· Get a Cloudy Nights T-Shirt · Submit a Review / Article Click here if you are having trouble logging into the forums Privacy Policy | Please read our Terms of Service | Signup and Troubleshooting FAQ | Problems? PM a Red or a Green Gu… uh, User You are not logged in. [Login] Entrance · Main Index · Search · New user · Who's Online FAQ · Calendar Astrophotography and Sketching >> Sketching Previous   Index   Next   Threaded   Pages: 1 Michael Rapp Carpal Tunnel Reged: 04/27/04 Loc: Dickinson, TX My (beginner's!) star technique       #5504654 - 11/04/12 09:51 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I was hoping to sketch M39 or M52 this evening, but patchy fog ruled that out. So instead I decided to work on my star technique. As I mentioned before, years of scantron tests seem to have given me muscle memory to drawing a horrible elongated circle when I want to draw a dot! Also, in addition to my non-circular stars, I wanted to have a better way of representing brightness than I had. So far, whether I used bigger dots or darker dots was kinda at random. After drawing more dots this evening than I ever have in my life, I'm happy with the shape of my dots. I've also developed a three-degree brightness scale. Here is what seems to be working well for me: Faint stars: 2H pencil with very light pressure and a quick twirl. This produces a light, yet visible dot on the paper. Medium stars: 2H pencil with a circle drawn for about 2 seconds. Bright stars: HB pencil with a circle drawn for about 2 seconds. For me, the star drawn with the HB graphite as the same size as the medium star with the 2H graphite produces a much more convincing brighter star than just making a larger 2H circle. Post Extras:       Jef De Wit Carpal Tunnel Reged: 03/06/09 Loc: Hove, Belgium Re: My (beginner's!) star technique [Re: Michael Rapp]       #5504942 - 11/05/12 04:57 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   You can also try different Fine Liners (www.staedtler.com/pigment_liner_gb#ctl06_Tab-product-tab-1) to create the brightness (no need to draw a small circle, just dip). I add them at home after I sketched the stars with a number scale (for the different brightness). Post Extras:       John K Carpal Tunnel Reged: 12/26/05 Loc: Vernon BC Canada Re: My (beginner's!) star technique [Re: Jef De Wit]       #5505955 - 11/05/12 08:53 PM Attachment (16 downloads) Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Here is a picture showing how I do my stars.since this picture I have added a stedler pack of fine liners that have 6 different gauge pen tips. Post Extras:       Michael Rapp Carpal Tunnel Reged: 04/27/04 Loc: Dickinson, TX Re: My (beginner's!) star technique [Re: John K]       #5507386 - 11/06/12 06:54 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Thanks John and Jef. I will look into those pens. Post Extras:       Pages: 1 Previous   Index   Next   Threaded   Extra information 1 registered and 7 anonymous users are browsing this forum. Moderator:  Undermidnight, cildarith  Print Thread Forum Permissions       You cannot start new topics       You cannot reply to topics       HTML is disabled       UBBCode is enabled Thread views: 471 Jump to *Announcements and News* -----   Cloudy Nights Announcements   Discussion of CN Articles, Reviews, and Reports   Celestial Events*General Astronomy* -----   Beginners Forum   General Observing and Astronomy   Outreach   Light Pollution*Equipment Discussions* -----   ATM, Optics and DIY Forum   Binoculars   Binoviewers   Cats & Casses   Classic Telescopes   Equipment   Eyepieces   Mounts   Observatories   Reflectors   Refractors    Video and Electronically Assisted Astronomy*Astrophotography and Sketching* -----   Beginning and Intermediate Imaging   Film Astrophotography   DSLR & Digital Camera Astro Imaging & Processing   CCD Imaging & Processing   Solar System Imaging & Processing   Sketching   Astro Imaging/Sketching Contest *Observing* -----   NEO   Planetary and Solar System Observing   Lunar Observing   Deep Sky Observing   Double Star Observing   Solar   Variable Star Observing and Radio Astronomy*Telescope Specific Forums* -----   Celestron NexStar    NexStar GPS / CPC Telescopes   Questar Forum   Meade ACF/RCX / LX / GPS    Meade ETX*Speciality Forums* -----   Arizona Science and Astronomy Expo   NEAF (Northeast Astronomy Forum) and NEAIC (Northeast Astro Imaging Conference)   AstroArt   Astronomy Clubs and Star Parties   Astronomy Software & Computers   AstroWebsites   Science! Astronomy & Space Exploration, and Others   Space Rocks   Stellar Media*Swap and Shop* -----   Shop and Swap Audio Components*CN Feedback and Vendor Announcements* -----   Vendor and Group Announcements*International Year of Astronomy 2009 - Forums are now closed.* -----   IYA Archive Info CN Forums Home

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