Plein Air Alaska: Sitka & Surrounds by Pam Holnback

I created another plein air video. This one is of our trip last May to Sitka, Alaska. I posted these paintings and some of the photos from our trip in my blog in June, so some of this may be familiar. Enjoy!

I just watched this, and when viewed on my blog, about 1/2 an inch is missing on the right side, ie: the whole front page doesn't show (some of the title is missing), some of the paintings are centered and there should be black on both sides and there isn't. I changed it in the embed section to fit, or so I thought, and it's still a bit off center. I guess if you want to see the whole page you can search for me on YouTube and watch it again there! Anyway, thanks for watching!

Impressionistic Plein Air Landscape - Quiet Evening by Pam Holnback

Quiet Evening - Plein Air Alaska #14/14

6" x 8" oil on canvas on board

$100.00 + $10. s/h

This is the last plein air piece from our trip.  Thanks for sharing the adventure with me! 

Impressionistic Plein Air Landscape - Darker Greens and Grays by Pam Holnback

Darker Grays and Greens - Alaskan Plein Air # 13/14
8" x 10" oil on canvas on board
$100.00 + $10. s/h

Often the gray and green values were a bit dark.  It makes for great contrast with light sky or water.

Impressionistic Plein Air Landscape - More Greens and Grays by Pam Holnback

More Grays and Greens - Alaskan Plein Air # 11/14
5" x 7" Oil on canvas on board
$75.00 + $10. s/h

Gray and green values were abundant in Alaska.  Everyday had different scenes with different values and colors. 

Impressionistic Plein Air Landscape - Greens and Grays by Pam Holnback

Greens and Grays - Alaskan Plein Air #10/14

6" x 8" oil on canvas on board

$100.00 + $10. s/h

We were lucky to only have 3 days of rain out of 3 weeks in Alaska.  It could have been raining all of the time!  We had quite a few days of blue sky.  But, many of the days were green and gray.

Impressionistic Plein Air Landscape -Alaskan Evening by Pam Holnback

A Great Alaskan Evening - Alaskan plein air # 9/14
6" x 8" Oil on canvas on board
$100.00 + $10. s/h

So many of the evenings in Alaska had such beautiful light and were when I did most of my paintings.

Impressionistic Plein Air Landscape -Silver Light- by Pam Holnback

Silvery, Green Alaskan Light

Alaskan plein air #7/14

     6" x 8" oil on canvas on board

     $100.00 + $10. s/h

Both the sky and the reflective water in Alaska often had a silvery, green light.

Impressionistic Plein Air Still Life -Shrimp Pots- by Pam Holnback

Shrimp Pots
Alaskan plein air #6
6" x 8" oil on canvas on board
$100.00 + $10. s/h

I've mentioned the challenges of plein air painting, and have mentioned some additional challenges of plein air painting on a boat, ie:  changing light, changing reflections on the water, high glare.  Another one is boat movement.  As the boat sways and rocks slowly with the water, you aren't always aware of this.  But, when you're painting and look up and the shadow right in front of you is different, you just go with what was there!  You can't keep changing light and shadow.

Please visit my blog:  http://pamholnback.blogspot.com

Evening Light - Impressionistic Landscape by Pam Holnback

Evening Light

6" x 8" oil on canvas on board

$100.00 + $10. s/h

Alaskan Buoy - Impressionistic Still Life by Pam Holnback

Alaskan Buoy
8" x 6" oil on canvas on board
$100.00 + $10. s/h

I felt like painting a still life, but in the Alaskan wilderness that wasn't much of an option.  So, I just painted what was right in front of me!

Another View - Impressionistic Plein Air Landscape by Pam Holnback

Another View
6" x 8" oil on panel on board
$100.00 + $10. s/h

For this piece I'm pretty much standing in the same spot on the stern of the boat.  I think that I painted these last two pieces between about 5:30 and 7:30.  It was a quiet first evening.  People were resting or out on the beaches exploring (no, not like warm sun-tan beaches!)

Alaskan Evening by Pam Holnback

Alaskan Evening
6" x 8" oil on canvas on board
$100.00 + $10. s/h

My husband and I just got home from three weeks in and around Sitka, Alaska.  We had an incredible trip. Our first few days were spent in Sitka in SE Alaska.    It's a beautiful town, on the water, with incredible scenery.

The next ten days five of us spent on a boat in the Inside Passage.  This is where we anchored the first night.  It takes awhile to get used to the sun setting at 9:30 and rising at about 4:30.  We put towels over the porthole window.