Have you ever looked at a stain on a wall, a crack in the sidewalk, or a random splash of paint and suddenly seen a face, a figure, an animal—or something that may not even have a name?
Leonardo da Vinci believed artists could use exactly this kind of accidental mark to stimulate their imagination.
So, naturally, I wanted to try it.
In this episode of my Creativity Experiments series, I put this centuries-old idea to the test by creating random ink and paint blots and then using those random shapes as the starting point for drawings.
Rather than treating the exercise as a traditional drawing lesson or tutorial, I wanted to see what would happen if I simply responded to whatever I saw in the marks.
Could random blots unlock new ideas?
Could they help me see familiar shapes differently?
Could they improve my observation?
Or would I simply end up staring at blobs of ink and wondering what Leonardo was talking about?
🎥 Watch the experiment on YouTube and decide for yourself!
Thanks for watching—and until next time… Make Art Now!