Moon - Walther

[Ruud]

Here's a sketch of crater Walther as it appeared on 31 March 2020.
The crater was named after German astronomer Bernhard Walther (1430-1504).

[Don Quixote]

This is very nice work, Ruud !
Much appreciated.

[Bigzmey]

Excellent!

[mariosi]

Beautiful, beautiful picture!

Marios

[John Baars]

Nice sketch! Very well done. I like the long shadows inside.
Thanks!
Is it a pastel- or pencilsketch and which instrument was it done with?

Edit: I just changed "Wather" into "Walther" in the title.

[NGC 1365]

Beautiful rendition.

[Juno16]

Extremely well done! Beautiful sketch Ruud!

[Ruud]

Thanks everyone, for your kind words!
 

Nice sketch! Very well done. I like the long shadows inside.
Thanks!
Is it a pastel- or pencilsketch and which instrument was it done with?

 
Hi John. I use my small SCT with magnifications up to 313x. The medium is pen and paper combined with "scanner, Wacom tablet, Photoshop, Painter and Topaz Adjust".

I start off with notes on paper. I draw crater outlines with the right relative sizes. Sometimes I make a separate mesh of triangles for the relative positions and distances of the major features. After that I make a separate rough sketch for each feature. These sketches record the highlights and shadows. I divide mountain ranges in several zones and mark any wrinkles in the lava outside the main features.

After scanning everything I collect the lot in photoshop, invert left to right, resize and move the partial sketches. Then, using a map as a reference, I warp, resize and position everything to proper sizes and positions. Then I add a number of layers for the highlights, shadows, ridges and gullies, all on separate layers. At the very bottom I use a grey-to-black gradient.

Then I roughen up the whole with small scale distortions (from PS filter gallery), save at 600% and move to Corel Painter.

In Painter I use a charcoal, acrylic and smeary brush to push around pixels. It's like working with paint that never dries. The smeary brush has very scratchy bristles and I like its effect. I've not been able to make a mixer brush like it for Photoshop, so Painter is a necessary part of the workflow. My handwriting is ugly, so in Photoshop I prepare the text using Kalam for the font, which then also goes to Painter.

Back in Photoshop I bring the image scale down. I retouch where needed and tone map the painting to add a bit of pop and drama (Topaz Adjust). I add the text and a mask to hide the rough edges of the painting. Finally I apply a canvas texture.

I don't aim for accuracy. Sometimes I miss a feature or two and at times I grossly exaggerate others. But that's okay, my aim is to show an impression.

[John Baars]

Thanks for sharing with us your workflow!