SlideShare uses cookies to improve functionality and performance, and to provide you with relevant advertising. If you continue browsing the site, you agree to the use of cookies on this website. See our User Agreement and Privacy Policy.
SlideShare uses cookies to improve functionality and performance, and to provide you with relevant advertising. If you continue browsing the site, you agree to the use of cookies on this website. See our Privacy Policy and User Agreement for details.
Successfully reported this slideshow.
Activate your 30 day free trial to unlock unlimited reading.
Produce Like Picasso: Mastering Design Delivery #sxsw
Pablo Picasso was a prolific artist. He produced over 147,800 pieces of art, which equates to delivering seven finished pieces of art each day of his career. Picasso also delivered in different mediums: paintings, sculptures, ceramics, architecture, and more. What was Picasso’s mindset? What methods did he use? How did Picasso move from concept to production so quickly?
In this talk, you will learn how to produce Picasso and avoid the pitfalls of production. We will review Picasso's production principles with examples from his life. By applying the principles of Picasso, designers can create more effectively and quickly.
Pablo Picasso was a prolific artist. He produced over 147,800 pieces of art, which equates to delivering seven finished pieces of art each day of his career. Picasso also delivered in different mediums: paintings, sculptures, ceramics, architecture, and more. What was Picasso’s mindset? What methods did he use? How did Picasso move from concept to production so quickly?
In this talk, you will learn how to produce Picasso and avoid the pitfalls of production. We will review Picasso's production principles with examples from his life. By applying the principles of Picasso, designers can create more effectively and quickly.
In ancient times, art teachers
told their students that “finishing is better than starting.” Today, you are going to learn about the greatest artist of the 20th century and, perhaps, the greatest finisher of all-time: Pablo Picasso. “Finishing is better than starting.”
The Louvre Shows 35,000 Pieces
of Art Picasso once said, “Give me a museum and I will fill it up.” He could fill up this museum more than 4 times over.
A T of T Masters
ale wo Da Vinci did the first 10%. Picasso did the last 10%. 13,000 pages of sketches 13,500 finished paintings
Daily Average F His Career
or Number of Days Per Year x Years of Picasso’s Career Number of Days Worked 365.25 75 27,394 Daily Average for His Career = 7
Known for His Artistic Periods
• • • • • • • Traditional (in school) Blue Period Rose Period African-Influenced Cubism Neo-Classicalism Surrealism
Passion Leads to Productivity “Art
is a lie, which makes us see the truth.” 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Find your passion. Get support. Educate yourself. Develop your brand. Life events fuel passion.
Picasso’s F Word: Pencil irst
His first word was “piz”, which is short for lapiz. It means ‘pencil’ in Spanish. Picasso at age 4.
Picasso’s F T His Son
ather aught • Jose Ruiz taught brush technique. He was known for painting doves. • When he notices his son loves to draw, the lessons begin.
“The Back, The T and
The Ear” ail, While cutting out paper animals with his sister, she challenges him to start in different places. Years later, Picasso said he believed his talent was magical because he could start anywhere. Source: John Richardson, A Life of Picasso: Volume 1, 2012.
F Oil Painting of Picasso
irst • Picasso finished his first oil painting at 9 years of age. • Upon seeing it, his father said he no longer wanted to paint. Picasso’s Le Picador (1890)
Huge Desire T Build a
Personal Brand o • Pablo Picasso’s birth name: Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz • Mother’s maiden name: Maria Picasso y Lopez Picasso’s Dona Maria (1923)
The Name is The Brand
“Can you imagine me being called Ruiz? Pablo Ruiz? Diego-Jose Ruiz? Have you ever noticed the double “s” is very rare in Spanish? There’s a double “s” in Matisse, Rousseau, and Picasso.” Different signatures: Pablo Ruiz P. Ruiz P. Ruiz Picasso P. R. Picasso Pablo Picasso Paul Picasso Picasso Source: John Richardson, A Life of Picasso: Volume 1, 2012.
Barcelona School of F Arts
ine Picasso finishes a one-month entrance exam in one week. He’s immediately accepted, but often daydreams in classes.
Often Sent to Detention "For
being a bad student, I was sent to detention. I liked it there, because I took along a sketch pad and drew incessantly. I could have stayed there drawing forever."
T rauma F His Passion
for Art ueled • When he was 13, his sister was dying from diphtheria. Picasso makes a vow to God: “Save my sister and I will give up my art.” • She dies at Christmas and Picasso paints like the Devil. First Communion (1896)
Rejects F ather’s Dream, Quits
School “Every act of creation is first an act of destruction.” “In art, one must kill one’s father.”
Passion Points of Picasso 1.
Find your passion (drawing for Picasso). 2. Family support for focus and education. 3. Find a mentor, early on (Picasso’s father). 4. Get an education (for the sake of learning). 5. Know life events will fuel your passion.
