Tim Allen Lawson stood alone on the second-floor terrace, waiting for dusk to bathe the nation’s capital city in soft light. Down from Maine for the day, he hurriedly sketched the landscape before him with a 3B graphite pencil, distilling its essence so he could use it as research for an oil painting he would do later in his studio.


The image for the 2008 White House Christmas card, commissioned by Laura Bush, is titled ‘Evening View From the Truman Balcony.’