Art Nouveau Painting Step By Step: According To An Old Pattern

In the eighth episode of the decorative painting series, Friederike Schulz shows how you can reproduce an old Art Nouveau painting - in the classic way with the help of a tracing template, painting stick and line puller .

Text and photos: Friederike Schulz

Tools required for art nouveau painting

In addition to a chalk line and a ruler, the following tools are required to produce an Art Nouveau design that comes from an old Leipzig painter's newspaper:

• Glaze brush and plaster brush for the glaze technique
• Pointed brush
• a fine and a broad line
• Painter's ruler
• Painting stick for coloring
• a bag of cloth filled with grated coal for the break.

Required materials

The glazes are applied step by step. In addition to acrylic binders and water, the following pigments are required (in order applied):

1. Brightest slate flour
2. French ocher, extra light, yellow,
3. Bohemian green earth + Nicosa green,
4. Gold ocher DD and for top and bottom: French ocher Havane, orange.

Also for coloring the patterns and strokes artist acrylic colors in the shades: white, orange, carmine red and blue gray (e.g. Paynes Gray)

Art Nouveau painting: that's how it's done

First you measure the distances between the cross lines and tape them step by step to finally glaze them. You start with the brightest area and gradually get darker with each glue. In order to achieve a homogeneous surface image, the glazes are always leveled with the plunger brush after even application.

The tracing template is made from parchment paper, with which the historical pattern is transferred to the painting surface. With the help of a tracing wheel and a tracing needle, the pattern is inserted into the paper along the edges of the pattern. Before the pattern is created, the white stripes that divide the surface are drawn. The pause template is fixed to the top strip so that the pause can always be placed immediately. The pattern is rubbed onto the painting surface with the carbon bag. Now follows the freestyle: The pattern is painted over with the help of a painting stick, a fine pointed brush and a line puller. The other lines are marked with a chalk line and drawn in the middle with the broad line puller. To get a clean approach to the cross line, the bottom edge is taped exactly.

At the end, you blow off any tracing stick that may still be present - and then you can proudly look at his classic reproduced Art Nouveau painting.

Other episodes of the decorative painting series:

Painted fabric

Painted mahogany wood

Wall in a tartan skirt

Three-dimensional painting

Not quite in white: imitation brèche grise marble

Black gold: imitation of Portor marble

Sky painting: fair weather clouds