Purpose-Driven Design Is Productive “Good
artists copy. Great artists steal.” 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Seek new experiences. Defy the status quo. Take risks. Do not copy. Plunder from the past. Look beyond your own design discipline.
Stealing is Making Something Yours
“Copying is doing exactly like someone else does. Stealing is when you take something, change it so much, the innovation is so disguised, so changed, that it looks like it belongs to you.” Source: Dr. Enrique Mallen, Forbes 2013.
“Shameless About Stealing Great Ideas”
“I learned about serif and san serif typefaces at Reed College. Ten year later, we designed the Mac to be the first computer with beautiful typography.” 30th anniversary of the Macintosh. Source: Steve Jobs, Huffington Post, 2011.
Picasso Greatly Influenced Steve Jobs
“Steve Jobs admired Picasso because he could have taken a conventional approach and done it well for the rest of his life, but Picasso (like Jobs) tried to change things.” Source: Dr. Enrique Mallen, Forbes 2013.
Masks Used in Early Cubist
Work “To copy oneself is more dangerous than to copy others, it leads to sterility.”
Purpose Points of Picasso 1.
Have an open mind to new experiences. 2. Be original. Challenge the status quo. 3. Look beyond your own design discipline. 4. Steal great ideas, but make them your own. 5. Take risks. Do not copy other people. 6. Great artists ship!
Mastering T and T ools
echniques “I am doing that which I cannot do, in order to learn how to do it.” 1. Get an education. 2. Find a creative space. 3. Research, research, research. 4. Practice, practice, practice. 5. Network, network, network.
Early F Education in School
ormal • Taught brush technique by his father, Jose Ruiz. • Attended the Barcelona School of Fine Arts Barcelona School of Fine Arts Picasso’s Le Picador (1890)
At 14 Years Old, Father
Rents a Studio • He prefers to work in solitude and silence. • Dogs, cats, and a monkey can go into the studio. • Maids could not clean (or dust) his studio.
Shared a Studio, Set the
Schedule When Picasso shares a studio, he sets the schedule for everyone’s time to paint, eat, and sleep. He prefers to work alone at night.
Skip Classes to Visit Local
Museums When he got bored, Picasso skipped school to visit museums. He loves the works of El Greco and Goya. He did his own research.
Networks With Artists • Tertulia
is an informal gathering of artists and musicians. • The Four Cats was his first network. • They talk about art, music, current events, literature and more. Sketch of The Four Cats
Joins F Avant-Garde (Vanguard) rench
• • • • • • • • Henri Matisse Guillaume Apollinaire Salvador Dali Frank Lloyd Wright Paul Gauguin Georgia O’Keefe Jackson Pollock Henry Moore • • • • • • • • Gertrude Stein Miles Davis Duke Ellington Samuel Beckett Henry Miller Isadora Duncan Virginia Woolf Andy Warhol
Proficiency Points of Picasso 1.
Move beyond just pushing pixels. 2. Get an education and learn on your own. 3. Research, research, research. 4. Practice , practice, practice. 5. Network, network, network.
Persistence Keeps You Productive “It
took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.” 1. 2. 3. 4. Establish a routine. Develop a process. Learn from setbacks. Master different design disciplines. 5. Seek longevity. Take a long view.
Set a Routine and Stick
to It • • • • • • • • 10am: 11am: 12pm: 4pm: 8pm: 9pm: 11pm: 2am: Wake Up Eat & Exercise Start Work Siesta (or nap) End Work Eat Dinner Night Work Sleep Picasso’s Ceramic Clock
Day After Liberation Day “Paris
is liberated, but Picasso is besieged.” Picasso has so many visitors—artists, reporters, GIs, resistance fighters, art dealers. His schedule is thrown off. Picasso is forced to open up his studio every Thursday.
Developed Good Work Habits 1.
2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Produces rough sketches. Explores alternatives. Iterate his sketches. Reduces alternatives. Begins his project. Picks workable designs. Took photos in later years. Finishes his work. Documents in a journal.
Persistent with His Projects Picasso
would occasionally get stuck. The Portrait of Gertrude Stein is an example. She sat 90 times for this portrait. And, Picasso still could not get it right. He is so stressed out that he takes a short vacation to Spain. While working with clay, he figures it out. He paints her head from memory and finishes the portrait.
Mastered Different Disciplines Picasso worked
in different mediums— paintings, lithographs, etching, wood, steel, ceramics, illustrations. He would take elements from different mediums and apply it to whatever he was working on. Prints Ceramics Stage Designs Costumes Sculptures Paintings
Career Persistence: Paris or Bust
• • • • 1st visit was a failure. 2nd visit almost dies. 3rd visit was a failure. 4th visit some success. Picasso’s Self-Portrait (1900)
Persistent with Blue Period The
Blue Period did not initially sell. 20 years later, they fetch the most money at auction of all of Picasso’s periods.
