The North Dakota capitol sketches: #1.
written by Julie R. Neidlinger 1 comments link this post
I've heard a fair share of insults about the appearance of the North Dakota state capitol.
Usually, it's from reprobates wearing NASCAR caps that mistakenly think all government buildings must be Neo-Classical architecture or they are, and I quote a relative, "butt ugly."
On the contrary.
I find the state capitol to be an absolutely beautiful example of what I like to call "stripped down" Art Deco. And inside, it is quite lovely as well.
I like an Ionic and Corinthian column as much as the next guy, but I sure get tired of the insults.
So, today, after studying for almost six hours, I headed up to the capitol to do a little sketching. I'm considering doing many sketches of the building over the next weeks/months and seeing how my interpretation of its essentially clean lines and forms change.
As it is, here is the second drawing I did of the capitol today. The first can be seen here.
I also did a sketch of the mastodon skeleton inside the Heritage Center at the capitol, which you can see here.
You can buy all original three sketches for $12 (plus S&H). Really. That's a pretty good deal.
Materials: Watercolor and/or ink on heavy rag paper
Size: 8.5 X 11
Other: Shipped without frame or mat
Price: $12
Labels: art, capitol sketches, north dakota, summer 2008
Copyright (c) Julie R. Neidlinger 8/19/2008 06:32:00 PM
Like this post? Subscribe to the feed.
Help support this site.
Facebook |
Stumble It! |
Del.icio.us |
DiggIt! |
Technorati |
Blinklist |
Furl |
reddit |
Newsvine
1 Comments:
Julie,
I think the ND Capitol building is a wonderful example of the architectural design for the age(s). Contemporary architecture at that point in our history was being influenced by a variety of design thoughts (both academic and in practice). Our capitol building was actually rather leading edge in what was being done. I believe the leaders of our state chose to be brave in lieu of predictable. The building has a nice balance, yet stands out in our prairie vernacular saying ND stands strong in our belief in ourselves....we are not defined by federal traditions. Okay, maybe I'm overstating it a bit. But it is an excellent building that does not need to apologize for anything.
As a side note, while researching my thesis in school, I had the opportunity to look at the original drawings that are (were) stored in the capital building library. They are fantastic ink drawings on linen (about 5' long!). As architecture goes they demonstrate the art of drafting in a way that we have lost in our present CAD age. Worth a trip to go look at them.
By 
Niloc, at
20/8/08 10:01
