Legend has it that Pablo Picasso was sketching in the park when a bold woman approached him.

“It’s you — Picasso, the great artist! Oh, you must sketch my portrait! I insist.”

So Picasso agreed to sketch her. After studying her for a moment, he used a single pencil stroke to create her portrait. He handed the women his work of art.

“It’s perfect!” she gushed. “You managed to capture my essence with one stroke, in one moment. Thank you! How much do I owe you?”

“Five thousand dollars,” the artist replied.

“B-b-but, what?” the woman sputtered. “How could you want so much money for this picture? It only took you a second to draw it!”

To which Picasso responded, “Madame, it took me my entire life.”

Stole this from Drawn!. It just put my mind at ease when I started to think of how much I should charge people for color prints.

Update: 9/4/06
I told this story to a friend, in which he replied (in all his programmer glory): “he’s been paid his entire life.” At which my reply was, “oh.” So, I guess I’m where I started. One day I’ll rant more about this issue. I’m still thinking it over. That, and I want to sell some art before I seriously decide that all art should really be free.

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 27th, 2006 at 2:16 am and is filed under Thoughts.