Persistent in Business • Sold
art in Germany and Russia in 1910s. • Sold directly to Leo and Gertrude Stein. • Did not exhibit in Paris. Germany Russia Picasso’s D. H. Kahnweiler
Gertrude Stein Markets for Him
Picasso’s art was shown more at Gertrude Stein’s apartment than the art salons of Paris. Picasso had no exhibits in Paris until the 1930s.
Persistent Over Time: Longevity •
• • • • • • Traditional (in school) Blue Period Rose Period African-Influenced Cubism Neo-Classical Surrealism
Longevity: Emptying and F Up
illing “Picasso empties himself and he fills up again, so quickly. Then, he starts to empty himself, again.”
Persistence Points of Picasso 1.
Your creative process beats creative blocks. 2. Develop a schedule and good work habits. 3. See your setbacks as learning experiences. 4. Master new disciplines to solve problems. 5. Empty yourself, fill up with new challenges. 6. Do not have the fear to begin, again.
Picasso’s different partnerships were critical
to his productivity. Of all the 5 P’s of productivity, Partnerships is the most important. Partnerships are what you need to solve WICKED problems.
Childhood F Support Critical amily
• Uncle Salvador pays his tuition at art school. • Mother constantly writes him while he is in Paris.
Early Mentor: F (Jose Ruiz)
ather • Taught him brush technique. • Stretched Picasso’s canvases. “Every time I draw a man, I instantly think of my father.” Source: O’Brien, Patrick. (1994) Picasso: A Biography
Later Mentor: Max Jacobs •
Poet who taught Picasso how to speak French. • For a short time, they shared an apartment.
Later Mentor: Guillaume Apollinaire •
Both loved poetry, African art, & detective novels. • First critic to positively review Cubism. • Coined the term “Surrealism” to describe Picasso’s stage designs for a ballet called “Parade”.
Drew Inspiration from His T
ertulia Gertrude Stein • • • • • • • • • Gertrude Stein (Writer) Isadora Duncan (Dancer) Leo Stein (Journalist) Max Jacobs (Poet) Ernest Hemingway (Writer) Fernande Olivier (Model) Joan Miró (Sculptor, Painter) Dora Marr (Photographer) John Richardson (Biographer)
Historic Rivalry with Matisse “No
one has ever looked at Matisse’s paintings more carefully than I; and no one has looked at mine more carefully than Matisse.” Picasso (self-portrait) Matisse (self-portrait)
Their F riends Loved This
Rivalry Henri Rosseau Leo Stein Gertrude Stein • Their friends encouraged the rivalry. • Gertrude loved Picasso, Leo loved Matisse.
F riends Could Be Childish
Max Jacobs Apollinaire Matisse’s Portrait • Matisse gave Picasso a portrait of his daughter. • Picasso’s friend threw felt darts at the painting.
Matisse’s The Joy of Life
This is Matisse’s Joy of Life, which is a colorful pastoral painting. It is set in a meadow where groups of people dance, sing, talk, and make love. Picasso loathed everything about it—the colors, the nudity, the shapes, the setting, and everything. It was too artificial. The viewer is seeing things from far away.
Picasso Responds T Matisse’s Work
o One year later, Picasso produces the Young Ladies of Avignon. This painting is a complete rejection of Matisse’s Joy of Life. Instead of a pastoral setting, it is set in a brothel. The viewer is not passively looking into a meadow; the viewer must actively choose between five different prostitutes in several poses. And, some of the figures wear African masks. This painting appears in more art books than any other piece of art in the 20th century. It is an early form of Cubism. And, it is a complete rejection of Matisse.
Similar Subjects, Different Contexts It
is a similar subject (the joy of life), but they have completely different contexts. Picasso steals Matisse’s subject. Great artists steal. Matisse’s Joy of Life (1905) Picasso’s Young Ladies of Avignon (1906)
At Times, Very Competitive Rivalry
• June 16, 1931: Matisse retrospective is largest in Paris ever. • June 16, 1932: A year later, Picasso shows in the same salon: - 225 paintings - 7 statues - 6 illustrated books
Only Picasso Could Insult Matisse
When the other guests insult Matisse, Picasso is furious. He says: “I refuse to let you insult Matisse. He is our greatest painter.” When the other guests insult Matisse, Picasso is furious. He says, “I refuse to let you insult Matisse. He is our greatest painter.” You should always respect your rival.
Cubist Collaborator: Georges Braque “
The things that Picasso and I said to one another during those years will never be said again, and even if they were, no one would understand them anymore. It was like being roped together on a mountain.” —Georges Braque Source: Berger, John. 1972. The Look of Things: Selected Essays and Articles.
Analytic Cubism (1909-12) Simple, geometric
shapes are arranged on a canvas to represent an object or a person. On the right, a guitar is broken into geometric shapes and rearranged.
