US Capitol

Staying with the recent Washington DC theme, I thought this one was appropriate. This angle of the capitol is taken from the Senate side, in a parking lot. From this side the Capitol still looked as massive as it is, but doesn't show as much of it. To the right, where the pillars are, is the Senate side (or wing) of the Capitol. This one is smaller than the last two, only 25 in x 18 in. I cut a lot of the black off the bottom because it made it look too dark and unbalanced. It belongs to my friend Travis who worked at the Senate at the time. I also have a copy in my dining room and have sold many prints. I had to purchase both sculpture and bridal magazines in order to get that many shades of white, gray, stone, mauve, etc. The sky was a product of trying, and failing, at making clouds look real, but the highlights from the dark to the light looked really cool when made more gradual. I couldn't figure out how to make the rotunda fit into the whole piece at first. My first couple of attempts were very ornate and detailed, which made it look like an Easter egg. Then one foggy morning I was walking towards the Capitol from the South (Union Station). The fog was really low and the early morning sun gleamed off one side. The shadowed side fell into the fog and disappeared. It was a very cool effect. After stripping the first attempts at coloring the rotunda, again, I dug out the bridal and sculpture mags and made the dark side of the rotunda match my sky. Why it took several weeks, then finally a natural phenomenon to figure that out, I'll never know. Prints Available. Copyright, Abby Evans 2004