Picasso’s unusual linocut technique

This article was first published in my newsletter "Notes From My French Easel" – February 2011. Follow the link to receive this free monthly newsletter.

Brassaï recounted in his book "Conversation with Picasso" how D-H Kahnwweiler, the art dealer, described to him the peculiar way Picasso used linocuts:

« D-H Kahnwweiler: They are amazing, isn’t it? Picasso was an innovator in this field, as in many others ... Five years ago he started engraving into a linoleum block a portrait of Cranach’s wife. Then he got the idea - instead of running a block for each color – to carve again and again a single block. In seeking its own means of expression, he boldly innovates in each process and brings it to perfection. At first he merely used three or four colors and he now handles twelve colours prints using the same block! It's diabolical! He must anticipate the effect of each color, because here there is no coming back! I do not even know what to call this mental operation...»

"Portrait of the Painter Pablo Ruiz Picasso" sculpture by Francisco López Hernández in La Merced Square, Málaga, Spain [Source: Wikimedia]

As the art dealer pointed out, Picasso’s process is very complex. It shows that Picasso has a great capability to think visually, like a chess player thinking of the ten moves ahead based on his next move.

This unique technique also means that these linocuts were, by definition, limited editions. At the end of the process, the linocut plaque was reduced to the last marks on the paper.

Saper Galleries has a very good article on the different printing techniques that Picasso used: Printmaking Media Used by Picasso.


Related articles

Working out tones with linocuts



Picasso Linocut Art technique

Lectures on art by John Ruskin

This is a review of the book Lectures on art by John Ruskin. A free electronic version of Lectures on art is available in various formats on the site of the Gutenberg Project.
“Lectures on art” is a compilation of seven lectures the artist and professor delivered at Oxford in 1870. Ruskin stayed in Oxford between 1870 and 1875. His system of teaching was based on the methods of Da Vinci (“We will take Lionardo's treatise on painting for our first text-book”) and Reynolds.

Portrait of John Ruskin by Frederick Hollyer, 1894. Source: Wikimedia

The first lectures are full of moral considerations that may have an hstorical and biographical interest, but limited practical use to today’s artists. For instance, Ruskin states that: “Landscape can only be enjoyed by cultivated persons; and it is only by music, literature, and painting, that cultivation can be given.”or that “fine art had, and could have, but three functions: the enforcing of the religious sentiments of men, the perfecting their ethical state, and the doing them material service.”

There are also a number of inspiring comments on art and the practice of art. Here is a digest of interesting quotes from these Lectures on art.


On works of art

“Every good piece of art, to whichever of these ends it may be directed, involves first essentially the evidence of human skill and the formation of an actually beautiful thing by it.”


Simplifying how you see the subject

Ruskin comes back to the same idea in different places of the lectures:

“all objects are seen by the eye as patches of colour of a certain shape, with gradations of colour within them. And, unless their colours be actually luminous, as those of the sun, or of fire, these patches of different hues are sufficiently imitable, except so far as they are seen stereoscopically.”


“All objects appear to the human eye simply as masses of colour of variable depth, texture, and outline.”

“Consider all nature merely as a mosaic of different colours, to be imitated one by one in simplicity.”


On lights and shadows

“But every light is a shadow compared to higher lights, till we reach the brightness of the sun; and every shadow is a light compared to lower shadows, till we reach the darkness of night. […] Every colour used in painting, except pure white and black, is therefore a light and shade at the same time. It is a light with reference to all below it, and a shade with reference to all above it."


On coloured shadows

“Painters who have no eye for colour have greatly confused and falsified the practice of art by the theory that shadow is an absence of colour. Shadow is, on the contrary, necessary to the full presence of colour; for every colour is a diminished quantity or energy of light; and, practically, it follows from what I have just told you--(that every light in painting is a shadow to higher lights, and every shadow a light to lower shadows)--that also every colour in painting must be a shadow to some brighter colour, and a light to some darker one.”

“In nature, dark sides if seen by reflected lights, are almost always fuller or warmer in colour than the lights”


“It is an absolute fact that shadows are as much colours as lights are; and whoever represents them by merely the subdued or darkened tint of the light, represents them falsely.”

A Vineyard Walk, Lucca. Pencil, watercolour and bodycolour, 33.5 x 42.3 cm – Source: Wikimedia

On texture

“Now textures are principally of three kinds: (1) Lustrous, as of water and glass. (2) Bloomy, or velvety, as of a rose-leaf or peach. (3) Linear, produced by filaments or threads as in feathers, fur, hair, and woven or reticulated tissues.”


On the importance of perspective

“Your first duty is to learn perspective by the measures of everything."


On drawing

“Whenever you take a pen in your hand, if you cannot count every line you lay with it, and say why you make it so long and no longer, and why you drew it in that direction and no other, your work is bad.”


