Newbie sketching tips/tricks

[Dragan]

Hey all,

Well, I finally decided I'll give sketching a go. To all the sketchers on the group, what are some good tips/tricks you would recommend? What about supplies? What should I have and what is just not needed? And what about technique?

Howard, I hear you may know a thing or two about sketching ;) What can you tell me to help me get started? How do you like to do things?

Thanks everybody! Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!!

[Ivan Maly]

I am not an expert but at least occasionally sketch in the last years.

1) A schematic in ballpen alongside written notes. Easy on dark adaptation and on observing time. Probably not what you had in mind though.

2) A digital drawing, based on memory and on a schematic done in the field. At home using such tools as a pressure- and tilt-sensitive computer pen tablet and a program like Corel Sketch Pad (simulator of traditional drawing tools). Again probably not what people have in mind when talking of astronomical sketching.

3) A standard sketch book with heavy paper, a standard automatic pencil, a blending stump, and a smaller blending stump (tortillon), a standard eraser, a soft "art gum" eraser. Make a pool of graphite with the pencil on the side of the page, pick up and deposit some with the blender for nebulosity. Use the smaller tortillon for finer and sharper details in nebulosity; for sharpest details deposit some graphite directly with the pencil on the sketch and blend (smooth out) with the tortillon. Standard eraser for outright errors and for sharp edges in the nebulosity, such as nice dust lanes. "Art gum" eraser for more subtly working out the nebulosity by removing some graphite from areas. Add stars with the pencil.

When doing it this third way, i.e. sketching in the field but with care, I still prefer not to actually mix observing with sketching. Even with the most careful (small faint spot) illuminaton of the page my dark adaptation suffers. I like to build up a clear mental image (visual memory) of the object - this is the main goal of my observing irrespective of sketching - and then sit down comfortably in the car and make the entire sketch in one go. After that I take a good break before observing again.

[Howard B]

Hi Dragan,

I've been a sketcher for most of my life so it comes easy now, but at first I practiced by sketching from photos during the day. More accurately they were doodles while I was bored in school, but the result was that when I was at the scope at night it was much easier to get started. My advice is to practice, practice, practice and give yourself permission to take the time to pick up this new skill. Even after all these years, no matter how good my sketches look at night under my red light, they're always pretty rough looking the next day so I clean them up to look like what I really saw - and looked like under the red light the night before!

A sketch can range from a schematic that informs your written notes or it can be as realistic as possible to reduce the need for a written description. I prefer to be as realistic as possible because I lose my writing skill much faster at night than I do my drawing skill!. But a few notes along with a sketch make a wonderfully complete observation that you'll always treasure.

I use a 0.7mm mechanical pencil with HB lead and a standard 5.5 inch by 8 inch sketch book. This size is easy to hold in one hand while I'm at the eyepiece. To preserve dark adaptation I close my observing eye while sketching and writing notes. I hold my red flashlight in my teeth but would really like to find a small clip on red light that has brightness control and a nice even illumination. Jimi has one that he got in Germany but I've never seen anything nearly as good here.

To summarize my process, while sketching I'm:

Holding my sketchbook in one hand.
Drawing with the other hand.
Holding my red flashlight in my mouth.
Keeping my observing eye closed.
Standing on my ladder, in the dark.

I can barely imagine tougher conditions to sketch under, which is why I suggest starting out practicing during the day at first. Sketching anything is difficult enough, and it's way too easy to get discouraged while learning to sketch astronomical objects if you start at night unless you're already an accomplished artist. So good luck, take your time and if you're persistent and patient you'll see your sketches gradually become more pleasing and more accurate. It's rather like when you first started observing and couldn't see all that much, but a year later it was amazing how much more you could see.

[Dragan]

I am not an expert but at least occasionally sketch in the last years.

1) A schematic in ballpen alongside written notes. Easy on dark adaptation and on observing time. Probably not what you had in mind though.

2) A digital drawing, based on memory and on a schematic done in the field. At home using such tools as a pressure- and tilt-sensitive computer pen tablet and a program like Corel Sketch Pad (simulator of traditional drawing tools). Again probably not what people have in mind when talking of astronomical sketching.

3) A standard sketch book with heavy paper, a standard automatic pencil, a blending stump, and a smaller blending stump (tortillon), a standard eraser, a soft "art gum" eraser. Make a pool of graphite with the pencil on the side of the page, pick up and deposit some with the blender for nebulosity. Use the smaller tortillon for finer and sharper details in nebulosity; for sharpest details deposit some graphite directly with the pencil on the sketch and blend (smooth out) with the tortillon. Standard eraser for outright errors and for sharp edges in the nebulosity, such as nice dust lanes. "Art gum" eraser for more subtly working out the nebulosity by removing some graphite from areas. Add stars with the pencil.

When doing it this third way, i.e. sketching in the field but with care, I still prefer not to actually mix observing with sketching. Even with the most careful (small faint spot) illuminaton of the page my dark adaptation suffers. I like to build up a clear mental image (visual memory) of the object - this is the main goal of my observing irrespective of sketching - and then sit down comfortably in the car and make the entire sketch in one go. After that I take a good break before observing again.

Hi Ivan,

Thanks for the reply. I'm interested in #3 of your suggestions. Though one day I may pick up that new Galaxy Note 10.1 and sketching would be pretty cool on a tablet, I'd like to cut my teeth with pencil and paper. I have a lot to learn and I'd like to learn the basics first.

