Soon my “Imagining” posts will be filled with short stories and poems. In those posts you will find stories either written or retold by me, Mama Sprite. There may also be stories from guests. The stories and poems will be for fun, inspiration, and opportunities to practice your own art skills too. I can’t wait to share what we’ve imagined up with you!
Learning about, and from, Picasso.
Picasso, that is a name that always brings images to my head. When I was a little pixie I thought Picasso only made weird paintings that anyone could scribble out given time.
Boy was I wrong!
Growing older I began to really study art and art history then I learned that this man was called the “Father of Modern Art” for several good reasons.
https://www.pablopicasso.org/mother-and-child.jsp#prettyPhoto
He is generally known as Picasso, or Pablo Ruiz Picasso, though the artist has a much longer name, those are what he signed to his works. Born in Spain on the 25th of October 1881 to a family that encouraged him to use his talents at an early age. Pablo’s mom reportedly mentioned that the first word Pablo tried to say was pencil. His dad was an art professor who began to teach him at the age of 7. After many years in art schools and under his father’s tutelage he became a more skilled painter than his father.
In his late teen years, Picasso moved to France. That is where he pretty much stayed until he died on the 8th of April 1973 at 91 years old! 1973 wasn’t all that long ago either when looking at the history of art. In 1973 Disney had the cartoon Robin Hood in theaters and Schoolhouse Rock was playing on TVs. When he was born Brahms was composing symphonies, Edison and Bell were selling a newish invention we call the phone, and cowboys were having life or death showdowns.
Growing up, Pablo was taught classical art. The popular thinking in the art world of his time was that a great artist was someone who could copy great artists of the past perfectly. Pablo most certainly could do that, he painted classical art very well. He also studied live models in school. This was a standard practice of art schools then and is still used now. He continued to use people as models when he became a professional artist. The final art may not have been a copy of what he was physically looking at but a person did inspire him.
I do agree that a lot can be learned from copying someone else’s works (be sure to give credit where credit is due. Tell people it’s a copy. It’s okay). It can train the eyes and hands to do what you want with more choices literally at your finger tips. Learning techniques and styles from existing art is a very good way to start on a journey to finding your own style and voice. The experience you would gain is priceless.
Picasso also created art from his feelings. When he was a teen, his little sister passed away, he put those feelings in his art. Later, he overcame the death of friends, being extremely poor, living through an unhappy marriage, and so on. Those feelings came out in his art too. He lived through both World Wars. The sad emotions Picasso felt at those times physically showed up in his art, right down to the colors he used.
https://www.pablopicasso.org/old-guitarist.jsp#prettyPhoto
Have you ever heard an artist claim it was their “Blue Period”? Yup, sad meant more blue colors showed up in his art sometimes. Picasso has an actual “Blue Period” in his art. The idea of colors showing your emotions goes much further back in history than Picasso, however, he is an excellent example of what that means. There were also things, people, and places that brought Picasso a lot of joy. When he was happy the whole canvas brightened up! After his blues Picasso had a “Rose Period” that showed life scenes in warmer colors.
Picasso didn’t just paint, either! He loved to experiment and practice all sorts of creative techniques; sculptures, printmaking, ceramics, as well as work on sets and costume designs in the theatre. He made friends with many people, including other artists. The styles of art created by the people he met inspired him to try new things. Picasso was the co-founder of type of art called Cubism, and he helped bring the use of collage to more mainstream art. He kept learning, experimenting, and exploring what a person could do with art. Others could not discourage him and he continued to push beyond the limits of what was popular at the beginning of his career.
Picasso studied, learned from school and life, looked for new ways to do things, and kept growing.
https://www.pablopicasso.org/drawings.jsp
Who’s art do you like? Maybe there is a place you enjoy going to. Sit down there and really look at it. Feel it. Copy it. Tweak it. Picasso could paint like a master. But he also wasn’t afraid to use his imagination, to be himself. Be yourself! Be creative and keep shining!
https://www.pablopicasso.org/maya-with-her-doll.jsp
“Others have seen what is and asked why. I have seen what could be and asked why not.” – Pablo Picasso
https://www.pablo-ruiz-picasso.net/work-4008.php
Note: Not all of Picasso’s paintings are age appropriate for little ones, so I do ask that, if you are a young one, when looking up more pictures by him please have a grown up help. A good many famous artists have made studies of subjects that are best looked at as a family and according to agreed upon standards.
A picture is worth a thousand words as the saying goes. That is pretty much true too. Another thing that can be said about words and pictures is that they potentially mean different things, in small or large ways, to each person. A picture can bring different words to the mind of each viewer. Words also have the potential to invoke different images in your head vs. mine, or others.
If I say cat, for example, you might be imagining different sizes, colors, fur, or temperament of cats you have experience with. Now if I draw a cat first we would see the same picture but we could notice different things about it, likely projecting a personality of our choosing on to the animal. Using our past experiences, bringing them into the present moment increases our understanding. In other words, we build thoughts on what we know. We try to make sense of new stuff by comparing things to what we already know.
I am working on a project. It’s taking some time. My little monkeys are making a game out this with me. I wrote a story and will be putting it on my website for you (link to be added when ready). I gave them each copies of this story and we will be drawing pictures for the story book. Our pictures will all be based on the same words/story but each will be different. There will be similarities, but different styles and individual thoughts in what to include in the pictures.
Since this story includes a boy and his dinosaur we have come up with all kinds of questions that aren’t answered in the text of my first story. How old is the boy? What does he look like? What exactly is the dinosaur? Do other kids have dinosaurs? Where do they live? I hope to continue my story and answer those questions. For now, these questions leave wide openings for diverse interpretations.
When it is ready I will post the full story and it’s different illustrated versions under my “Imagine” page. Once it is up I encourage you to try drawing a few pictures for your own telling of the story. Meanwhile I am posting this note and saying, “Hi from Mama Sprite!” Story time is coming soon, I hope you join us. Be creative and keep shining!
