It truly is a magnificent building, though maybe not quite my cup of tea! But I can appreciate it for what it is and the extraordinary amount of detailing work that has gone into it. When you look at certain details on the building I find the analogy to nature quite fascinating. There is this great combination between the traditional gothic cathedral elements and the references to nature – like parts of a tree, flowers, plants, even bones and skeletons!

I really enjoyed drawing this part on ground-level around the entrance, the portico, and playing about with the shape – to me it looks a bit like bones, with the columns almost like legs and feet! The lower part of the eight towers I really wanted to depict the internal staircases which wind around inside, and also by adding some shadow, light and highlights on the towers I thought this would be a nice way to show them in an appealing 3-dimensional form.

The hardest part was definitely just straight above that, all those tiny little nibbles sticking out in different directions on the upper part of the towers (a very big headache!) as they’re supposed to follow the rules of perspective. Now I know I can bend the rules a bit but they’re not allowed to! So anyway, I persevered and finally got them in place. The entire building is just so incredibly detailed and of course, this makes it tricky to get just the right balance – the suggestion of very fine detail without crowding the drawing and making it messy (the cause of a few sleepless nights!).

So, although back in Gaudi’s lifetime only part of the building was completed (and it’s still on-going work) you can clearly see his fascination with nature in all the details. You can see analogies to trees, for example, inside the church the internal columns look like trees with branches, the column bases as the roots of the trees. I find that when you see the tall towers it reminds me of a skeleton and bones, like in some parts you can see the shape of a skull. The tips of the towers look like grasses or lavender (yes, those nibbles again!).

The original first façade of the building reminds me of sand-castles – when you take wet sand and let it drizzle down in your hand and you can make lots of little shapes – with lots of intricate details of turrets, sculptures and ornaments. It also reminds a bit like a limestone grotto with stalactites and stalagmites.

After Gaudi, the construction has been an interpretation of how would it have been in his spirit but you can already see that the front towers of this façade here are a lot more modern. Of course, they’re still full of detail but perhaps a bit more sober, more technical even. This is the one that I prefer and I enjoyed drawing it the most.

Viewing the Sagrada Familia from a distance, it’s a striking landmark that’s for sure, and then also when you see it close-up I can appreciate the detail, but I think looking at it sort-of medium scale, standing in front of the building – especially here, on this square in front I just find it too much, over the top. After seeing it in person I definitely knew from which side I wanted to draw it.