Common guidance in ‘introduction to astronomy’ books suggest you to sketch what you see.  I’ve often dismissed this advice with the thinking ‘why draw an inaccurate sketch when you can get a more accurate image with a digital camera’.  A couple of weeks ago I found out why.

After two very frustrated hours trying to get an image of M42 (Orion Nebular) I decided to give sketching a go.  So, I got out my pad and pen and drew what I could see through the eyepiece.  Now, I’m no artist but I did manage to draw part of the Orion Nebular; the Trapezium with the surrounding nebulosity.

That’s the first time I’ve ever sketched what I’ve seen through the eyepiece and what really struck me was that you have to pay a lot more attention to what you are viewing in order to make a decent sketch.  When simply viewing through an eyepiece it is easy to miss lots of detail.  When you simply look at anything it’s amazing how much the brain takes for granted; try looking at any scene and then turn away from it and draw what you’ve seen without looking back at it; not easy.  Sketching really makes you pay attention to the detail of the object in view.

I looked around for other astro sketchers and amongst them I found this site http://www.deirdrekelleghan.com/.

One obvious mistake I made was using white paper and black pen when really I need to use black paper (to represent the background – or should that be black with a hint of orange?) and white pen/pencil.

I’m going to improve my sketching skills before I post any pictures of my work.

Why not give astro sketching a go.  Do you already astro-sketch?  If so leave a comment with a link to your work, website, or blog.

Until the next post… Clear Skies!  – and keep asking WHY?

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