I recently finished reading the biography out on Leonard da Vinci by Walter Isaacson and discovered some new things about this artist legend I couldn’t wait to share with you.
Hi my name is Carrie Brummer and here on Artist Strong I help artists like you build your skill and develop your unique artist voice. Today I have 4 Lessons we can learn from Leonardo da Vinci.
(1) It’s OK not to finish everything – Leonardo only finished 15 artworks in his lifetime. He had so many interests and often lost interest once he solved a problem. He was terrible at following through with commissioned work and there is a lot of historical evidence of patrons pursuing Leonardo to finish a work. Some of his contracts even had finish clauses that if he didn’t finish by a certain date he had to return any money earned up to that point! While I don’t recommend you blowing off commissions you agree to, we have this man on a pedestal, an amazing example of what humans can accomplish and understand. And if he struggled to finish work, it’s probably normal for many of us to NOT finish it all too.
(2) It’s OK to have multiple interests – Often involved in pagentry and event planning for city activities and royal or ducal families. Some of his drawings people assume are for war are actually contraptions to help create special effects during those events. In this multidisciplinary activity he could make art, costumes, use science to create special effects and bedazzle the crowd and his clients. This fostered his imagination and helped him develop ideas beyond his time in science and art.
(3) Embrace your childlike wonder – he was interested in EVERYTHING. Curious about all kinds of topics, he continued to ask questions like children of today do (why is the sky blue for example, one he answered in his journals) until his death. He even had long to-do lists filled with odd questions.
He dissected animals and people to study and draw them and fully understand things like how our eyes work as well as how many muscles are involved in creating a smile.
He followed the rabbit hole of his curiosities. He also regularly drew and dreamed fantastic ideas that were impossible to realize during his lifetime. But this means he had some of the first ideas for scuba diving gear, how to get men to fly, and more.
What if we worried less about what we should be doing and spent more time following our childlike wonder and curiosity?
(4) Use the power of your imagination – I can’t count the number of times the author noted Leo discovered something hundreds of years before it’s rediscovered and used in science. There is one situation where he uncovered how part of the heart works that no one could figure out until the 1970s!
He did city planning, imagined war weapons, studied how water moved, made musical instruments, studied light and how it reflects, and much much more.
And this for a man with little schooling. He could barely read Latin, which was a big deal at the time…
Don’t let school, or lack of schooling, stop you from the things you care about and have interest in!
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Now, let’s start that conversation: What’s your takeaway from today’s content? Comment below and tell me more.
Thanks for watching and I’ll see you next time here on Artist Strong.
This is really interesting information about an exceptional man!
Thanks for watching Linda!
I want to better embrace my childlike wonder! Thank you for reminding me!
You are welcome Amanda. You and me both!
So I am not so bad, I have many works of art I had started and not finished yet, backgrounds waiting to be develop, so many different things I want to do, and develop..waooo I am like Da Vinci…..thanks Carrie what a relief!!!
You are like da Vinci! 🙂
A big takeaway for me is that it is possible to be competent, or even highly accomplished at several seemingly disparate things (and I don’t need to justify to myself or others. And I don’t need to find links between them to explain it either) nice to know I’m not the only one who doesn’t finish everything either!
ALL the things Anne! All the things. We get to do them, with or without links, because we like them. <3 Thank you so much for sharing. Great message for all of us.
Carrie, thank you for helping inspire me on my journey as a working artist! I’ve been a teacher for 30 years and Leonardo da Vinci’s interdisciplinary approach to life has guided me the entire way. He was amazing!
I actually retired this year and have jumped into my own artwork. Your post allowed me to take a breath and relieve some stress about getting distracted from my production of artwork. The post also reminded me of some advice I was given by another artist, and friend, that continually inspires me. She is a professional dancer, singer, and incredible visual artist! She said that she reached a point in her career where she felt the need to choose one discipline on which to focus, but she found it too difficult. She said she finally came to the realization that she could combine her love of Flamenco dance and music into her paintings. She allowed her varied interests to become the guiding force in her work; her portraits of Flamenco dancers and musicians are breathtaking!
I have always been inspired by my garden and nature. My latest ‘distraction’ has become raising butterflies from egg to release in the wild…Your post has reminded me that while their care has kept me from the studio during the past couple of weeks, I am still on my path to artistic creation; for I paint my garden and the butterflies in them. We are all on a path of learning, and if we allow it, everything in life can become inspiration and development of our creativity!
I think it’s AMAZING that you are raising butterflies! So COOL!
I’m really happy to know the lessons from Leonardo today reminded you that we can do ALL the things, enjoy all these interests, and have them inform all we do, and all that we are! 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing your stories and wisdom here.
Also – can we be friends? Raising butterflies… friends who dance flamenco… I need some more friends like you ladies! 🙂
I’m a huge fan of Leonardo Da Vinci! Thank you so much for posting this, Carrie. I love reading insights about him and the fact that he was notorious for not finishing his works and had a zillion interests. Just like me, which makes me a genius!
Jo, Hampshire UK
Artist * writer * explorer * steampunk, wild west & ghost nut * renaissance soul * creative mental health & lifestyle blogger
Creating My Odyssey http://www.jo-b-creative.blogspot.co.uk
Creating My Odyssey
Jo you are very welcome. I hope it actually takes his life off the pedestal we have it on, because it means his achievements could be within our own reaches if we give ourselves permission to be who we are! <3
Wow! I can relate to some of the things you shared about Da Vinci. As I listened/watched the video, in my mind, I felt the greatest artist in the world was truly a thinker, not afraid of exploration and far ahead of his time. Thank you, Carrie, for sharing this information.
Val you say it well, he was such a curious man, and he let himself follow those curiosities.