Three nudes 1906

Picasso made "Three Nudes" with oil on canvas, but you can barely see it because of the drawings, scratches, and scribbled notes. It's like the painting is a big piece of paper he used to think with. Picasso's always working and reworking, like a jazz musician with a theme. See how the figures are barely there, almost ghosts? The paint is thin, scrubbed in, letting the brown of the canvas show through. Then he attacks it with these nervous lines. It's like he's trying to catch something that's always moving, a feeling, an idea. Check out the bottom right corner, that knotted mess of red lines – could be a rose, could be an open wound. It reminds me of Cy Twombly, another guy who knew how to make messiness sing. This isn't about perfection, it's about the messy, beautiful process of figuring things out.