December 28, 2023. Notes on process

 

No observing so far since the last entry, but some notes on process. I have been reading a lot of information in the Cloudy Nights sketching forum and Stargazers Lounge sketching forum. They both have links to some very good resources. One of the resources  mentioned a lot is the book pictured above. I was lucky enough to be gifted that book, along with a set of good drawing pencils, some white graphite pencils, and a pad of black sketching paper. Based on the infomation in the book, I added to that kit by picking up a small set of three different sized blending stumps, a gum eraser, a pink pearl eraser, a Prismacolor white pastel pencil, and a sandpaper stick pencil sharpener. We already have some small hand held sharpeners, and I thought I still had an eraser shield.  Turns out I don't anymore, so I will pick one up next time I get to the office supply store. 

In playing around with the black pad and the graphite pencils, I had some uneven results. The graphite won't  go over itself after smoothing the initial pass. It may be that the paper is too smooth to "grab"it. The Prismacolor pastel works well on it though. I need to practice a lot! I'm also excited to try the regular sketching pencils at the eyepiece when I get the chance.

More thoughts on winter observing:

Anne has ordered me a set of heated gloves with capacitive finger tips so I can use a touch screen. One thought I have is to try to use my laptop to control the 8SE instaed of the hand controller. My laptop has a touch screen. These gloves may also be flexible enough that I can handle eyepieces, etc., without having to take them off.

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