Hosting guests at Ballard Locks

We met at the Hiram Chittenden Locks in the Ballard neighborhood. We had several visitors from away who are here to attend Sketcher Fest.

I wandered around a lot, undecided about what to sketch. I've been there a few times and was looking for something new to sketch...that was also in the shade! I settled on a shady bench with a view of one of the buildings partially blocked by a blossoming bush. The venue had two stamps, which I added to the upper left. 

 

At the throw down we were a large group.

 

A Sizzling Good Time at Ballard Locks

7/31/22 Park at Ballard Locks

On the sixth day of our record-breaking heatwave, USk Seattle met at the Ballard Locks, where every bit of shade was occupied! As the culmination of their “Spotlight on Nature” weekend USk workshop, Gail Wong and Virginia Hein invited USk Seattle to join their students in the afternoon. Although I didn’t participate myself, I heard that the workshop had a fantastic curriculum based on their new book of the same name.

As it had been all week, finding a good composition was secondary to finding shade! I’ve also been missing sketching people, since I’m still not hanging out much in heavily populated areas. I took advantage of the park’s festive summer atmosphere to sketch people sitting or laying about in the grass, listening to live music.

I was happy to have some time to catch up with Virginia, whom I have sketched with in her hometown of L.A., in Tacoma at the West Coast Sketch Crawl and at various symposiums. Toward the end of the outing, we walked over to the locks, which she hadn’t yet had a chance to sketch. As we chatted under shady trees, I made a couple of quick thumbnails of the Salmon Bay Bridge and the apartment buildings on the south side of the bay.

Despite the scorching day, we had a great turnout. Although I generally wilt in high heat, I was happy I made it to the hottest USk Seattle event of the year (we hope!).

Rock-star co-authors and co-workshop instructors Gail and Virginia!

Great to see you and catch up with you, Virginia!

Whale on a wagon

 This morning was another outing together, this time at Ballard Locks. I felt the relief of very comfortable temperature and better air quality.

I'm starting a series of whales on wagons! This is the second one I've seen and sketched.  The first one was in Bellingham and larger.  I always find these wacky things interesting. Scroll down to see the Bellingham one here.  

The Corps of Engineers building

We had a rather big group again of about 30 sketchers.... we're being extra cautious and wearing masks when not social distancing. 

Clean Air at Ballard Locks

 

8/15/21 Salmon Bay Bridge

Prompting much relief from all of us, the smoke from the past few days blew off, and we could breathe easily for the USk Seattle sketch outing at the Ballard Locks. I knew I hadn’t been there in a while, and my records show that the last time was nearly four years ago – the last time USk Seattle met there.

As I often am, I was again attracted to the Salmon Bay Bridge. When I began the sketch, the sky was overcast, but by the time I finished, I was standing in full sun.

Looking for some shade on the garden side of the park, I found a big banana plant, and I was happy to see that the primary triad I’ve been using gave my sketch a summery, tropical look. It was terrific to see that clean, clear blue sky again.

Ballard Locks (not the scenic view)

Well, I was a kind of embarrassed about posting this sketch. See, I was feeling a little grumpy the last time Seattle USk met at the Ballard Locks. Every time I go to this popular spot, it seems more crowded and more covered in caution signs and barrier fencing (trying to keep the tourists out of the ship canal). So, contrarily, I sat down on a bench with no particular view and drew what was in front of me. Too much realism?

Ballard Locks

After a summer hiatus it's good to be back sketching with USk Seattle! I came late and had to leave early but was able to get one sketch in. It's fun to look at familiar places with fresh (sketching) eyes and notice details you hadn't before. Hope to see and sketch more with you all in the coming months!

Chittenden - aka Ballard - Locks

Though rain was finally predicted, it held off until our sketch outing was finished. A larger group than usual attended the Ballard Locks sketch outing today.  There were some first time sketchers and even a couple new sketchers moving here... one from Boston and one from NYC! And there was a visitor from Spokane.  Welcome all! 


I did quite a bit of wandering around before I sat down to do my only sketch of the day. I decided to go big... or at least larger than usual. My sketchbook today was 9x12 inches. This is the second time I've sketched the railway bridge open.

"The Salmon Bay Bridge, also known as Bridge No. 4, is a single-leaf bascule bridge spanning across Salmon Bay and connecting Magnolia/Interbay to Ballard in Seattle, Washington. ... Built in 1914 by the Great Northern Railway, it has an opening span of 61 meters (200 feet) and has two tracks."




I asked for the stamps at the Corps of Engineers visitor center. 

There are several sketchers not in the group photo as they had to leave early!  I think we were at least 30 today. 


Thanks to Dan's son, Colin, for taking the group photo!

A Change in Weather at Ballard Locks

9/17/17 Salmon Bay Bridge at the Ballard Locks

The first real rain in weeks was predicted for today – just in time for USk Seattle’s outing at the Ballard Locks. If and when the rain did come, I was planning to duck inside the fish ladder area. By 10:30 a.m., though, the sun was still darting in and out of clouds, so I went to the parking lot on the south side of the Ship Canal. Although I’ve sketched the Salmon Bay Bridge several times, I’d never been able to catch it in the open position. My luck stayed with me – the sun came out just long enough to put in those shadows on the bridge. 

