Reflections on ‘How To Think Like Leonardo da Vinci’

After reading the 322 page How To Think Like da Vinci da Vinci book written by Michael Gelb, I felt a new world of insights rush into me. I fell into an in-depth understanding of da Vinci da Vincis geniusAlthough many critics say that da Vinci da Vinci was a failure p crafticularly due to the fact that a hazard of his works were left unfinished, I believe otherwise. He was a gravid man who attempted to delve into a multitude of fields.He was an architect, sculptor, painter, inventor, tactician and strategist, mathematician, and a scientist, scarce except to mention almost. His ideas were really far beyond his time, and if only his ideas were all-powerful publicized it would have made a greater impact ahead on in history.I realized that in each of us lies the authorization to be a genius. To quote the author, the human mind is more powerful than we think it is. As an art teacher, this perspective in dealing with students is pregnant in order to fully cultivate, as well as a ppreciate, the students potentials.The seven roughly Da Vincian Principles were enlightening. Through the exercises provided to develop each principle, I was able to spoil in touch with myself again, my beliefs, my dreams, and in the process of being connected with myself, I was given a chance to view my career as an art teacher in a refreshing perspective.The Seven Da Vincian PrinciplesCuriositaCuriosita is an insatiably curious approach, and this continuous quest for learning is the powerhouse of the Da Vincian spirit. I realized how important it is to always ask why, why, and why. Following the exercise, and after itemization down questions that are significant to me and contemplating on them, I realized I have a raft I want to learn, and a lot I still want to understand. I was once again contemplating the heart of life.In the study of art, I believe the spirit of curiosita is important in the quest to improve ones skills. I thought about some questions. What is aesthetica lly pleasing? Why? And most importantly, how can I hold back art that is real aesthetically pleasing?DimostrazioneDimostrazione is a commitment to test know takege through experience, persistence, and a willingness to learn from mistakes. The exercises in this subdivision led me to recheck my beliefs, why I believed them, and whether they are valid or not. Are those beliefs truly mine, or are they simply influenced upon me by society? Are these beliefs rattling wrong? For that matter, are the standards I have for measuring art truly mine or merely dictated upon me, are they truly the shell standards to measure art? These are the questions that were brought to me.SenzazioneSensazione is the continual refinement of the reasons as the heart to enliven experience. Leonardo stated that the average human looks without seeing, listens without hearing, touches without pure toneing, eats without tasting, moves without corporal awareness, inhales without awareness of odour or fragran ce, and talks without thinking and I believe that this is true, to some extent, it even applies to myself. The exercises here provided a very enjoyable experience. In this section of the book, it is shown how important it is to be aware of the minute details that our senses tell methe feel of clothes against my skin, the taste of something really delectable melting in my mouth, the spongy sound of heartbeat in my ears. Beauty can be prepare in such experience, though how elementary the experience may be. It is from the appreciation of such experience that wonderful ideas of art can come from. I especially enjoyed delving into the exercise of answering the question if you could bite into the music, what would it taste wish? as this tries to express one type of sense in terms of another.SfumatoSfumato develops a willingness to embrace ambiguity, paradox, and uncertainty. Sfumato literally means turn to mist, which describes the clouded quality of paintings of Leonardo. From here , I learned that it uncertainty is not necessarily a negative aspect. In fact, it can be used to enhance art, as Leonardo did.It was in this section that Gelb mentioned how Leonardo would spend his day ostensibly doing nothing, instead of painting what was tasked to him. In Leonardos words, the greatest geniuses sometimes accomplish more when they work less. This is called incubation, and I believe this is true as I have similarly experienced something similar. Incubation is most rough-and-ready when alternating, as Leonardo did, between periods of uttermost(prenominal) focused work and rest. Without periods of intense focused work, there is nothing to be incubated.Arte/ScienzaArte/Scienza is whole brain thinking, and the phylogeny of the balance between science and art, logic and imagination. It is important not only to explore the art, just now also to learn the science behind the art. Thus, study should not only be in the side of creativity, but also on the side of logic.C orporalitaCorporalita is the cultivation of grace, ambidexterity, fitness, and poise. It is here that Leonardo emphasizes for us to be healthy. He warns against anger, and tells us to avoid grievous moods, to rest our head and hold on our minds cheerful, to be covered well at night, exercise moderately, eat simple and chew well. When we are fit, we are at our full potential to be creative. Also, it is important that we develop not only one side of our body, but both. In painting, it may be a useful exercise to hand over to paint with the other, less dominant hand.ConnessioneConnessione is a recognition of and appreciation for the interconnectedness of all things and phenomena. It emphasizes a systems way of thinking. A number of scholars have criticized Leonardo for the disorder of his notebooks because he scrawled notes in a random fashion. But Michael Gelb believes that Leonardos sense of connectedness was so all embracing that his observations were equally valid notwithstandin g they were related to one another. He saw how everything connected to everything else.I believe this was split of his creativity. He did not let himself be limited to any territory or order in writing his notes, so he was let go of to jot down his ideas without anything to hinder him.ReferencesGelb, M. (1998). How to think like Leonardo Da Vinci Seven steps to genius every day. DellPublishing.