Pomegranate fruit make a good substitute. At least that is what I have found. It’s day three of trying to journal like Leonardo Da Vinci every day. I feel like I have gotten a little better at using the conté pencil that I actually hate. I feel like I am creating space for following my curiosity. And best of all I feel like I am filling up pages (even though slower than I would have liked.)
Why did Leonardo Da Vinci like cutting up dead people and drawing their innards? We can answer this question by looking back at “Leonardo’s List” from the Walter Isaacson biography. (see the full list here)At least three of the items on the list support his interest in literally uncovering human anatomy by hand.
- Be curious, relentlessly curious.
- Seek knowledge for its own sake.
- Observe.
- See things unseen.
Take the above qualities of Leonardo and add one more factor: the centrality of humans in renaissance world view. Humans were everywhere, he was a human, and human cultures tend to put themselves at the center of everything. Therefore, cutting them up to understand what is going on inside seems like the obvious conclusion. But if you can’t dissect cadavers like Leonardo you might try eggplant, mushrooms, or pomegranates, even if they are not central to your worldview they can still be fun.
If you want to dive into the techniques used by Leonardo in his journaling and apply them to your own life and interests then check out my class on Skillshare. You can get a month free of Skillshare and check out my class using this link.
