Applying the creative mind: Pablo Picasso
Picasso, the genius, the rebel
Probably the most provocative and influential artist of the first half of the 20th century, Pablo Picasso pioneered the Cubist movement, alongside Georges Braque, he also invented collage and made major contributions to Symbolism and Surrealism. A mover and a shaker you might say, others would simply say “busy”.
Picasso boasted an impressive work ethic, he didn't rest on his laurels working tirelessly day and night. At the time of his death in 1973, Picasso had created in the range of 50,000 pieces across a wide range of mediums, including sketches, paintings, prints, drawings, sculptures, ceramics, theater sets, and costume designs.
He critically analyzed his work, and the work of others. He was determined to figure out the strengths and weaknesses of his craft. He wasn’t afraid to push the limits, to experiment, to work methodically and technically or to work loosely to incite innovation — Pablo Picasso was a visual explorer, he navigated the boundaries of expression and form, convention and antagonism.
Applying Picasso’s wisdom today
“Everything you can imagine is real.” — We can all see the fruits of this mindset. A successful designer has a “fit imagination”, meaning we must do as Picasso does and work hard, flex our creative muscles daily and employ a reliable process to pull out solutions that are the best representation of our creative capability. Pull your brilliant ideas into reality.
“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” — Looking at the long hours Picasso put in at his studio he must have had a spotless soul, although he was known to be a bit of a party animal and enjoyed his wine, so maybe not entirely spotless.
This is an expression of what it feels like engaging in the passions for your loved pursuit — I remember feeling lost and dismayed trying to make it as a young illustrator, my spark had faded and producing work became a chore… then by chance I discovered web design and UI! My creative passions reignited, my soul cleansed of the dust of life.
“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.” — A tip of the hat to the fluctuation between technical proficiency and innovative genius. As modern designers and artists process and method are important, they ensure we produce the best solutions for the problems before us. A systematic approach will give us predictable and reliable results, but as our experience increases so too does our ability to bend these processes and to become more bold in our progression and idea generation.
Here’s a good example of how Picasso had the ability to dance between portraiture work of traditional technicality, against his ability to express abstract forms, dealing with ideas and avoiding a purely objective or realist approach. These are both portraits of his wife, Olga Picasso.
“Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working.” — Work ethic! It’s hard to keep ticking along and keep producing quality work when you’re lacking inspiration, I for one relate to this. A method I use to break a “creative block” is to pause, grab a pen a paper and just doodle something silly, like a dinosaur skiing, his arms are too short for the poles, so he’s not having a great time… the idea is to distract yourself, now come back to the project and try a new perspective, doodle out some alternative options, break apart the process or go back to the ideas generation phase. Flicking through other designers work can also spark a new perspective, making sure not to rip off other designers work of course… another quote from Picasso “Bad artists copy. Good artists steal”.
Picasso never stopped working, even when the work he produced was far from his best.
“I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.” — Practice makes perfect and honing one’s skills requires us to engage in those skills. Trying to achieve higher skill sets takes hard work and there’s no substitute for good old fashioned hard work.
One last quote from this brilliant artist.
“It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.”
