

1 hour ago, mikeDnight said:

Are you P.A.Sing it this year Jeremy? It would be good to have a group pic as we perform a scrum around some expensive refractors. Lots of lenses to lick!!!

No, can’t make it Mike.

Send pics 👍🏻

[mikeDnight]

11 hours ago, JeremyS said:

No, can’t make it Mike.

Send pics 👍🏻

Thats a shame. The SGL 2025 Muppet calendar won't be complete without you.