Pablo Picasso is an artist known for his many "periods" of work. Find out how to inspire your own period.

When learning about the work of Pablo Picasso you will hear a lot about his “periods.” An artist’s period is a sampling of work that has a certain theme. For example, Pablo Picasso had five distinct periods:

* Blue Period (1901–1904), which consisted of, of course, blue paintings. These were influenced by a trip through Spain and the suicide of his friend Carlos Casagemas.

* Rose Period (1905–1907), this period is much more cheery, with orange and pink colors. Many say that this happy period was influenced by his romantic relationship with Fernande Olivier.

* African-influenced Period (1908–1909), was influenced by African artifacts.

* Analytic Cubism (1909–1912), is a style of painting he developed along with his friend Braque using monochrome brownish colors. They took apart objects and "analyzed" them in terms of their shapes, which really shows in the paintings.

* Synthetic Cubism (1912–1919), this period wasn’t really about painting, more like collage. He cut paper, wallpaper, or fragments of newspaper, and pasted them into compositions. This was the first use of collage in fine art.

So, what can you learn from this? When creating, Pablo was influenced by his life to create amazing, creative works. Here’s some ideas to get you started on your own periods:

Create a Color Period

Have a favorite color? Create works with only that color.

Or use your mood to determine what colors you will use in your painting. If you’re sad use blue, if you’re happy use orange or yellow, and if you’re mad use red, etc.

Use Favorite Objects

Picasso used African artifacts to inspire him. Why not take a cue from that and paint some of your favorite things?

Use Your Travels

The next time you take a trip, why not paint the landscape or city scenes?

Try Mixing Mediums

Picasso created a whole new type of art form by combining painting and collage. What two art forms can you combine to make something new?