9/17/17 Ballard Locks

Crossing the canal again, I stopped at the Locks at a busy spot – not just busy with pedestrians, but also visually busy. I have no idea what this yellow thing is in the foreground, but it apparently has a nautical purpose. In any case, it was just the right time to initiate my new Stillman & Birn Nova gray-toned sketchbook.  

We got an excellent USk turnout on this iffy-weather morning! And fortunately for us, the rain waited until my drive home to finally start falling. 

Ballard Locks Centennial

7/6/17 Salmon Bay Bridge

When I was a kid, one of the places my dad always wanted to take first-time Seattle visitors to was the Ballard Locks. He was apparently fascinated with the need to bring the water levels of Lake Washington, Lake Union and Puget Sound to the same level so that boats could travel among them and the locks’ engineering that made this possible. Standing at the edge of the locks, watching the boats pass through, he would go on and on about this marvel of technology, what it must have been like to construct it, blah blah blah. I was endlessly bored with my dad’s monologue, which I had to listen to every time we visited. I could always think of dozens of places our visitors would most certainly prefer to see, such as Woodland Park Zoo or the Space Needle.

Earlier this week the Ballard Locks (officially called the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks) celebrated its centennial with much media fanfare. Although I didn’t attend the festivities, I decided to go over there this beautiful morning. I’ve sketched the locks themselves previously, even at night as the Christmas ships passed through, but today I focused on the Salmon Bay Bridge, built shortly before the locks opened, which dominates the view. (I sketched a similar view a couple of years ago.)

Now with greater appreciation for what was, indeed, a marvel of technology a century ago (and which has served the region’s water traffic ever since), I also have greater appreciation for my dad’s blah blah blah. In fact, I have heard myself repeat it to Seattle visitors that I bring to the locks. 

Happy 100^th birthday, Ballard Locks!

A bit of Nature at Ballard Locks

We had such a perfect day at the Ballard Locks on Friday, July 3rd.  It was the perfect place to tolerate the hot sun, with pleasant breezes from the Sound offering relief.  Most of us chose to do some version or viewpoint of the huge iron lifting railroad bridge the spans the entrance to Puget Sound.  And so I found a view that catered to my bias for Nature, as I was able to sit behind some fireweed.

Salmon Bay Bridge

7/3/15 Salmon Bay Bridge from the Ballard Locks

Although I’ve sketched at the Ballard Locks a few times on my own, and although I think Urban Sketchers Seattle has gone as a group at least a couple of times, it had been nearly three years since I had joined them there. I vividly recall that sketch outing in September 2012 for at least a couple of reasons. For one, I had joined USk Seattle only a few months before, and I was dazzled and stunned by all the amazing sketches I saw at the outings being casually tossed down at the sharing time alongside the likes of mine! (Not much has changed; I still feel this way.)

Secondly, Tommy Kane had been visiting Seattle, and Gabi had organized the Locks outing for him. I had long admired Tommy’s quirky blog and unique take on urban sketching, so I was looking forward to meeting him, but I figured anything he chose to sketch would be way beyond me. Indeed, Tommy had sketched the Salmon Bay Bridge, a view that I had found so utterly intimidating that it was easy to dismiss it for another time. Way later. Maybe years.

During my visits to the Locks since then, including as recently as May, I somehow managed to evade the more challenging scenes and subjects. It’s easy to do because there are always people, birds and other smaller subjects hanging out at the Locks.

This morning as I greeted the other sketchers, I didn’t give myself any particular challenge as I sometimes do. In fact, I wasn’t thinking about any of this. The year-round breeze that makes the Locks chilly much of the year was a welcome relief in the soon-to-be blazing sun (the temperature is 89 now at 3 p.m.). It was summer sketching at its best. Walking a few feet from our meeting location, I spotted a great view of the Salmon Bay Bridge. I knew it would be challenging – indeed, intimidating – but I was feeling too good to care.

Like I said: Summer sketching at its best.

It was a great turnout this morning! Happy 4th of July holiday!

Ballard Locks

The arm of this bridge was reaching skyward most of the morning, but when it lowered and the doors of the locks opened and shut it was like watching the two perform some form of industrial ballet. I tried my relatively new brush pen for this painting. I like the portability but struggled to get enough water on the page for sky and sea, so resorted to the old fashioned brush and cup.

Ballard Locks

I used a handy 0.4 Pilot G-Tech-C4 pen to fill this sketchbook spread.

At the Ballard Locks with Tommy Kane

We enjoyed perfect weather for the impromptu sketchcrawl with Tommy Kane at the Ballard Locks. So many sketchers turned out that one shot wasn't enough to fit the group!

An active place to draw! Boats going up and down, bridges going up and down, people coming and going...

Ballard Locks 09-19-09

It was a wet but happy day in the rain. (True Seattlelites do not cancel plans because of the weather.) This is my sketch of the beautiful eye catching Alaska yellow cedars outside the Administration building. I loved my first outing with Urban Sketchers .