Copper - I was wondering the same thing (The Old Guitarist?)
But re. the actual technique; Picasso was very line oriented, and from what I've read he would do relatively precise underdrawings.("Precise" in terms of the finished work, not in terms of photographic representation.) From there, I don't know if he used traditional layering techniques, or not - I (obviously
) don't have the original painting here in front of me to dissect. But I did see a photo of one of his cubist works in process, and in that one the underdrawing was complete, and then he basically coloured it in from top to bottom. Of course, that was significantly later in his career (when the influence of Cezanne was strong), whereas during the blue period he was just leaving adolesence, and his techniques may have been more influenced by his more traditional upbringing...
