Each year, I design a trip to Europe with a group of artists to go and paint. This year I chose Barcelona, Spain. We had 5 artists and myself painting together all the amazing and beautiful sights. A collector friend of mine saw that I was going and asked me to paint the Sagrada Familia for an anniversary present for his wife. So the day we visited this architectural wonder by Guadi, we brought along our paints. We walked around the church trying to find the best composition until we found the perfect spot behind a pond that was in front of the church. It was the perfect amount of nature to offset the splendor of the cement.
We set up our easels jockeying for the best spot with the crowds of tourists trying to use the same place to take their pictures. It was truly the best place to be to see this church. With 6 of us painting, there wasn't a lot of room left. We were bumped and blocked many times, but we persevered! After about 2 hours we gave up and packed up our gear. But I was happy with the sketch I had done and could use as a study for the larger piece I was about to do. We all visited the inside of the church afterwards and was totally inspired. What a masterpiece. You really have to see it to understand it's grandeur.
When I began the larger piece I used my photos and painting to construct the church on my canvas in the best way to highlight the large steeples from the main part of the church. I worked on it as soon as I got back so I could rely on my memory and inspiration from my visit. I visited my friends home to see the exact size that would fit in the spot he wanted to hang it.
This was quite a feat to get it on the canvas accurately. I used my sight to copy it. I didn't trace it. When I was pleased with the arrangement, I began to add color. I blocked the whole thing in before adding any detail getting my values and color correct. When that was done, I began to put in the detail. And what detail that was!!! It took me much longer to finish than I thought it would, but I learned so much in the process. Being able to look at each piece of the many details to add to this painting was awe inspiring. What an incredible genius this Gaudi was.
In the end, I believe this is one of my favorite paintings. I was able relive and own the memory of being at the Sagrada Familia and was proud that I was able to do it.
