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| Portrait of Adele Bloch Bauer ('The Woman in Gold), Gustav Klimt 1907 |
This was one of my favorite projects from a few years back, and my student still talk about it. Apparently, they loved it too, and that's not surprising, because we used fun techniques and mediums to make these glimmering beauties come to life. All my age groups, (4-6, 6-12, and adult) did a variation of this project.
Gustav Klimt's portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer, also called "The Woman in Gold" was our inspiration for this project. We looked at Kilmt's use of design, pattern and color, and in creating our own Woman in Gold, we were mindful of balancing our use of line and shape. We repeated colors and patterns (red- yellow, red-yellow etc) for balance and cohesion.
To begin, we primed a large piece of cardstock (you could use cardboard, acrylic paper or watercolor paper) with gold acrylic paint, to which we added a hint of brown for a more rustic effect. We set this aside.
Using a colored print-out with Adele's face and arms, which you can find over at Art Projects for Kids, (see link here) we added our very own Klimt-esque decoratively draped gown and 1920's style hairdo, with plenty of decorative patterns, motifs and designs using black permanent marker. We referenced many Byzantine and Art Nouveau patterns (zentangles would work too) to help us along. I emphased that patterns should be done neatly, with line points connecting, and should exhibit variety in density and style. We then colored these patterns in with marker. I stressed the importance of working in sections using patterns of color, or color schemes, to keep things unified and harmonious.
Klimt belongs to the Art Nouveau, or in German 'Jugendstil', era which is classified by its ornate, decorative and detailed elements. Inspired by Byzantine art, Klimt used lots of metallic paints and gold leaf to add shine and shimmer to his beautifully complex work. We too, added finishing touches to our patterned robes using metallic markers and paint pens. The kids were all ooh and ahh over the metallic markers.
Once Adele was complete, we cut her out and laid her on our gold-painted background --- without pasting yet... because first we added more cut outs of patterned deco paper and pasted these under Adele, to extend her headdress, her gown, and to embellish the background behind her. Finally, we mounted our Adele on our background and added some bold black lines for definition and to connect all our elements.
Beautiful. The kids were all so proud of this one!
Adele in progress, above.
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| 4-6 year olds: work in progress |
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| 4-6 year olds, with original 'Adele' top left |
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| Ages 7-11 |
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| Ages 6-9 |
Link to Art Project for Kids 'Adele' template: