Leonardo da Vinci was too famous that almost everyone knows he is an extraordinary artist from Renaissance. I learned a bit more about him when I visited France. A single word “artist”cannot conclude his omnipotence of knowledge and experience range from anatomy to engineering.
Through research I learned a lot more about the genius. He wasn’t pursuing the fame but recommended himself to the military leaders to prove his ability in military engineering. He became the first person drawing the anatomical images and were able to identify functions of each muscle and joint. He designed a Renaissance’s version of tank, four hundred years before the first tank that was invented during first World War.
His curiousity drive him to observe and experience throughout his life and made him the a great, intelligent man.
The genius is also a normal human who actually was a big procrastinator. His thoughts generate too fast that he had hard time focusing on a single object. His mind is always shifting between different topics and knowledges.
At first, I wanted to make a sketchbook focus on his life as millitary engineer serving Borgia from 1502~1503. However, I figured that his designs of weapons were often not specifically done for the request of military leader, rather, he design these things out of interest.
My artist’s sketchbook intended to include his characteristics of shifting thoughts. The objects and writing in each page are not necessarily relate to each other.
It was surprising that I found a book about Leonardo in second handed book that has a some interesting incerts in it. Although my journal doesn’t clearfy the time by date, the folded insert in the book was actually a copy of “passport” of Leonardo signed by Borgia.
The sketchbook was a mixture of my writing (printed with Leonardo’s hand writing style), images I recreate based on artist’s drawings, and a few pages printed out from his notebook. I was wondering how my recreations will fit in with his original work and the outcome was surprisingly harmonious.
For the cover I chose the regular leather cover but bond the pages separately then tie the pages on cover by rubber band. On the front side the notebook is tided by the tiny woodstick (which is fresh from Union Square Park) and rubber band.
In research, Leonardo da Vinci sleep 15 minutes out of every four hours to gain more working time. For better understanding the man, /as well as working for finals, I practice a similar sleeping schedule for a few days. I slept three hours at night and take a 20 minute nap every two to three hours. The result is, I was able to work that way and I wasn’t very sleepy.
I struggled time management and emotional control issues so the final outcome is quite rough. It was hard to imagine and write as a Renaissance men. I wish I could bond it a more delicate way. I would like to make more drawings, too. Overall, I really enjoy this project and learnt a lot about Renaissance history and the omnipotent scholar+artist+engineer Leonardo da Vinci.
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I meant to create a sketchbook that may be Leonardo will carry it around.
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There are few pages was printed upside down to create the illusion of Leonardo backwarded writing.
Bibliography
If the words was written backwards, the page was printed from The Drawings of Leonardo Da Vinci in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen at Windsor Castle. London: Phaidon, 1968.
Inserts came from Leonardo Da Vinci: the Genius, His Work and the Renaissance. London: Andre Deutsch, 2009.
Clark, Kenneth, and Carlo Pedretti. The Drawings of Leonardo Da Vinci in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen at Windsor Castle. London: Phaidon, 1968.
Faletto, Joanie. “Leonardo Da Vinci and Nikola Tesla Allegedly Followed the Uberman Sleep Cycle.” Curiosity, October 16, 2017. https://curiosity.com/topics/leonardo-da-vinci-and-nikola-tesla-allegedly-followed-the-uberman-sleep-cycle-curiosity/.
Heydenreich, Ludwig H. Leonardo Da Vinci. Plates. New York: Macmillan, 1954.
Landrus, Matthew Hayden, and Matthew Hayden Landrus. Leonardo Da Vinci: the Genius, His Work and the Renaissance. London: Andre Deutsch, 2009.
Leonardo Da Vinci, 1452- 1519. Armonk, NY: International Business Machines Corp., n.d.
Perloff, Joseph K. “Human Dissection and the Science and Art of Leonardo Da Vinci.” The American Journal of Cardiology 111, no. 5 (Mar 01, 2013): 775. doi:http://dx.doi.org.libproxy.newschool.edu/10.1016/j.amjcard.2012.12.031. https://login.libproxy.newschool.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.libproxy.newschool.edu/docview/1400213311?accountid=12261.
Reti, Ladislao, and Emil M. Buhrer. The Unknown Leonardo. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill Book, 1974.
“The Tank.” Leonardo Da Vinci’s Inventions. Accessed December 13, 2019. http://www.leonardodavincisinventions.com/war-machines/leonardo-da-vincis-tank/.
Wells, Thereza, and Irma A. Richter. Leonardo Da Vinci: Notebooks. Oxford. Oxford University Press, 2008.
X, Jayson. “What Was Leonardo da Vinci’s Religion?”. Accessed December 13, 2019. http://www.deism.com/davinci.htm.
