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Pablo Picasso was prolific by every stretch of the word. Over the course of the artist’s life, he produced more than 16,000 paintings, drawings and sculptures.

Some art critics attribute Picasso’s bounteous output to his nocturnal work schedule. He would arrive at his studio around 2 p.m. Work until he was hungry. Break for dinner. Return to his studio around 10 p.m. Then, get back to work until 4 or 5 a.m. These manic nightshifts led to him averaging roughly 3 new pieces of art a day. Or, night rather.

In the week’s following Picasso’s death, Time Magazine wrote an article depicting the artist’s last day…

“

After dinner with friends, he retired to the studio and painted until 3 a.m. The next morning, he was dead.

”

There’s a fascinating correlation between creativity and sleepiness.

Because creativity requires the brain to make connections between previously unconnected ideas, some psychologists believe it can be advantageous to create with a drowsy mind.

The reason being is that a tired brain is less efficient at keeping random thoughts, distractions and big ideas at bay.

(Think about all the bizarre shit that enters your mind when you kill the lights, tuck yourself into bed and let yourself drift off to sleep…)

Another advantage to creating at night is the extreme solitude.

For extraordinarily famous artists like Picasso, 12 a.m. to 5 a.m. was probably the only hours he felt he could truly be alone.

While most of us don’t need to be concerned with this level of fame, creating after dark could provide us reprieve from the constant never-ending barrage of emails, notifications and alerts.

In the words of Drake, “Fuck a pigeonhole, I'm a night owl, this a different mode.”

By Cole Schafer

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