Leonardo Da Vinci

Probably my favorite artist when it comes to painting is Leonardo Da Vinci. I love looking at his paintings endlessly. The thing that catches my eye about his paintings the most would be the clothing on his subjects throughout them and the attention to detail in every inch of his canvas. Da Vinci changed the game when he begin showing the emotions of his subjects in his paintings. He is most notably known for the Mona Lisa but I encourage you to research his other works of art if painting is a passion of yours or just simply have a love of art. It is said that he completed less than 30 works of art throughout his life. His quote of "Art is never finished, only abandoned" gives some credence to why much of his work was never completed. I can somewhat relate to this ideal of that art is never finished but in order to get to the next great idea one must abandon what's in front of them to move onto the next.

The more you research Da Vinci the more fascinating he becomes with his variety of inventions and the busyness of his mind. I can draw many parallels between him and Benjamin Franklin with the creativite energy they influenced human history with; which are obvious reasons why these are my two favorite characters in history.

A technique that is quoted by Da Vinci that I often apply is "A painter should begin every canvas with a wash of black, because all things in nature are dark except where exposed by the light". I would say at least 90% of my major projects begin with a canvas that is primed with a black background. I love bringing things in with lighter colors from the darkness and I also feel that is a direct reflection of the human spirit. Because I personally am constantly in search of bringing more light to this wonderful world of ours. Whether you are a beginner or already deep wihtin your imagination, you can never go wrong in looking towards Da Vinci for inspiration!

Alex Mancina