Creators: Leonardo da Vinci

Creators

A growing list of artists, writers, poets, filmmakers, and creatives.

Leonardo da Vinci

The term I chose for my weekly Wednesday blog entry couldn't better describe my subject for today: Leonardo Da Vinci.  

This wizard of Florence was not only an exceptional artist, but he was an inventor, engineer, scientist and superhero (He went by the name Renaissance Man).

What I love, and have loved, about Leonardo is that he didn't limit himself to just one area of human endeavor to master, but anything he had an interest in.  I'll go through a few of my favorite works of his and let you know what I think, because, you know, you care.

Look at this drawing for a moment.  It was rendered so long ago and yet it still gently rises off the page.  The back of her head is a subtle gesture, and yet that is all we need.  The man knew what he was doing.  I love that classic da Vinci brow and nose.

These hands also pop off the page, going from sketch to life.  Could this be Escher's inspiration?

Our man Leo was one of the first artists to realize that babies were not miniature adults but pudgy little fat-headed aliens.  Her we have amongst his notes several renderings of a fetus as it develops in the uterus.

This guy was a scientist back before there was science to speak of.  He studied the world in ways his contemporaries couldn't comprehend: through looking around at stuff.  So while others were developing flying salves and amulets, he was designing artificial bird wings and discovering the engineering behind flight.

As far as his inventions go, he seemed to find it easy to design weapons of war, despite being a pacifist.  His inventions include but are not limited to:

• The Tank
• Giant siege Crossbow
• Underwater Breathing Apparatus
• Contact lenses
• The Ornithopter
• The Glider
• The Multi-cannon
• The Parachute

Although he never got around to building many of his creations, the people over at the discovery channel, when they aren't building motorcycles or pumping out other bs shows, came up with a show that actually builds Leonardo's creations and sees if they work.  It's called Doing Da Vinci.

His skill at painting was of course remarkable, but it was also pleasantly mysterious.  Many of his creations are surrounded in controversy, which I'm sure is good press for any artist.  If you paint something, you might as well get people pissed off.

Word up!