It reflects no great honor on a painter to be able to execute only one thing well -- such as a head, an academy figure, or draperies, animals, landscapes, or the like -- in other words, confining himself to some particular object of study. This is so because there is scarcely a person so devoid of genius as to fail of success if he applies himself earnestly to one branch of study and practices it continually.
Leonardo da VinciThe painter's mind is a copy of the divine mind, since it operates freely in creating the many kinds of animals, plants, fruits, landscapes, countrysides, ruins, and awe-inspiring places.
Leonardo da VinciThe first object of the painter is to make a flat plane appear as a body in relief and projecting from that plane
Leonardo da VinciFor those colours which you wish to be beautiful, always first prepare a pure white ground.
Leonardo da Vinci