Paintings of the White House
Continuing my series of paintings of local landmarks and landscapes, I choose to do a few paintings of the White House. Like the United States Capitol, the White House is not super local to me, but is fairly close as I am in Northern Virginia. Like the United States Capitol, the White House is an instantly recognizable building and is fun to paint.
For my first painting, I wanted to show the front of the White House with the bold red colors of the flowers surrounding the fountain. I kept the painting simple, with the focus strongly on the building. As the building is fully white, only shadows add details to the building’s form. The American flag is flying boldly above the White House and whimsical clouds are rolling slowly behind.
In this painting I made full use of watercolor’s characteristic blooms to add texture to the landscape.
In this painting I combined an ink sketch with watercolor. Again I focused on the front of the White House, but this time at an angle. Watercolor blooms give suggestion of light clouds in the sky and I used salt to give texture on the grass. Both paintings of the front of the White House are meant to look bright and sunny.
For my final painting of the White House, I choose a view of the back. Again, I did a combination of ink sketch and watercolor painting. This painting shows the White House gracefully tucked back behind the beautiful grounds of the White House.
Learn more about the other landscape paintings in this collection: