Who’s the new guy?

mixed media collage on watercolor paper
6 x 9 in.

Flowers on a hill

From Robert Genn twice weekly newsletter:

Leonardo da Vinci’s life was a living demo of his “seven virtues.” For those artists of life and of art who might plot to develop higher levels of accomplishment and greater self-realization, here are his seven virtues, as I understand them:

“Curiosita”—an attitude of curiosity and continuous learning. What, when, where, why, and how?

“Dimostrazione”—an ability to learn and to test knowledge by experience. Experimental nature.

“Sensazione”—a development of awareness and refinement of sight and other senses. High sensitivity.

“Sfumato”—a tendency to embrace and accept uncertainty, ambiguity and paradox. Free thinking.

“Arte/Scienza”—a development of balance between science and art, logic and imagination. Whole-brain thinking.

“Corporalita”—a calculated desire to achieve poise, fitness and ambidexterity. Physical action.

“Connessione”—a recognition that all things are connected. Systems thinking.

“How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day,” by Michael J. Gelb, and, “The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci,” edited by Pamela Taylor, are two of the noteworthy sources of Leonardo insights. In the latter, the first chapter, “The Painter,” is particularly valuable. For example, Leonardo neatly divides perspective into three types: “Linear perspective”—scientific diminution of objects as they recede from the eye; “The perspective of colour”—variations in colours as they recede from the eye; and “The perspective of disappearance”—the increasingly unfinished rendering of objects as they become more remote. Could anything be clearer?

“Nothing is more apt to deceive us than our own judgment of our work. We derive more benefit from having our faults pointed out by our enemies than from hearing the opinions of friends.” (Leonardo da Vinci 1452-1519)