Alaskan Adventure Video

Here's a 5-minute video highlight reel of our cruise on the Queen Elizabeth.

Departing from Vancouver, British Columbia, we sailed to Glacier Bay, Alaska with port stops along the way.

Alaskan Adventure: Skagway, Alaska

Leaving Sitka, our ship cruised overnight to Skagway.  

When we awoke, we were traveling up a gorgeous, misty fjord.

Mountains with snowy tops, green forested slopes and rocky shores felt close enough to touch.

We turned a corner to find civilization -- a dock tucked between mountains.  

I started the day sketching this scene of white-topped peaks right off our balcony.

Midday, we boarded the White Pass & Yukon Scenic Railway for a 3-hour climb to summit White Pass.

The charming old cars had platforms fore and aft, and we were allowed to stand on them to take photos of the amazing scenery.

We rose up through the lower forests,

passing countless waterfalls of rushing snowmelt,

and rising up 3,000 feet to witness spectacular vistas.

Topping out above the treeline, the air felt cold & crisp, 

and the train looped back to return to town and the port.

 

I feel like I could paint these scenes forever.  The beauty of Alaska is breathtaking!

If you find inspiration in these scenes of the Alaskan wilderness, I hope you'll use them as reference photos to draw and paint from.

Happy Creating!

The White Pass & Yukon Scenic Railway

The second port on our Alaskan cruise was Skagway, home to the historic White Pass & Yukon Scenic Railway.  In 1897-98, the railway carried prospectors to the Yukon. 

Nowadays it carries tourists up 3,000 feet to White Pass, then loops back and returns to the cruise ship dock.  After leaving the Skagway town limits, the conductor allows riders to step out into the fresh air on the platform in the front or the back of the train car and take photos.

Our journey on this historic train ride was memorable.  The scenery was stunning.  We took loads of photos, and afterwards, I picked this photo to paint from.  Sketching and painting brought back to me how cold and clear the air was, how bright the sun was, and how many times I was awed by the view.

I began with a pencil sketch, then inked my pencil lines in with my Lamy Joy fountain pen.

I added watercolors from my Winsor & Newton travel kit. 

Phthalo blue mixed with burnt Sienna created the dark pine green of the hemlocks and spruces.

Here's the finished piece.

I love how painting or sketching a scene locks in the memory of the day, the place, the event.  When I look at this, I recall how breathtaking the views were around every turn, and the black bear that lumbered alongside our train for a short distance like a dog.

What scenes from your life would you like to keep in your memory?  I hope you sketch or paint them.

Happy Creating!

Copyright Betsy Bangley 2024.  All rights reserved.

Alaskan Adventure: Sitka, Alaska

Our first port on the cruise was Sitka, Alaska, on Baranoff Island -- one of a string of islands off the coast of British Columbia.

When you arrive in a new land, so many things catch your eye because they're different from home.  I found a multitude of fascinating details -- wildflowers, trees, whales, waterfowl, and mountainous vistas -- that I wanted to record.  I drew circles, squares & rectangles in pencil to fill with illustrations that made Sitka special to me.

I loved how the mountains and the Pacific Ocean framed everything in this small town.

We walked down a boardwalk along the rocky shoreline, to the Sitka National Historical Park, the site of a gorgeous temperate rainforest.

Trees grew out of old stumps, and moss seemed to cover every surface.

The colors of Alaska are eye-catching: cobalt blue mountains, yellow ochre kelp washed up on the beaches, the yellowy sap green of thick moss covering every log and much of the ground, and the deep pine green of hemlocks and spruces.

As we approached the little cove next to the National Park (above) we saw a dozen bald eagles flying and perching along the shore.

The majestic birds seemed unconcerned about people watching from the nearby walkway.

Inside the deep woods, the sounds of warblers, eagles, and the wind in the massively tall trees brought an immediate sense of calm. 

I didn't invent this technique of making mini-illustrations inside borders, but I do recommend it. This technique breaks up the page into manageable chunks.  You can take your time with each little facet, and when you are done, you have the larger story told in details.

Give this technique a try!

I started with pencil sketches, then added watercolor, and often, I put finishing details in with a permanent fine line black pen & colored pencils.  

Happy Creating!

Alaskan Adventure: My Travel Journal at Sea

I chose a Stillman & Birn watercolor sketch book to serve as my main travel journal in Alaska.  I also used the Hand Book Journal Co. watercolor journal for wider landscape studies.

I like to add the itinerary to remind me of when and where we traveled.  This is the title page of my Stillman & Birn journal.

I clipped the photo from a Cunard advertisement.  Queen Elizabeth is the tiny ship sailing up an Alaskan fjord.  You may recognize it as the picture that I used as a reference for the painting I made before we left in the post here.

On embarkation day, I stood on Deck 10 and took in this view of Vancouver Port.

I made a quick watercolor sketch of the port scene in my watercolor landscape journal.  I was excited, jet-lagged and blown away by the beauty of the mountains & Stanley Park.

On our first morning I awoke to gorgeous, misty island shores right outside our state room.

  Sitting at the little stateroom desk, I looked out beyond the balcony, and painted quickly, writing in observations like:

"The air smells like seaweed & mollusks -- sea air with a land/port smell of nature."

"5:30 AM Awoke to green-gray mountains fading to misty gray in the distance.  The sea air smells alive, invigorating, full of memories for me -- it reaches deep within."

Making fast watercolor sketches as the ship sailed was a wonderful challenge.   It's a great way to begin and loosen up.  When you have very little time, you don't judge your marks as much, making your work freer.

Even the water in the Pacific Ocean was gorgeous, jade-green and frothing up from the ship's propulsion system. 

I invite you to try a quick watercolor sketch of any of these scenes -- or of a scene in your life right now.

  Remind yourself that you're not making a finished painting but a quick study to get the ideas, the shapes, the colors down.  You're not making an exact replica, just an impression.  A gesture.

Encourage yourself to play.

Set yourself a time limit -- you can set a timer for 3-5 minutes per painting if you like.  You pick the time limit and the painting size that suits you.  My paintings are about 5" x 12". Simply allowing yourself to play with no expectations creates the magic that makes it fun.

I hope you give it a try.  I hope you make discoveries and have fun playing!

Happy Creating!

My Alaskan Adventure

We've returned from our cruise in southeastern Alaska, and I will share artwork from my travels, but I thought I'd start with photos of the landscape there.

We traveled on Cunard's Queen Elizabeth, which provided our transportation and a relaxing home base for our Explorations. At the end of every shore excursion, there was a delicious hot meal, a cup of British tea, and a comfortable bed to fall into.

We had lots of opportunities for wildlife watching, from bald eagles to whales, otters, harbor seals, orcas, ravens, and black & brown bears.

Bald eagles were as plentiful as Blue Jays are back home, yet the sight of them never grew old.

Morning fog was common on our trip, and often the sun would burn off the mist and the day would turn sunny and bright.

We rode the White Pass Scenic Railroad in Skagway, Alaska, and awed at the stunning views.

My favorite day was spent at Icy Strait Point, Alaska.  I sat in the coastal rainforest among the hemlocks and spruces, listening to bald eagles calling from the canopy, and painting in my sketchbook. Every surface of the woods was moss-covered and lush.

Since returning home, I have been finishing sketches from our travels that I didn't have time to complete.  We were constantly drinking in the scenery outside our ship, or hiking somewhere.

I use photos like these to turn quick pencil drawings into watercolor sketches.

Why don't you pick out a photo from this set and make a sketch, a painting or other artwork inspired by the Alaskan landscape?

Happy Creating!

Many thanks to David of Long Story Short Photography for the use of these photos.