Astronomical Sketching: A Step-by-Step Introduction (eBook)

Richard Handy, principally noted for his lunar sketchwork, studied Art and Astrophysics at the University of California Santa Cruz. He currently runs a small Internet based astronomy company and spends his cloudless evenings sketching the Moon and other celestial objects from his home in San Diego, California. Rich very actively supports observational sketching and is a regular, enthusiastic contributor and supporter of a number of online astronomy forums. David Moody has been observing the skies since age 11. During that time, he also somehow managed to become a CPA, teach at a university for a few years, and work as a magazine editor for several years. He has given several lectures and talks on subjects ranging from emerging stars to emerging business technologies. He is s past member of the Pontchartrain Astronomical Society and a current member of the Texas Astronomical Society and can be found every year at the Texas Star Party trying to observe galaxies with averted imagination. Jeremy Perez has worked as a graphic artist since 1990. He maintains a web site that focuses on astronomical sketching as a means of recording visual observations and has had some of his sketches published in Sky and Telescope Magazine. He is a member of the Astronomical League, and currently serves as vice president of the Coconino Astronomical Society. Erika Rix resides in Zanesville, Ohio where she owns a small business. She is a member of the Columbus Astronomical Society and volunteers her time as a moderator for the Cloudy Nights Telescope Reviews forum. Despite having only been active as an amateur astronomer for a little over a couple of years, her lunar and solar studies progressed quickly through observational sketching and her work has been published on various Internet sites. Sol Robbins has been a professional gallery artist and magazine illustrator since the late 1970's. He has been an avid observer for over 40 years. His sketches of the planets have appeared in magazines, books and used in scientific research publications.

Preface 7
Acknowledgments 8
Contents 10
Introduction 12
Sketching the Moon 17
1.1 Graphite Pencil Sketching 18
1.2 Charcoal Sketching (by E. Rix) 22
1.3 Pen Sketching 26
1.4 White Chalk on Black Paper Sketching 32
Sketching Comets 38
2.1 Sketching a Comet and Its Motion 39
2.2 Creating a Wide Field Comet Sketch 47
2.3 Assessing Cardinal Directions 54
2.4 Sketch and Observation Log Sheets 55
2.5 Sketching Faint Objects in Low Light 57
Sketching the Sun 61
Warning! 63
3.1 Basic White Light Sketching 64
3.2 Projection Sketching 66
3.3 Ha Filter Sketching: Prominences 72
Prominences: Colored Chalk on Black Paper 75
Prominences: Black Charcoal on White Paper 76
3.4 Ha Full Disk Sketching 77
Sketching the Planets 83
Sketching Star Clusters 110
5.1 Sketching a Simple Open Cluster 112
5.2 Sketching a Complex Open Cluster with Unresolved Stars 118
5.3 Sketching a Simple Unresolved Globular Cluster 126
5.4 Sketching a Complex Globular Cluster 131
5.5 Marking Stars 139
5.6 Correcting Misplotted Stars 141
5.7 Stippling Technique 142
Sketching Nebulae 145
Sketching a Diffuse Nebula 147
Sketching a Planetary Nebula 153
6.3 Producing a Contour Sketch of a Dark Nebula 157
6.4 Producing a Shaded Sketch of a Dark Nebula 161
6.5 Using a Blending Stump 165
6.6 Using a Kneaded Eraser 169
6.7 Sketching Negative Versus Positive 171
Sketching Galaxies 174
7.1 Your First Galaxy 177
7.2 The Next Step: An Irregular Galaxy and Dark Lanes 181
7.3 Tips and tricks 183
7.4 Some Great Starter Galaxies to Sketch 186
Observing Forms and Sketch Templates 187
Glossary 192
Astronomical Sketching Communities 198
Lunar 198
Online Resources 198
Comets 199
Solar 199
Planets 199
Deep Sky Objects 200
General Astronomical Interest 200
Index 201