Related resources

• Lectures on art by John Ruskin – Free electronic version available from the Gutenberg Project.
• From Amazon.com (affiliate link) Selected Writings (Oxford World's Classics)
• From Amazon.co.uk (affiliate link) Selected Writings (Oxford World's Classics)

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Drawing as a memory tool

Study of Gneiss Rock, Glenfinlass by John Ruskin. Pen, brown ink, ink wash (lamp-back) and bodycolour, 47.7 x 32.7 cm. Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, England [Source: Wikimedia]

" And whether you are drawing a piece of Greek armour, or a hawk's beak, or a lion's paw, you will find that the mere necessity of using the hand compels attention to circumstances which would otherwise have escaped notice, and fastens them in the memory without farther effort."

John Ruskin (in “Lectures on art”)

How to describe your artwork - mnemonic

Alyson Stanfield reminded all artists the proper way to describe their art: “Don’t forget that artwork is always listed as height by width by depth in inches or centimeters.” In other words: “Always H x W x D”. Read the whole article Crediting your artwork for the fine details or refer to Alyson’s excellent book I'd Rather Be in the Studio! (Affiliate link).

The trouble is that I can never remember the correct order when I need it (typically if I write an article for the blog or post a new painting on the website). So, I created a very simple mnemonic to help me to remember: How We Describe art.

 Alyson Stanfield Art marketing Art description Mnemonic Art business I\'d Rather Be in the Studio!

The joy of sketching

This article was first published in "Frequency Magazine" – January 2011.


Sketching is a wonderful way to sharpen your observational skills, gather material, capture memories and further your technique. It is a crossover between journaling and art practice as you record everyday life moments or scenes on your travels. Artists have always used sketchbooks and carried them around when travelling. Famous examples include Turner, Delacroix or Van Gogh.

Sketch on Moleskin notebook - Done with Faber Castell PITT artist pens

Sketching does not cost much; it takes no time at all: so, what are you waiting for?

The main requirements for my sketching material are to be portable and easy to set-up and use. A hardback sketchbook provides a good support and removes the need for a drawing board.  There are many options and your choice will be guided by the technique you use. If you add washes of colours to your line drawings, the paper needs to be thicker than if you just use pencils. Personally, I like the Moleskine sketchbooks because they are small and open flat, so you can sketch on the double page spread. These sketchbooks also have a ribbon bookmark and an elastic band to keep them close and avoid the pages being damaged during transport. The truth is that once you start sketching, I bet you will own more than one sketchbook…

 

Sketch of one of my daughters painting -  done with a Pentel Color Brush (steel blue)

As far as equipment to sketch is concerned, you are spoilt for choice: pencils, graphite pencils, pigment ink pens, permanent felt pens, biro pens, fountain pens… black is the most used colour, but sepia looks nice too, in particular if you apply a colour wash on the drawing. In this case, make sure that the ink you use is permanent. Another interesting option is to sketch with brush and ink. The technique is more difficult to master but the advantage is the variation in the line thickness from a fat line to a very thin one. Art shops stock brush pens with various ink colours.

For colours, add to your sketching kit a selection of coloured pencils or a small box of watercolours. A travel box with twelve half-pans and an integrated palette is all you need. If you use watercolour or watercolour pencils, a brush pen is a good investment. These brushes have a synthetic tip mounted like a fountain-pen with an in-built water reservoir. This way, you don’t have to carry around a bottle of water.

Saturday market in Bovey Tracey - Done with sepia PITT artist pen and watercolour wash

Regarding subject, you can sketch landscapes, still life, figures, etc. Sketching is a good way to fill these little pockets of waiting time: in the train, at the tube or bus stations, or waiting at the post office. Inside cafés and restaurants are great places to sketch. Order a coffee a start drawing people around. And if your subject moves, just start a new sketch on the same page.

Sketches are not meant to be finished work. Spontaneity is better than a perfect but stifled execution. When he talked to Brassaï about Matisse’s numerous iterations of the same drawing, Pablo Picasso questioned this approach and concluded: “In drawing, nothing is better than the first attempt.” I agree with this precept. Not all drawings are good, but you will get some excellent drawings from first attempts… The trick is to make many first attempts when tackling different subjects.

A basket of lemon outside a grocery store - Done with Pentel  Color Brush (Sepia) and watercolour



Forget the eraser and skip the initial pencil drawing. Be brave and use an ink pen to trace your drawing. If a line does not look right, just trace another one next to it. Working this way will keep your drawing fresh, spontaneous and will improve your drawing skill in no time.

If you need inspiration, there are many blogs and websites with sketches by various artists. I would recommend that you check Urban Sketchers , a collective blog that features a variety of styles and will inspire you to start drawing everyday and experiment with different subjects and techniques.