Mar 23, 2012
It may be difficult to imagine, but Picasso had artists that he admired. Perhaps most notable among them was Juan Gris, a close friend, though – according to an account in Gertrude Stein's book, The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, he was also "... the only person whom Picasso wished away." Well, the doodle team is very happy that Picasso did not get his wish!
For Gris' doodle, I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to play more with abstract shapes, and reinterpreting familiar objects in the cubist language. This is not something I've had a lot of experience doing, as my formal art training involved learning to draw more representationally. To say the least, it was quite a liberating experience to try something new!
In these first couple drawings, I'm sort of just feeling my way through his work, mostly compositing his paintings. The first version plays with his likeness somewhat, and the second takes his most commonly painted subject, the guitar, and repeats itself throughout the logo.
Next, I begin painting over the drawing using traditional media. The process is perhaps not as free-flowing and spontaneous as Gris might have worked (hey, I'm a budding cubist after all)! At any rate, I had a wonderful time learning from this extraordinary painter, and hope you enjoyed this behind-the-scenes look at making the doodle.
Happy birthday, Juan Gris!
posted by Mike Dutton
Location: Global
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