Monday, July 8, 2013

Channelling Picasso

In moments, I am off to Barcelona to... Channel Picasso! Yes! I will be teaching a workshop of the same name for the Urban Sketchers Symposium, a wild gathering of hundreds and hundreds of like-minded people covering the street of the city- drawing!
Though my workshop will be about drawing and experimenting with mark making, Mr. P's philosophy can apply to any discipline in the arts. Below, I am sharing some amazing quotes from the book Picasso, In His Words, edited by Hiro Clark.


“When I was a child, my mother said to me, ’If you become a soldier you’ll be a general. If you become a monk you’ll end up as the Pope.’ Instead, I became a painter and wound up as Picasso.”

“A picture is not thought out and settled beforehand. While it is being done it changes as one’s thoughts change. And when it is finished, it still goes on changing, according to the state of mind of whoever is looking at it. A picture lives a life like a living creature, undergoing the changes imposed on us by our life from day to day. This is natural enough, as the picture lives only through the man who is looking at it.”

“The important thing is to do, and nothing else; be what it may.”

“If you know exactly what you are going to do, what’s the good of doing it? There’s no interest in something you know already. It’s much better to do something else.”

“When there is anything to steal, I steal.”

“Drawing is no joke. There is something very serious and mysterious about the fact that once can represent a human being with line alone and create not only his likeness but, in addition, an image of how he really is. That’s the marvel!”

“I do not seek, I find.”

See you later- Gone Drawing!

4 comments:

James Richards said...

Wonderful words, Melanie...see you tomorrow!

Marina Grechanik said...

very inspiring, so pity I could't take your workshop this time! see you!

Patrizia Torres said...

Wonderful, inspiring and channeling words, indeed...

Julia Sverchuk said...

Awesome. This is my first workshop. I can't think of a better way to kick off the drawing vacation than with you, Melanie, "Channeling Picasso". Very excited! Till soon, xo Julia