Art Nouveau, its literal translation from French being “The New Art”, is a movement born out of the desire to leave behind all the classical approaches to art and craft. With the turn of the century, came the turn in the public’s mind. In the 1890s surfaced many artist who left a permanent mark of the history of art. Their style was mainly decorative and found in many different shapes and forms, such as posters, interior design and glass decoration. These artists found their inspirations mostly in the female figure and nature, depicting them with strong colors and curvy lines. Creating asymmetry was not an unfamiliar method in Art Nouveau. Regardless of the technique they used, the artists of Art Nouveau shaped the thought of the 20th century and their work stands as one of the most valued and popular pieces of art even today. So, who were the legends behind the art? Although we are only going to mention four of the many artists belonging to the Art Nouveau, we believe that these four masters deserve to be honored as the greatest who belonged to this movement.

Gustav Klimt

The Kiss, The Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer and The Tree of Life are just some of the famous paintings by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt. Born in 1862, Klimt dedicated his life to creating decorated art with hints of eroticism. The society was divided into those who adored his work, and those who judged it for its erotic aspect. His “Golden Phase” lasted from 1903 and 1909, when the artist used gold leaf to work on a commission for public buildings. Klimt was also one of the founders of Vienna Secession, and their goal was to incorporate modern European style into Austrian art.

Alphonse Mucha

Czech artist Alfons Maria Mucha found his artistic-self in Paris, creating stylized, decorative posters, most of which were theatrical posters of Sarah Bernhardt. He also dwelt in the creation of jewelry, advertisements and furniture. The centre of all his creation was always a woman, who represented strength, power and femininity. Upon returning to his homeland he worked on a series of twenty canvases which he called The Slav Epic. Some of his most known paintings such as Gismonda, Zodiac, Spring, Job and Chocolate Ideal greatly influenced Art Nouveau although the artist himself refused to be associated with the movement.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

The turbulent life of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, although filled with much pain due to his illness, was also colored by his many magnificent paintings of the life inside Moulin Rouge. Born an aristocrat from a wealthy family, he suffered a genetic disorder which was later named after him. It pushed the artist to remove himself from the high-society and spend his days at the notorious Moulin Rouge. There he found his inspiration for many posters that he made for this nightclub, revolutionizing the quality of advertisements and upgrading them into a form of art. His greatest contributions to the Art Nouveau are At The Moulin Rouge: The Dance, Moulin Rouge: La Goulue and Avril.

Egon Schiele

The brief life of this artist gave the world copious works of art that influence many even today. Although Schiele belonged to Expressionism, at one point he became good friends with Gustav Klimt who soon started mentoring him. It is easy to assume he was the reason why Schiele was greatly influenced by Art Nouveau. The female figure was the centre of all his work. The erotic aspect of his paintings led to his incarceration in 1912. All of the women in his work such as Reclining Woman With Green Stockings were painted unconventionally, with distorted characteristics that gave beauty a whole new meaning.

Well, there’s no better way of taking your arts and crafts skills than learning how to create shading. It’s perhaps one of the things that can differentiate between an amateur piece of drawing and a complete artwork. Shading allows you to add shadows to your work thereby bringing depth to your subject. The pencil is an important tool that’s used by both beginners and experienced artists to create amazing results in their drawings. It doesn’t have to be complicated. You can experiment and try out these shading techniques and explore different artistic expressions.

Crosshatching

This technique is achieved by layering numerous sets of parallel lines on top of each other. The darkest areas of pencil value are created by laying and building up more lines. Well, it’s not uncommon for artists to lose patience with this technique and to speed up over time. In most cases, you’ll see some difference between the last few lines and the first ones. The last lines tend to look messier compared to the first ones.

So, you want to exercise some patience with this shading technique. Simply enjoy the process of creating layers upon layers! As long as you maintain the same pencil pressure and spacing when drawing the lines, it becomes a snap to control the pencil values.

Smooth Shading

Whenever you’re shading in a hurry, you tend to apply a back-and-forth motion that often results in striping. You can’t achieve a smooth finish with this type of shading. Smooth shading usually involves slowly applying a random circular motion while avoiding any patterns. Layering becomes easier since the shading process is slower. Smooth shading is allows for the building up of pencil values thereby resulting in wonderful results.

Textured Shading

When it comes to textured shading, strokes and individual lines are allowed to build up in a manner that gives a textured look with a variety of tones. In most cases, the type of pencil shading to use will depend on the subject matter. This shading technique often applies when drawing foliage and trees. Usually, you’ll have to vary the lightness and darkness around the subject matter using layering and pencil pressure. The technique creates a visual separation within a given drawing.

Smudging

Well, smudging often involves shading with the help of other tools like paper stumps, your fingers, or dry bristles from a brush. Be careful when using your fingers as it can get messy. Unlike smooth shading where the pencil usually skips the lowest areas of the paper, smudging tends to push graphite into all the areas of the paper including the lower pits. You may have to use other shading techniques when smudging. Since it involves pushing the pencil around all the parts of the paper, one is able to accomplish smudging much faster.

The technique you decide to use to create values is your choice. The most important thing is to ensure you get the value relationships right in your drawing. Try exploring the different shading techniques and see for yourself what you can come up with. Have an open mind with all the techniques.