Produce Like Picasso: Mastering Design Delivery #sxsw

Produce Like Picasso

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.”

August 25,1944: Liberation Day in Paris

Aerial Dogfights Around Paris

Street to Street Fighting

Snipers Shoot from the Rooftops

In His Studio, Picasso Focuses…

A Stray Bullet Barely Misses His Head

Moves his art supplies, model, and his dog to a new location. Finishes 5 pieces.

Why Picasso?

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We organize the Big Design Conference.

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Design Like Da Vinci

13,000 Pages of Sketches

Da Vinci was great at the first 10%, which is starting a project.

Only 30 Finished Paintings

Picasso was a Prolific Producer

Completed Projects Source: Guinness Book of World Records (2013)

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 Tale of Two Masters

13,000 pages of sketches

Da Vinci did the first 10%.

13,500 finished paintings

Picasso did the last 10%.

Most Stolen Artist in the World

Stolen Pieces of Art Source: BBC Special Report (2010)

Daily Average For His Career

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

10 of Top 50 Paintings Sold at Auction

We Kept Coming Back to This Number

Completed Projects Source: Guinness Book of World Records (2013)

Read 13 Books on Picasso

Can We Apply Picasso to Our Work?

5P’s of Productivity

Passion

Passion Leads to Productivity

“Art is a lie, which makes us see the truth.”

1. Find your passion. 2. Get support. 3. Educate yourself. 4. Develop your brand. 5. Life events fuel passion.

Picasso’s First Word: Pencil

His first word was “piz”, which is short for lapiz. It means ‘pencil’ in Spanish.

Picasso at age 4.

Picasso’s Father Taught His Son • 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 Tail, and The Ear”

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.

While cutting out paper animals with his sister, she challenges him to start in different places.

First Oil Painting of Picasso

• 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 To Build a Personal Brand

• 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 Different signatures:

Pablo Ruiz P. Ruiz

P. Ruiz Picasso P. R. Picasso Pablo Picasso Paul Picasso

Picasso

“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.”

Source: John Richardson, A Life of Picasso: Volume 1, 2012.

Barcelona School of Fine Arts

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."

Trauma Fueled His Passion for Art

• 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 Father’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

Passion is your fuel. Purpose is your engine

Purpose-Driven Design Is Productive

“Good artists copy. Great artists steal.”

1. Seek new experiences. 2. Defy the status quo. 3. Take risks. Do not copy. 4. Plunder from the past. 5. Look beyond your own

design discipline.

“Good artists copy. Great artists steal.”

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.

Original Branding Called “Picasso Mac”

Steve Jobs hated it. “Good” artists copy.

Finder’s Icon is Based on Picasso

“I do not seek. I find.” - Pablo Picasso

Picasso’s Two Characters (1934)

“Great” artists steal.

Picasso Shown in “Think Different” Ads

Apple Store Inspired by Ritz-Carlton

Someone greets you at the door.

The Genius Bar dispenses advice, rather than alcohol.

“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.”

Source: Steve Jobs, Huffington Post, 2011.

30th anniversary of the Macintosh.

Both Continually Innovated

Blue Period Cubism Neo-Classical

Smartphones Tablets Computers

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.

“Real Artists Ship!”

Matisse Buys Two African Statues

Magical Qualities

Craftsmanship of the Statues

Masks Used in African-Influenced Period

• From 1906 to 1909, masks dominate Picasso’s work.

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!

Proficiency is your mastery of tools and techniques.

Passion. Purpose. Proficiency.

Mastering Tools and Techniques “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 Formal Education in School • Taught brush technique

by his father, Jose Ruiz.

• Attended the Barcelona School of Fine Arts

Picasso’s Le Picador (1890) Barcelona School of Fine Arts

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.

Practice, Practice, Practice

Lovers of the Street (1900)

Absinthe Drinker (1901)

Head of a Woman (1901)

Networks With Artists

Sketch of The Four Cats

• 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.

Joins French Avant-Garde (Vanguard) • 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

Persistence when you get stuck.

Persistence Keeps You Productive “It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.”

1. Establish a routine. 2. Develop a process. 3. Learn from setbacks. 4. Master different design

disciplines. 5. Seek longevity. Take a

long view.

Set a Routine and Stick to It • 10am: Wake Up

• 11am: Eat & Exercise

• 12pm: Start Work

• 4pm: Siesta (or nap)

• 8pm: End Work

• 9pm: Eat Dinner

• 11pm: Night Work

• 2am: Sleep Picasso’s Ceramic Clock

Day After Liberation Day

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.

“Paris is liberated, but Picasso is besieged.”

Developed Good Work Habits

1. Produces rough sketches.

2. Explores alternatives.

3. Iterate his sketches.

4. Reduces alternatives.

5. Begins his project.

6. Picks workable designs.

7. Took photos in later years.

8. Finishes his work.

9. Documents in a journal.

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.

Persistent with His Projects

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.

