Sketching the Gowanus Canal

It may not be the prettiest place around, but all of the sketchers and painters today seemed to have a great time at the Gowanus Canal. My thanks to Jessica Dalrymple and the members of the Canal Conservancy for inviting us to come and sketch the views. I did feel a little guilty (but not for long) in the morning watching the volunteers hard at work lifting and cleaning while I was sitting on my chair in the shade. 

I found a good spot outside the salt lot to sketch the view across the canal. What drew me to this spot was the "End" sign and the view of the cement factory behind it. As gritty as the location is there are spots that just call to be sketched.

The Third Street Bridge was a great view too.

The views on the other side of the canal were interesting. 

I liked this side view of the cement factory too.

Painting right near me was Jeanne Pierre who was working on an oil painting. It is hard to resist sketching another artist at work.

It was a great day and I really enjoyed the show and tell and seeing the pieces that everyone created today...lots of excellent work!

Gowanus Canal Sketchcrawl

The first stop of the day was on one of the drawbridges overlooking the canal. A decaying motorboat and shipping containers , another bridge, the elevated highway and the Kentile sign, as well as a construction crane were alll cramned into my first sketch.

This next view was from a parking lot looking at the roadway underneath the elevated train, and the view behind is the elevated highway. The very top row of windows was where our fellow sketches were waving to us!

The last sketch was done from a park, next to the parking lot at Whole Foods on 3rd Ave in Brooklyn. The sign said it is the greenest market in NY. The landscaping was lovely, with benches overlooking the canal. I saw an egret flying between two resting spots. There is a view of the Williamsburg savings bank, the Freedom Tower, The Bat building, and even wind turbines in the parking lot. There is also a second floor outdoor eating deck overlooking the water.

 

Joan sketching

A shot of an antique market we passed.

A stone/ cement yard along the canal

One of the views from the park at Whole Foods

A view of the Bat Building behind some of the wind turbines. They have a very sculptural look when they are twirling around.

A Busy Sketchers' Weekend

It was a busy two days of NYC Urban Sketcher activities. Friday was the Draftsmen's Congress where a group went to the New Museum to be part of a larger group drawing. Saturday was the 43rd Worldwide Sketch crawl through the Gowanus Canal and Long Island City and the turnout was quite large. Check out the blog for more Sketcher posts.

Painting at the New Museum

A few of the sketchers get ready

A smocked sketcher starts his work

First round on the Gowanus with the GCC Bricolage Group

Sketching the Grit

There was a lot of walking

At the Falchi Building, for the You Are Here Exhibit

Some of the wonderful sketches

Views Along the Gowanus Canal

Our destination for the World Wide Sketchcrawl Day was the Gowanus Canal area in Brooklyn. At one time the canal was an important transportation hub, but for years now this area has been known as one of the most polluted bodies of water in the United States. Recent projects have focused on cleaning up the canal and the surrounding areas. The area seems to be getting revitalized with businesses moving in and environmental projects taking place.

Susan and I headed to Brooklyn by car, hoping to meet up with the rest of the group somewhere along the line. We were sorry that didn't happen, but at least we were joined by Sunil for a while.

Our day started by the Union Street Bridge, the northern most bridge that crosses the canal. It had a very industrial, gritty (a kind word) look to the area along the canal. I usually like sketching much prettier locations but I really got into the odd buildings and structures. While we were sketching we met a teacher who was there with some young kids and their parents. He was doing a lesson in perspective with the kids and it was fun to see the sketches they had done while sitting on the bridge. Here is my first sketch.

I also did a sketch of the bridge house.

Here is a photo of the actual view.

Next we headed over to the Ninth Street Bridge area. I did a sketch of the bridge with the oil tanks in the background and the elevated BQE and the traffic passing by.

Sunil joined us here. He is so good at sketching standing up. I like being comfy in my chair.

The industrial look with the assorted tanks and bins caught my eye. Even the graffiti on the cement cubes looked interesting. 

While I was sketching this scene above we heard voices calling us. It was the rest of the group that we were hoping to meet. They were up on the subway platform above the bridge. Since they were on the way to do something in Long Island City next, we didn't get to spend any time sketching together.

Right alongside the view above were some cement trucks...why not sketch them?

Don't you just love the colorful dots?

Our last location for the day was near the Whole Foods Market on 3rd Street. A parklike walkway was around the parking lot offering some views of the surrounding buildings and the 3rd Street Bridge. I did a double page spread of that view. It was sketched on the spot but since it was getting late I finished it when I got home.

I definitely got a lot of sketching done along the Gowanus Canal.

URBAN EDGES-43rd World Wide Sketch Crawl

The 43^rd global drawing marathon, World Wide Sketch Crawl, is on Saturday April 19^th , 2014.

Come join NYC Urban Sketchers as we walk, explore and draw the forgotten urban edges along the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn and Dutch Kill in Queens. The day long event promises to be  exciting and totally different from a typical day of sketching.

The day  will be divided in 2 sessions, first a ferry ride from Manhattan to Red Hook (IKEA) to walk the Gowanus, then a train ride up to Long Island City.  The drawings of Long Island City will be part of the In My Borough  You Are Here  presentation at the Falchi Building.

Contact Info:

Richard 917 224 8373, Mark 973 809 9128

The Gowanus Canal

Dutch Kills

Itinerary:

Session 1-The Gowanus Canal
11:00 AM-Meet at Pier 11 in Manhattan.
11:20 AM Board the free Ikea ferry (You can also meet us on the Brooklyn side at the IKEA ferry terminal)
11:50 AM-2:30 PM-Explore the Gowanus. We will be joined by volunteers from the Gowanus Canal Conservancy.


Session 2- "You Are Here"
2:30 PM-3:00 PM-G train to Court Street Station, LIC
3:00 PM-6:00 PM-Explore Dutch Kills and Long Island City 
(We'll leave from the Falchi Building at 3:30)
6:00 PM + Wrap up at the Falchi Building "In My Borough" You Are Here Exhibit

The Gowanus Canal

Dutch Kills and Newtown Creek