Constellations Illustrated.

Simple fineliner free hand (and hand rendered) illustrations on constellations- based upon the eighty-eight images sourced on my design context blog.

I really enjoy the simplicity of these images and was fasicnated to see all the shapes emerging- some familiar and geometric, and others quite distinct and familiar- particularly the astrological signs.

Originally, I had contemplated the idea of creating a dot-to-dot astronomical map of the constellations, but as many of the constellations do not form as a "solid object" (some just short lines, for instance) the formation of a dot-to-dot could be quite messy throughout the series.

I then went on to replicate the constellation images onto black paper using a silver posca paint pen to represent the stars. Originally, I was joining the dots with the same pen, but frustratingly kept smudging the images- and when I started to use the pencil realised how much better the thinner line looked- definately one to use in my future design development.

I also tried the constellation images using gold pen on the black, but found the pen too transparent. I will attempt with others, but am very fond of the silver at the moment. I think this would look good screenprinted too, a method which I will undoubtedly use in the forthcoming weeks.