Dear Art lover,
Welcome back to my art journal. I wish you a very entertaining and inspiring journey while reading my words.
I will share with you a little bit about the architecture that has inspired me since I started my art journey, and since I was just a student.
One of my lifetime favorites Architects is Antoni Gaudi, and in 2017 I was lucky enough to see, touch and smell some of his masterpieces in Barcelona. If you are not an architect, or an architecture lover or have absolutely no interest in architecture, let me shortly introduce you to the genius of Gaudi.
Antoni Gaudi was a Catalan architect. His designs were part of the movement Modernist and were inspired by nature and god. His work is definitely unforgettable and unmistakable, and he will probably always be remembered as the architect who designed La Sagrada Familia: the imposing and still under construction temple in Barcelona.
At this point you may be thinking I am going to show you an Architecture art piece of La Sagrada Familia made by me. Well, you are wrong and also kind of right. I did make a painting of this amazing temple, but I destroyed it when I was trying to apply varnish. Anyways, it was not my proudest work.
Since then, I have not had the patience and the courage to try to paint La Sagrada Familia again, and instead, I am going to show you some other buildings I did paint.
The first Architecture Art piece I ever sold.
Casa Batllo Barcelona Spain was the first Architecture Art piece I ever sold, and because I am a sentimental fool, I will say this one is my favorite.
It was probably a very rainy and cloudy Monday (12 October 2020) in Amsterdam, when Casa Batllo was painted. Sadly, I was not living in Barcelona anymore, but luckily I took thousands of pictures of the city when I was there and I used one of them as a reference.
By the way, if I can not paint outside in real time, I always try to use a reference photo taken by me. I believe the quality of the painting is not only about technique but also about perspective and composition, and if I use someone else's photo I feel like I am taking the composition from someone else. If I ever do this, I mention and give the credit to the photographer.
Casa Mila, better known as La Pedrera.
Another modernist masterpiece, which I did not have the chance to see from inside, one of my biggest regrets.
Casa Mila was the last private residence designed by Gaudi and it was locally called La Pedrera (the stone quarry) due to its unusual and rough façade.
Unlike Casa Batllo, I made this watercolor architecture art piece in a way that it looks like a quick sketch. I did not want to focus too much on the details, but more on the whole picture. From my point of view, Casa Mila has 3 main characteristics: The curvy design, the creamy and pinkish stones on the façade and the sculptural chimneys on the rooftop.
As long as the painting or drawing has those 3 characteristics pointed out very well, it will look like Casa Mila.
My favorite part was the basement.
I still remember the day I visited Palau Guell. It was a Sunday evening, and my family and I got free tickets, although I don't even remember why.
From beginning to end Palau Guell is amazing, but, at the end of the tour, when you think you are done with everything and you just want to go to the toilet (in the basement), suddenly you are surrounded by some amazing brick columns.
The basement of Palau Guell is definitely my favorite part of the whole building, for the simple fact that it is just a basement. Gaudi didn't have to make it remarkable, but he did.
A very interesting park.
Park Guell is a park in the Gracia District of Barcelona. Although Park Guell is a public park, to access to the main area, where all Gaudi's sculptures are, you have to purchase and most of the time book a ticket.
My painting of Park Guell, is not from inside the park, but rather from a mirador area. I painted Park Guell with gouache on primed watercolor paper and it was one of the first paintings I ever made using gouache.
Barcelona is my favorite city.
Although I currently have a huge crush on Amsterdam's architecture, Barcelona is my one true love, besides the fact that is the house of Gaudi's masterpieces.
I know sooner than later I will go back to keep painting this beautiful city, and remember I am still missing a proper painting of la Sagrada Familia.