Synthetic Cubism (1912-14) Picasso introduces
a collage method, where objects are placed on the canvas to interact with painted elements. Wallpaper, newspaper, and sheet music are on this canvas of a guitar.
No Journals, No Signatures Cubism
was a deep collaboration. Picasso suppressed his ego. 1. Picasso did not keep journals, which was unusual for him. 2. They do not sign their names to their art.
Partnership Points of Picasso 1.
Partnerships affect your productivity. 2. Your family sets you up for success. 3. Mentors educate and advise you. 4. Your network will inspire you. 5. Rivals push you in different ways. 6. Collaborators expand your boundaries.
26 April 1937: Guernica, Spain
It is the Spanish Civil War. On April 26, 1937, in Guernica, Spain, it is Market Day. General Franco is trying to overthrow the Spanish government. Spain is being torn apart.
F Airstrikes in Three Hours
ive In his ongoing attempt to overthrow the Spanish government, General Francisco Franco asks Adolf Hitler to bomb Guernica. Source: Russell Martin, Picasso’s War, 2012.
Hitler’s F Use of a
Blitzkrieg irst 50 aircraft with 120 airmen carrying 1,000s of pounds of bombs. They refueled, making 5 bombing runs. There is no military target. Source: Russell Martin, Picasso’s War, 2012.
The City is Completely Destroyed
Up to 80% of the town is destroyed, including a church having a wedding. The Bride survives; the Groom does not. Source: Russell Martin, Picasso’s War, 2012.
More Than 3,000 Casualties Two
days later, reporters see a Priest giving funeral rites over a mass grave. Source: Russell Martin, Picasso’s War, 2012.
Art Before Propaganda “The stand
of Picasso was quite clear. A work of art, in order to be really effective in political terms, has to work first of all as a work of art.“ --Tomas Llorens Political Imagery Artistic Merit
Elements F His Major Periods
rom • Blue Period: Uses monochrome colors to created universal images. • Rose Period: Hidden harlequins show the inhumanity of war. • Cubist Period: Overlapping images and texture added.
Guernica’s Secret Images • African-Influenced
Period: Conceals masks for a psychological effect. • Surrealism Period: Some images must be rotated to see them: - Bull - Skull - Arrow Scholars see 6 hidden images.
Moves the Bull Closer to
Woman Horse and Bull were originally fighting. Now, the damage is more man-made. Light and shade bring the focus back to the center.
Persistence: The Thinking Process “A
painting is never thought out and decided upon ahead of time. It is subject to changes in thinking while in process.”
F Iteration of Guernica irst
Underlying wireframe shows a soldier with closed fist. The bull is ready to charge and the horse is clearly dead.
Second Iteration of Guernica Adds
grain to the closed fist with the sun in background. It is an outdoor scene with the bull scanning the horizon.
Third Iteration of Guernica Removes
soldiers arm with grain. Uses different shape for sun. You can start to make out the triangle, which balances the chaos.
F Iteration of Guernica ourth
Moves the horse’s head up. Hides other images. The horse is not dead, but in incredible agony. The bull is confused.
F Design of Guernica inal
“Sun” is now a light bulb, which is called “bombia” in Spanish. Artificial light reminiscent of a prison. Everyone is trapped.
Partnership of Dora Maar •
• • • • Finds Picasso a studio. Photographs his progress. Puts finishing touches on it. Only artist to co-create. “Weeping Woman” model.
Initially Rejected, Later Revered •
Clement Greenberg: “Guernica is jerky and too compact.” (1937) • Pablo Picasso: “I stand for Peace against War.” (1953) • Nelson Rockefeller: “A brilliant, anti-war masterpiece.” (1954)
5 P’s of Productivity You
can produce like Picasso. It takes passion, purpose, proficiency, persistence, and partnerships. We do not want you toget away without talking about the unspoken P, which is…..price.
Accused of Theft by Diego
Rivera “I've never believed in God, but I believe in Picasso.” “Picasso paces around (the Louvre) like a dog in search of game.“ When Diego Rivera accuses Picasso of plagiarism, Pablo calls it … collaboration. Maynard Dixon’s Portrait of Diego Rivera
T the Mother of T
of His Kids o wo “Women are either goddesses or doormats.” She tells Picasso that she is neither one. She takes their children and leaves. Picasso pays little, if any, child support.
After Publication of “Life with
Picasso” • She writes a tell-all book. • Picasso refuses to see their children: - Claude is 14 - Paloma is 12 • They are turned away at his funeral. • Claude is the executor of the estate today.
Who Do You See in
the Mirror? You can produce like Picasso but you don’t have to pay the same price. We all go through the 5 P’s of productivity. To what extreme is totally up to you! • What price are you willing to pay? Picasso’s Girl Before a Mirror