I have been a long-time artist and 6 year astronomer.I think astronomy is one of the best ways to get an eye for art of any sort. One of my teachers once told me, "I don't teach people how to draw, I teach people how to see". This definitely holds true for the astro-artist. This is the most challenging thing to me by far - the seeing part. I see a lot of good art on this as well as others. Since getting into astronomy I had only used 4.5 & 5" scopes on a eq mount. Then aperture fever, you know see more. So now I have a 12" solid tube reflector, on a Dobsonian mount. This makes sketching a pain in the butt, sketch and scoot, sketch and scoot. I'm still sketching and scooting, but I've attached a clipboard and light to the telescope. So now I can sketch and scoot all in the same motion. The just curious part is, does anyone else do anything to make sketching a little easier?(other than buying a $2000 mount)