20 learnings from Leonardo da Vinci

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A little bit about Leonardo da Vinci:

Creator of the few most famous paintings in history

- The Last Supper
- Mona Lisa
- Salvador Mundi
- Vitruvian Man

and many more

He was more than just a painter

In his mind, He was just a man of science and engineering.

At the age of 30, He applied for a job and only in the 11th paragraph he shared that he can paint too

His creativity came from combinations of Science, Art, Technology and Imagination

He was a misfit, left-handed, illegitimate, gay, vegetarian, easily distracted & always curious

History's misfits taught us 1 thing: Think differently

I'll be sharing 20 learnings in no particular order.

QT if you find something interesting LEZGOOO

1. Be Curious, relentlessly curious

He wanted to know:
- What causes people to yawn?
- How they walk on ice?
- Methods for squaring a circle?
- How light is processed in the eye?

- Describe the tongue of the woodpecker?
(Read till the end & I'll answer this question)

He taught himself to learn about:

- The placenta of a calf
- The jaw of a crocodile
- The muscles of a face
- The light of the moon, and the edges of shadows.

2. Seek knowledge for its own sake

Not all knowledge needs to be useful. Sometimes it should be pursued for pure pleasure

Knowing a woodpecker's tongue cannot possibly help him in painting Mona Lisa

3. Retain a childlike sense of wonder

After an age, we quit asking questions about everyday things

We love blue sky and sunsets but we don't ask why it is that colour

"Never let your inner child die"

4. OBSERVE:
- His greatest skill.

Observe how
- The dragonfly's wing pairs alternate in motion
- facial expressions of people relate to their emotions
- light bounces off differing surfaces
- Observe goose's foot

Then wonder why

Observe Curiosity

5. Start with the details

- Do it in steps, starting with each detail

"A page of a book, cannot be absorbed in one stare; you need to go word by word." - Written in his notebook

6. See things unseen.

Working at theatre performances and plays, gave him combinatory creativity

he could see birds in flight and also angels, lions roaring and also dragons

He created mechanical props for theatres (Flying machines)

7. Go down rabbit holes

Found in his notebooks:
- 169 attempts to square a circle
- 730 findings of the flow of water & 67 different words to describe the moving water
- Measure a human body and do the same for a horse

"He drilled down for the pure joy of geeking out.”

8. Get distracted.

"His willingness to pursue whatever subject caught his eye made his mind richer and filled with more connections"

If you are distracted because you have a wide range of interests...then that's something common between you and Leonardo da Vinci :)

9. Respect facts

He got an idea, he experimented it.
If the results didn't match with the theory,
He abandoned his theory and sought a new one

Be ready to change our minds based on new info.
Be open-minded

10. Procrastinate.

While painting The Last Supper, He would stare at the work for an hour, finally make one small stroke, and then leave.

It's alright if you procrastinate, no point on pushing yourself into doing something you know you won't be satisfied with :))))

11. Let the perfect be the enemy of the good

Steve Jobs held up shipping Macintosh until circuit boards inside looked beautiful (Even though no one would ever see them)

da Vinci carried Mona Lisa till the end (knowing there would always be a new stroke he could add)

Eventually, Jobs said "Real artists ship" (Deliver even when they can be improved)

That is a good rule for daily life

But there are times when it’s nice to be like Leonardo and not let go of something until it’s perfect

12. Think visually.

Imagine there is a TV in front of you

You are watching a documentary about your life

What would you like your life to be 5 years from now?

Visualise that.

13. Mix different knowledge

His notebooks had drawings depicting the dissection of lips he drew the smile that would reappear in the Mona Lisa.

"Art was a science and that science was an art" - Vinci

14. Let your reach exceed your grasp

There are some problems we will never solve. Learn why.

15. Indulge fantasy

His giant crossbow?
The turtle-like tanks?
The man-powered mechanisms to flap a flying machine?

Just as Leonardo blurred the lines between science and art, he did so between reality and fantasy

Let your imagination to fly high

16. Create for yourself, not just for followers

Rich and Powerful Marchesa Isabella d’Este begged Leonardo to paint her portrait.

But he did paint a silk merchant's wife named 'Lisa'

He did it because he wanted to

17. Collaborate

Have a singular vision, but achieving it usually takes working with others.

Vitruvian Man was produced after sharing ideas and sketches with friends

Question is if Leo was alive today, would his IG bio say
"DM for collaboration"

18. Make lists

Make sure to put odd things on them.

"Leonardo’s to-do lists may have been the greatest testaments to pure curiosity the world has ever seen."

Like really, A Woodpecker's tongue. Come ONNNN

19. Take notes, on paper

Even after 500+ years, his notebooks inspire us.

Our own notebooks in 50years will astonish and inspire our grandchildren

unlike our tweets.

20. Ask Questions.

You already know why.

These are a few of my favourite part in the entire book

BONUS

"The tongue of the Woodpecker"

Rough Draft :) and sources (few websites too) https://twitter.com/pradologue/status/1338735584785756160?s=20

I also created a StoryCard on Leonardo da Vinci failure.

Visit: http://TheStoryCards.com  to get more every week

Thank you for your time :)

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Much love,
Prado