#astronomy drawing

[thesorceresstemple]

[beautyandtheuniverse]

Hevelius: 1652 eclipse. Johannes Hevelius, Epistolae IV (Danzig, 1654), plate.

[baramax1]

Art for National Astronomy Week

Follow me t] @4Bara Happy National Astronomy Week! It's a week to celebrate Jupiter and all things astronomy, so here's an excerpt from my "History of Drawing in Astronomy" talk to inspire you to get outside and look at the stars - and even draw them if you fancy! All you need is paper and pencil, and ideally a red flashlight (or regular flashlight with some red cellophane over it). So here's some starter tips: * Use a red light so you don't ruin your night sight Every time you turn a light on your eyes readjust. You want to adjust to the dark night sky and have your eyes stay sensitive to the stars. A quick DIY lesson. * Look slightly to the side of the stars,“averted vision” The advantage of averted vision - the most sensitive area of our eyes is actually part of the fovia away from the centre. * Freehand or use a template - either way is fine! Ideas for templates: Clock faces (to help with directions), blank circles, blank page (because you're too creative for a template!), or download a premade template. Jupiter is of course the star (figuratively speaking) of the show this year! It's bright in the sky and the best view of the planet in years. You can easily see it with your naked eye and it should be the brightest thing in the sky except for the moon. With binoculars you can spot dots of the moons around it. With a telescope you can see even more! Galileo's drawings of the moons of Jupiter Did you know that Galileo was the first person to draw Jupiter's moons? He kept track of where he saw the specks of light around the planet. With this he realised that Jupiter must have moons! That orbit the planet! More evidence against the doctrine that everything orbited around the Earth. Our own Moon was okay, because it orbited around us - but no other planets should have orbiting moons. So, got your pencil? Jupiter and 3 (possibly 4?) moons, through binoculars If you are just looking with your naked eyes, then draw that big shiny Jupiter and then the stars you see around it. (it might not be as many as this - this was in a very dark sky on the coast) Jupiter and neighbouring stars, iPad drawing I've been sharing astronomy + drawing posts all this week on my Facebook page, come join me! If you're in the area of Stanford-le-Hope, Essex and would like to attend my talk (which also helps you start a star journal, and then actual telescope viewing up on the roof afterwards) then get in touch with Essex Wildlife Trust Thurrock Thameside centre - the evening was cancelled last Friday due to weather and is rescheduled! You can find updates here. See the coast paintings tina-m.com http://dlvr.it/54jpWl #Amman #Photography

[baramax1]

Tis the Season - artist off duty

Follow me t] @4Bara With Christmas fast approaching, you should all be putting down the brushes, putting your mouse in a drawer (unless you game with it), and leaving "out of office" messages on the work phone. As an artist I'm really rarely off duty. Even my hobbies have elements of art in them. (did you know there are landscape paintings on the walls in town buildings in World of Warcraft?) As the season turns to winter here - we're only just starting to turn on our heat - it's the best time for stargazing! Bright low winter sun, and crisp cold dark nights. All if it isn't raining, of course. (which is 92.5834%* of the time) (*completely made up) And how I could I stargaze without sketching? Not only is sketching stars a time-honoured practice amongst astronomers, it's the best way for me to learn how to navigate. Often I can't quite match what I'm seeing to my star maps, mainly because light pollution gets in my way and I lose markers. Or I'm just rubbish at it. But with a sketch I can go back and study the charts against my times and directions and figure out what I really was seeing. Of course sometimes I'm just being slightly artistic. Though to be honest I rarely have that intent with the star drawings, but if the mood takes me what am I to do? And sometimes I just like filling in the sky. I come into the warm kitchen, make a hot chocolate, and fill in all the dark sky with pencil. Fun! Especially after several hours sitting outside waiting for meteors. Merry Christmas all! May the holidays bring you clear skies and new pencils. :) See the coast paintings tina-m.com http://dlvr.it/4Xhr07 #Amman #Photography