A couple of drawings of the Moon

[Bizibilder]

Attached are a couple of drawings that I have made in the last week of Lunar features. I'm still trying to get a good "technique" for this - so any comments would be greatfully received!!

The first is Cassini (21.04.2010 20.15-20.45 UT) and the second Plato (22.04.2010 20.15-20.40 UT). Both were drawn using an Evostar 120mm refractor at x200. No filters. Just an HB pencil then redrawn indoors using various pencils, blenders etc and black gel-pen for the truly black shadows.

[DarkerSky]

I'm liking those. Excellent stuff

I find lunar feature drawing quite an intense experience. There is often so much going on in the EP it is difficult to know how to capture it all. In my one (and only) previous attempt I drew Pythagoras. Basically started with the deepest shadows and got those down first. It pinned down the scale and outline of what I was looking at, so afterwards the intermediate shading, craterlets and lines etc came easier.

[Talitha]

Well done! You have a wonderful sketching style and it's very accurate, too. I especially like how you handled Cassini's smooth outer glacis. It's a lunar oddity... looks like the impactor landed in a bowl of pudding, doesn't it?

Regarding your question on technique, there's a lunar sketching tutorial link in my signature, i hope it helps. After a lot of trial and error, it's the technique which proved to work the best when i was teaching myself to sketch in 2003.

[Bizibilder]

Thanks to both for your kind comments. Talitha - i've had a read of your tutorial and found it most useful. The only thing that i do really differently is sketch at the eyepiece with just one pencil and then redraw with all the bits and bobs afterward. I find that trying to do everything at the eyepiece (AND I have an undriven, hand cranked, mount !!) means that I have to use all three hands!!

[bish]

Great pics. I Like the style of your sketches. I like to try and sketch the Moon but find it a real challenge.

[Daniel-K]

great sketches i wish i could sketch lol only stick men for me