This weekend has proven pretty difficult to galaxy hunt. Two nights of northern lights, then tonight smoke rolled in covering everything in a bit of a haze.
I decided to switch priorities and hit a target on the moon instead. I wasn't sure whether to go back to white paper with a pencil sketch, or continue using black paper with the acrylic and white charcoal pencils. I decided to attempt the moon using the same "Mellish technique", the reason being that it will give me more opportunities for practice.
After sketching faint galaxies for the last few sessions, it felt strange working at something so "concrete". I had to be a bit more assertive with my lines and shading. A smudge stick came in handy for when a charcoal highlight was too intense, and the acrylic almost created a baseline grey of the lunar surface that I could accentuate shadows and highlights from.
In the sketch, Hercules is the crater to the west and Atlas is the crater to the east.
Thick clouds rolled in shortly after staging the sketch with both craters. I had to wait 5-10 minutes at a time for windows of opportunity to continue filling in the details. Overall, it was very fun and I look forward to more lunar features!
