I was listening to my audiobook this morning on Creativity. The author interviewed many creative people from many disciplines. He said that creativity could not occur without first mastering the domain in which the creative person works. In other words, unless you know your subject, you cannot add to it. It's the same thing with painting. You can't master the discipline of … [Read more...]
Fun with perspective
In Chapter 1 of Leonardo's "Treatise on Painting," he makes this statement. "The young student should, in the first place, acquire a knowledge of perspective, to enable him to give to every object its proper dimensions..." In the footnote, the translator states that many readers misunderstood Leonardo's suggestion. Leonardo did not mean that the student should be a master of … [Read more...]
Amusement or Art?
"A discipline with no principles is not a discipline -- it's an amusement." -- Bob Hoffman Bob Hoffman is a popular speaker and author in the field of advertising and marketing. He is an outspoken critic of digital marketing in particular. He doesn't spare his peers in the traditional marketing realm either. His quote above applies to both spheres. I couldn't help thinking … [Read more...]
A master of truth and beauty
You were too big a boy or girl to have mommy leave a light on. There were no "nightlights" plugged into wall outlets back in those days. You heard a creak outside your bedroom door. Your tiny fingers pulled the blanket closer to your chin. You tried to disappear into the sheets -- to shrink to the size of an apple. You listened, barely breathing. There it was … [Read more...]
A master’s words
"It is an acknowledged fact, that we perceive errors in the works of others more readily than in our own." -- Leonardo da Vinci Is this an accurate statement? For master artists - maybe. How about the rest of us? I don't know about you, but the only thing I see in my work are mistakes. There seems to be no worse critic than ourselves. I suspect that Leonardo's treatise was … [Read more...]
