Lesson Overview

• Focus Artist: Pablo Picasso

• Focus Elements:

– Space: areas around, between or

within parts of a piece

– Texture: how an actual object feels

or how a 2-demensional object

appears to feel.

• Focus Principles:

– Movement: using the elements to

guide the viewers eye through a

composition, or piece of artwork.

– Balance: when no one part

overpowers another

Pablo Piccaso

Born: Oct. 25, 1881

in Malaga, Spain

Died: April 8, 1973

He made his first trip to Paris in 1900 and

loved the city. Those were hard times for

Picasso and he burned many of his

paintings to keep himself warm. His real

work and career as a painter is said to begin

around 1894 with a painting called ‘The First

Communion’ which showed his sister Lola.

1901 to 1904 is called Picasso’s Blue Period

because many of his paintings in that time were

in the shades of blue and blue-green. Notice in

this painting how the background is divided into

interesting shapes. Picasso divided up the space

of his canvas in an interesting way. What feeling

do you think of when you see this painting? How

did Picasso create that feeling in his painting?

Picasso became well known for his “Cubism”

style. This type of artwork is called abstract

art because it is not meant to look real.

Notice how most of the space is divided into

rectangular shapes. Also notice that the

background is not just an empty boring

space, but it has also been divided into a

variety of different shapes and spaces.

Woman with a FlowerLook at all the brown and black spaces. When we make art we

should remember that every part of that paper is artwork. We

should make it all interesting. Notice also how one shape in this

painting leads your eye to a new area. The shapes are arranged in

a way that guides your eye to all parts of the painting. This is

called Movement.

Woman with a Blue HatHere are some examples of some abstract

paintings by Picasso. What do you notice about

the people? Picasso liked to put faces on as if

you could see it from the front and the side at

the same time.

This painting is an example of Symmetrical

Balance. That is when the artwork is mostly the

same on the left side as it is on the right side. The

next painting is an example of Asymmetrical

Balance. This is when no one part of the painting

feel “heavier” or more important, so it feels

balanced, but it is not the same on each side.

1912 to 1919 is called Picasso’s Synthetic Cubism

Period where he began to use collage in his art. He

would add paper fragments of wallpaper or

newspaper pages and paste them into his work.

Notice how adding paper to his art gives it an

interesting texture. Texture is the way something

feels or the way it appears to feel.

Guitar, Sheet Music, and Wine Glass

Pablo Picasso- 1912

Collage is when you take paper, ribbons,

fabric, etc. and glue them on to your artwork.

It can also include painting and drawing.

Notice that Picasso didn’t cut out a whole

picture and use it in his art. Instead he took

bits and pieces of images and created a

whole new image.

Compotier avec fruits, violon et verre

by Pablo Picasso (1912)

Here are some other examples of

Picasso’s collage work.

Guitar and

Sheet Music

Pablo Picasso

1912

Picasso Collage

•Think of a design for your collage.

You may want to try cubism. Maybe

you want to do something from the

“blue period”. Keep your artwork

abstract.

•Cut out shapes from newspapers,

magazine, fabric, and other paper.

Remember to create a variety of sizes

to keep it interesting.

•Arrange the pieces in a way that

divides all the space in an interesting

way. Try to create movement and

balance also. Then glue them down.

Remember with glue, a dot is a lot!

•Avoid cutting whole pictures from a

magazine and using it as is. Use your

creativity to think of a new way to

use things.

Who Am I?