"Paintings With Personality"

PABLO TALKS

      Pablo Picasso is attributed with saying, “Good artists copy, and great artists steal.” Other people are also attributed with being the originators of the quote but I’m going to give Pablo the credit.

      This is an often misunderstood quote and I’m trying to come up with something (anything) perceptive about Picasso’s meaning. To copy the work of someone else is to mirror or clone the work (hopefully giving the artist credit for the original). It would take a good artist to be able to do that. When merely copying a piece of art, you fail unless you perfectly duplicate the original.

      When stealing from another artist, the ‘idea’ is what you are pilfering. You follow the other artist’s idea making changes and adding some of yourself and your experiences. You make it a different work entirely and that takes a great artist. To make art your own it has to be interpreted and changed till the original no longer exists.

       We don’t live in a vacuum or learn in a vacuum. We weren’t born with knowledge of art and how to create it. We learn by seeing what other artists have done. Some art you like and some you don’t. Those you like are the ones you steal. Sometimes you love what you do with the ideas and sometimes not so much, so you junk it and move on. Whatever you decide, you filter it through your own feelings. This is where the theft helps you develop your creativity and style. Every artist builds on what was done before. It is the great artist who manages to take the old ideas in new directions. We have to be careful though and make sure the work was really great and worth stealing.

      For centuries painters have been learning from the work of other artists. Plagiarism is copying another person’s art and claiming it as your own. Growing is studying the work of other artists then using what you learned and changing it. Evaluate the work, run it through your own experience and take what appeals to you. That is growth.

      Maybe you’ve looked at a piece of art and thought, “I could do that.” Go ahead, steal it just don’t copy it. Figure out what you really like about the work and run it through your experiences, open your emotions and creativity to make something that is your own. Spend the time it takes to realize what you want to do and where you are going with it. Put effort into thinking out the design. When you’re finished your art will not look like the work you stole, but like the original new work you created. Maybe someone will want to steal from you.

      My advice is stealing to your hearts content just don’t go around banks!

      Speaking of stealing, wonder what ‘Pablo’ would say about his quote. Did he steal it from someone else and change it to get his point across?

Have you stolen from anyone lately? Comment below.