Lunar Sketch Along

Astronomy is very much a visual activity. Before photography, one of the few ways to represent the night sky was with a drawing or a painting. Artists of the past helped astronomers represent and record natural phenomena, which in turn stimulated questions about our place in the universe. 

As part of Royal Museums Greenwich's Season of Drawing, we will be exploring the links between drawing and astronomy in this online creative workshop, led by Mary McIntyre, astronomer and astrophotographer; Dr Louise Devoy, Senior Curator at the Royal Observatory Greenwich and Dr Gregory Brown, Senior Public Astronomy Officer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich.

What will the session involve?

In this engaging and interactive experience, participants will delve into the collection with Dr Louise Devoy to discover how artists and astronomers have used drawing to aid research and discovery. 

Special guest Mary McIntyre will then share her skills and experiences sketching the Moon. She will take you through how to approach astronomy sketching using materials you will already have at home, such as pencils, white paper and erasers. In the process of creating these sketches, you will learn how to become a better visual astronomer. 

As well as using imagery and footage of the Moon captured by Mary and the team at the Royal Observatory, there may even be an opportunity to sketch live images of the Moon, which Dr Gregory Brown will share from the Annie Maunder Astrographic Telescope (please note this is weather dependent).

Who is the session suitable for?

All participants are welcome to join, no matter your artistic ability – please come along and have a go!

All you will need is an HB pencil, some white paper, an eraser and cotton buds/Q-tips for blending, as your hosts guide you through how to sketch the Moon. 

Meet the session leaders

Mary McIntyre is an amateur astronomer and astronomy communicator based in Oxfordshire, UK.

She is a keen astrophotographer but also loves teaching, astronomy sketching and art.

She is passionate about astronomy outreach and was awarded the Sir Patrick Moore Prize at the British Astronomical Association Awards in 2021 for her work.

A Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, Mary is a regular contributor to BBC Sky at Night Magazine and the Yearbook of Astronomy. She is also a co-presenter of the Comet Watch radio show and a regular panel member on the Space Oddities live panel show.

Dr Louise Devoy is Senior Curator at the Royal Observatory Greenwich. She has previously worked at the National Space Centre, Science Museum, British Museum and the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution. She has visited many historic observatories worldwide and is fascinated by the people, places, objects and stories associated with the history of astronomy.

Dr Gregory Brown is an astronomer working at the Royal Observatory Greenwich. In his time in research at the University of Warwick, he studied some of the largest explosions in the Universe and the supermassive black holes hiding in distant galaxies. Combining a love of science, comedy and acting, Gregory moved into science communication, where he has been eliciting anguished groans from his audiences ever since.

Important information

This event is on a 'pay what you can' basis. When making your booking, you will be able to select how much you would like to pay for the session.

All payments will go towards supporting future programming that makes the collection and the skills of the team at Royal Museums Greenwich accessible to more people. 

Once you have booked your ticket via the 'Book now' button at the top of the page, you will receive an email explaining how to join us on the night. 

This is a digital event and will be hosted on the video conferencing service, Zoom.