Mastered Different Disciplines

Prints Ceramics Stage Designs

Sculptures Costumes Paintings

Career Persistence: Paris or Bust

Picasso’s Self-Portrait (1900)

• 1st visit was a failure.

• 2nd visit almost dies.

• 3rd visit was a failure.

• 4th visit some success.

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.

Picasso’s D. H. Kahnweiler Germany Russia

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 Filling Up

“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.

Partnerships

Of all the 5 P’s of productivity, Partnerships is the most important. Partnerships are what you need to solve WICKED problems.

Picasso’s different partnerships were critical to his productivity.

Picasso’s Levels of Partnerships • Family

• Mentors

• Tertulia, or Network

• Rivals

• Collaborators

Childhood Family Support Critical • Uncle Salvador pays his

tuition at art school.

• Mother constantly writes him while he is in Paris.

Early Mentor: Father (Jose Ruiz)

Source: O’Brien, Patrick. (1994) Picasso: A Biography

• Taught him brush technique.

• Stretched Picasso’s canvases.

“Every time I draw a man, I instantly think of my father.”

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 Tertulia

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.”

Matisse (self-portrait) Picasso (self-portrait)

Their Friends Loved This Rivalry

Gertrude Stein Leo Stein Henri Rosseau

• Their friends encouraged the rivalry.

• Gertrude loved Picasso, Leo loved Matisse.

Friends Could Be Childish

Matisse’s Portrait Apollinaire Max Jacobs

• Matisse gave Picasso a portrait of his daughter.

• Picasso’s friend threw felt darts at the painting.

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.

Matisse’s The Joy of Life

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.

Picasso Responds To Matisse’s Work

It is a similar subject (the joy of life), but they have completely different contexts. Picasso steals Matisse’s subject. Great artists steal.

Similar Subjects, Different Contexts

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

Picasso Greatly Respected Matisse

At a group luncheon, Matisse excuses himself. Picasso says, “He must be resting on the crown of his laurels.”

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.

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.”

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.

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.

No Journals, No Signatures

They Met Daily for 7 Years

World War I Ends The Collaboration

Picasso Marries, Braque Injured

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.

Picasso’s Guernica (1937)

Case Study of 5P’s of Productivity

Picasso became a master designer by going through the 5P’s of Productivity.

1937 World’s Fair

1937 World’s Fair to be held in Paris. The government of Spain commissions Picasso to paint a large mural.

Revisiting a Common Theme

Picasso was not satisfied with his progress on a common theme: The Painter and His Model.

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.

26 April 1937: Guernica, Spain

Market Day: Up to 10,000 People

Source: Russell Martin, Picasso’s War, 2012.

Five Airstrikes in Three Hours

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 First Use of a Blitzkrieg

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.

An Ambitious Plan

Picasso learned by going through each of the 5P’s of Productivity.

Picasso produces Guernica using the 5P’s of Productivity.

Passion: Inspired by the Event

An Eerie Omen

Images from the “Dreams and Lies of Franco” are in “Guernica” including the Weeping Woman, Bull, Horse, and a Dead Child.

He Desires To Create a Giant Mural

11' 5" x 25' 6" (or 3.5 m x 7.8 m)

Purpose: An Impossible Deadline • Guernica bombing

on 26 April 1937.

• World’s Fair in Paris on 25 May 1937.

• Picasso has 24 days to complete it.

Sketches Right Away

Must Slant His Canvas

Uses a Ladder to Paint Up High

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

Proficiency: Mastery of Tools

“I begin with an idea and then it becomes something else.”

Elements From His Major Periods

• 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.

Neo-Classical: Balancing the Chaos

Removes Raised Fist

In the Spanish Civil War, the Republicans saluted with a raised fist.

Eliminates a Focal Point (Chaotic)

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.”

45 Sketches Before Painting Anything

• 23 different figures

• 12 on the bull alone

• 6 on whole concept

First Iteration of Guernica

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.

Fourth Iteration of Guernica

Moves the horse’s head up. Hides other images. The horse is not dead, but in incredible agony. The bull is confused.

Final Design of Guernica

“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)

An Interesting Discussion

Gestapo: “Did you create that?” Picasso: “No, you did!”

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.

5 P’s of Productivity

Price

We Are Back to This Number

Completed Projects Source: Guinness Book of World Records (2013)

7 Traits of Extreme Workaholics • Neuroticism

• Introvert/Extrovert

• Open to Experience

• Conscientiousness

• Agreeableness

• Narcissism

• Perfectionism

Picasso’s Answer to Perfectionism “There is no such thing

as a bad Picasso.”

Eight Women, Eight Muses

Over 70 Portraits of Jacqueline in 1 Year

Picasso Isolated His Whole Life

After Franco Wins, Exiled from Spain

Shoot at People to Drive Them Away

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

To the Mother of Two of His Kids “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.

The Paradox of Picasso “It’s not what the artist

does that counts, but what he is.”

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!

Who Do You See in the Mirror?

• What price are you willing to pay?

Picasso’s Girl Before a Mirror

“Finishing is better than starting.”

This has been Produce Like Picasso!