Do you ever feel like your paintings have to be “perfectly blended” to look professional? Today, we’re throwing that rule out the window! 🖼️✨

In my latest 40-minute real-time tutorial, we are stepping into the world of Art Nouveau with a blue floral rendition inspired by the legendary Gustav Klimt. We’re using our signature 8×10 canvas and—as always—limiting our palette to just Red, Yellow, Blue, Black, and White. 🔴🟡🔵

Who was Gustav Klimt? 🏛️

Gustav Klimt was an Austrian Symbolist painter and a giant of the Vienna Secession movement. He is most famous for his “Golden Phase,” where he used actual gold leaf to create shimmering, iconic works like The Kiss.

But beyond the gold, Klimt was a master of ornamentalism. He viewed the world through a “mosaic” lens—breaking down gardens, landscapes, and figures into tiny, decorative shapes, swirls, and squares. 🌀✨

The Style: Art Nouveau & Ornamentalism

The style we are using today is a nod to Art Nouveau (French for “New Art”). It’s characterized by:

• Organic Lines: Think long, flowing stems and circular blooms.
• Flattened Perspective: Klimt didn’t care about making things look “3D.” He wanted them to look like a decorative tapestry.
• The Mosaic Effect: Instead of smooth gradients, we use “blobs” of color nestled inside each other to create depth.

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Step-by-Step: The Blue Klimt Garden

1. The “Reedy” Background UNDER PAINTING Klimt’s gardens often feel like they are reaching upward. Using your 1″ Flat brush, create long, vertical strokes using a light orange wash. A lot of yellow a little red and mix in some water.

2. The “Blueberry” Circles 🔵 Switch to your 1/2″ Flat brush. Mix some Blue with a little white NEXT Mix a deep navy (Blue + a tiny speck of Black/Red) and drop large, confident circles across the top 2/3 of your canvas. You can make some light purple and light yellow flowers as well. You can leave little centers showing the background like little wobbly donuts. These are the foundations of our flowers.

3. Layering the Concentric Rings 🌀 This is where the magic happens. Mix a lighter blue or a soft lavender. Paint a smaller circle inside your dark ones. This “ring” effect is a classic Klimt decorative technique that makes the painting feel like it’s vibrating with energy. Also you will add the green stems (Blue +Yellow) Pull one stem for each flower pull long vertical lines coming from the bottom center of each flower.

4. The “Faux Gold” Centers & Outlines ✨🟡 Since we aren’t using real gold leaf, we have to “cheat” it! Mix Yellow + White + a tiny speck of Red. Using your Small Round brush, place a thick “impasto” (raised) dot in the center of each flower. This creates a tactile, expensive-looking finish. Then fill in the gold space with blue paint but leave little outlines of the underpainting showing through on the edges of the flowers and stems.

5. Decorative Outlines & Details ✍️ Klimt loved contrast. Use your Small Round brush to add thin, dark purple or even black outlines, or more of the gold light orange from the background around some petals or tiny white “sparkle” dots. This defines the “Modern Vintage” look.

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A Creative Win for Everyone

Even though this looks sophisticated, I promise it is beginner-friendly! The secret is in the repetition of shapes.

Ready to start?

• Watch the Full Tutorial
• Skip the Sketching: If the composition feels tricky, grab my FREE Traceable Sketch here ✍️💙

Let’s bring a little Viennese history into your studio today. Happy painting! 🏛️🎨✨