[Dragan]

Howard,

I've been doing exactly as you suggest. I've been trying to practice using DSS images and the like as to work on technique. I have no business sketching at an eyepiece just yet. Might as well as practice while at home.

I've completed two sketches which I'm actually impressed how good they look on paper. BUT I was quite disappointed once i scanned them into the computer and inverted the image. I see I need ALOT of work and things to learn. (like keeping my stars looking like sharp points! My stars in the sketches look like something I've seen thru the 25" on a night of bad seeing!)

So how do you "smudge" in your sketches? If you're using a mechanical pencil, you always have a rather sharp point, correct? How do you create nebulosity/mottling and such? So far, I've found that using a blending stump is working well for that but I couldn't imagine doing it with a sharp point.

Here are my first two attempts at sketching....

NGC5907
1051

NGC5921
1052

[Dragan]

So I gave my hand at a globular and chose M5. Here is the original version and the inverted version.

How do you all properly sketch a globular? What I mean is, how do you stay committed to drawing it? I found myself wandering and just placing stars pretty much where ever. I tried real hard to staying true to the image that I was working from but still ended up just "adding stars". So much so that my sketch doesn't even look like M5 anymore.

Not only that, this took me much longer than I had anticpated. This is definitely not something that can be done efficiently at the EP. It consumes alot of time!

I also discovered that to add stars to an image you have to really keep your pencil point sharp. Even a slight dullness will elongate stars on paper. This is really giving me a new appreciation for the quality work that some of you all do.

10531054

[omahaastro]

Nice Dragan! A couple of years ago, I actually embarked on an attempt to sketch the Messier, marathon style in that late March time frame... the first night, clouds rolled in around 10pm... so to be fair, I started the following night at that time, ended up getting interrupted again later in the night. Anyway, I did manage to get in almost 70... including enough to complete the AL binocular Messier certificate requirements (I started with 10x80's... attempted an observation/sketch with that, then retreated to my 8" f/6 for more difficult objects). I guess one of these days I'll try to load up some of these onto a web blog or something. To be sure, it takes patience and comfortable seating.

[omahaastro]

and by the way... that's an incredibly meticulous sketch of M5!

[Dragan]

Jeff,

Thanks for the compliment!! I'm proud of it even if it really doesn't look much like the M5 photo I was using as as a model. Erika Rix mentioned to me on Facebook that globulars are much much more difficult than galaxies. I don't know about that. I found the globular easier than any of the galaxies I've tried so far. Maybe I'm just naive.

I can say that I'm really digging it. I've been practicing as I sit in front of the TV watching the Australian Open. Next step will be at the EP.

[Howard B]

Hi Dragan,

Hey, you're off to a great start! Keep practicing during the day from DSS photos like you've been doing but I'd say you're ready to sketch at the eyepiece too.

I use a 0.7mm mechanical pencil with HB lead for drawing and my fingers for blending, mostly to keep tools to a minimum. With lots of practice it works really well. For a smoother blend I'll keep on my thin cotton observing glove but it's more difficult to control this way. A good eraser is essential, and shaping the end so you can erase small areas can be extremely useful at times so keep an exacto knife in your tool kit.

I agree that bright globulars are difficult to draw accurately and I seldom try. But when I do I go for accuracy, and that takes time and motivation to end up with a sketch of a big and bright globular like M5 that looks like what you've seen in your scope. You might want to try starting your sketch by laying it out during the day from a photo - mark the location of the brighter stars so you spend more time at the eyepiece filling in the fainter stars. Fainter globulars respond really well to "adding stars", but I like to start by drawing a starless smudge first that mimics the brightness profile of the faint globular. It looks like an elliptical galaxy but it makes adding stars easier, and the end result looks right.

Drawing round, sharp stars consistently is nearly impossible for me, but I get my best results by holding my pencil as vertical as possible above the paper. That still produces crummy results when looked at the following day so I end up re-drawing my stars so they look rounder. After scanning they often look worse, as you noted, so for my best sketches I've recently started rounding off the stars in Photoshop. This makes a huge difference for bright globulars like M5 and is worth the hours of time at the computer. Basically, I use the eraser tool to round off each star and then use the brush tool to fill in any irregularities in the remaining star image to follow my intent in the original sketch. One by one by one...

As to what objects are the most difficult to draw, that probably varies from person to person depending on their talents, tools, expertise and what they enjoy. Big diffuse objects give me fits, but the end result of a difficult drawing can be the most satisfying so it's always worth sticking to it.

Another bit of advice - draw large! It takes more time but when you shrink a large drawing to show on-line it looks so much better than enlarging a small drawing. For instance, to me a large drawing of M5 would be about 40mm to 50mm in diameter. A rule of thumb I use is to make sure the image scale is large enough so the smallest details are large enough to appreciate.

[Preston Pendergraft]

Dragan,
The Astro League now has a sketching observing program. Just something to check out. Awesome M5 BTW!

[skyraider]

Dragan,

If you want an easier and more accurate way to sketch M5 and other big globs through your scope...just leave the mirror cover on the 25" and sketch the view in your finder scope!! :P And I'm SURE that's NOT the help you were looking for, but I just couldn't resist.