Link to story on Leonardo's Drawings
For three months we have been working to prepare our Breadth Portfolios, to show our ability to tackle a variety of media, subjects, and problems in unique and skilled ways.
It is now time to begin work on our Concentration Portfolios. This is where we show quality in both a concept and a process using sustained investigation and visual coherence unified by an underlying idea.
The first thing one must do is start with the "underlying idea". That idea needs to come from within and a good way to solve this problem is to start with a meaningful question, and the journey can proceed from there.
Leonardo da Vinci is considered one of the great geniuses of all time. He carried a journal around with him at all times so that he could jot down ideas, observations, and impressions as they occurred and of course they are filled with glorious sketches!
In the book "How to think like Leonardo do Vinci" Michael Gelb has an exercise to explore your curiosity. This activity asks one to write down 100 questions that you have about anything. The first 20 he says will be off the top of your head but after 40 or so, things get interesting. Themes start to develop and you can find 10 that seem most significant.
For next week I would like to see your top 10 questions accompanied by at least one glorious sketch. In addition, you will choose one of the following topics inspired by da Vinci's passionate questioning:
A bird in flight
Flowing water
The human body
a landscape
reflected light
In your journal ask at least five questions about that topic and do five sketches that explores each question that you asked. These can be sketches that work together on one page or separate pages. Consider composition in each sketch.
This exercise will help you think sequentially about a theme, much like you will need to do for your concentration and it will give you a few more resources for building your Breadth portfolio as well.
For three months we have been working to prepare our Breadth Portfolios, to show our ability to tackle a variety of media, subjects, and problems in unique and skilled ways.
It is now time to begin work on our Concentration Portfolios. This is where we show quality in both a concept and a process using sustained investigation and visual coherence unified by an underlying idea.
The first thing one must do is start with the "underlying idea". That idea needs to come from within and a good way to solve this problem is to start with a meaningful question, and the journey can proceed from there.
Leonardo da Vinci is considered one of the great geniuses of all time. He carried a journal around with him at all times so that he could jot down ideas, observations, and impressions as they occurred and of course they are filled with glorious sketches!
In the book "How to think like Leonardo do Vinci" Michael Gelb has an exercise to explore your curiosity. This activity asks one to write down 100 questions that you have about anything. The first 20 he says will be off the top of your head but after 40 or so, things get interesting. Themes start to develop and you can find 10 that seem most significant.
For next week I would like to see your top 10 questions accompanied by at least one glorious sketch. In addition, you will choose one of the following topics inspired by da Vinci's passionate questioning:
A bird in flight
Flowing water
The human body
a landscape
reflected light
In your journal ask at least five questions about that topic and do five sketches that explores each question that you asked. These can be sketches that work together on one page or separate pages. Consider composition in each sketch.
This exercise will help you think sequentially about a theme, much like you will need to do for your concentration and it will give you a few more resources for building your Breadth portfolio as well.