Inspired by famous Da Vinci to dream big
Lesedi Mkhutshwa | Sunday July 17, 2022 06:00
Born in 1452, Da Vinci was a painter, architect, inventor, and student of all things scientific. Da Vinci remains best known for his art, including two paintings that remain among the world’s most famous and admired, Mona Lisa and The Last Supper.
Sebula told Arts & Culture that his obsession with the legendary artist came about when he did not meet the Botswana General Certificate Secondary Examination (BGCSE) cut off points for government tertiary sponsorship.
The young artist completed his BGCSE in 2015 but only attained 33 points. At the time he did not want to go back to school and re-write his BGCSE in order to supplement his marks for sponsorship qualification.
It is safe to say at the time Sebula had already made up his mind on the course his life was set for. And it was through the inspiration from Da Vinci that he felt he would have a better future as a full time artist. Da Vinci received no formal education beyond basic reading, writing and Maths.
Da Vinci’s interests ranged far beyond fine art as time went by he studied nature, mechanics, anatomy, physics, architecture, weaponry and more, often creating accurate, workable designs for machines like the bicycle, helicopter, submarine and military tank that would not come to fruition for centuries.
But unlike Da Vinci who had the support of his father as he appreciated his artistic talents, Sebula’s parents were against his decision to focus on art. “My parents felt that art should be treated like a hobby not as a profession.
They wanted me to go and re-write my examinations so that I would be able to meet the government sponsorship cut off points. In general they believed art is a waste of time and now I am determined to prove them wrong,” said the 25-year-old artist. At that point, he made a deliberate decision to research Da Vinci by reading a lot of inspirational books and watched some documentaries, which featured the renaissance painter. The young artist was impressed by the abundance of diverse interests of the legendary Da Vinci.
The findings about the multi-talented artist proved that he was a jack of all trades from being a renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, inventor, military engineer and draftsman. Sebula said through the documentaries his interest on art grew as Da Vinci’s drawings, paintings and other works have influenced countless artists and engineers over centuries. (Through my research, he came across pointillism, which is technique of painting in which small, distinct dots of colour are applied in patterns to form an image) who is this attributed to?. This type of creativity by Da Vinci made him curious about some of his artworks such as Mona Lisa.
The Mona Lisa painting was something that artist Da Vinci worked on for many years, constantly tweaking elements of it to an almost obsessive level that is rarely seen within today's art scene. “That artwork on its own is magical and all I want to do is to be more creative so that one day my work can inspire the upcoming generation as I was inspired by Da Vinci,” said the visual artist. Currently doing his final year pursuing Architectural draughting at Nswazwi brigade, Sebula said he would soon become a decorated artist just like Da Vinci.
He said that so far he is making use of his skills to sustain a living. The young hustler and creative artist said he charges people for different commercial portraits so that he can save some of the income and spend some on paying bills. The 25-year-old said Da Vinci's work has given him a second chance and he no longer sees himself as a failure but rather a conqueror that is ready to take the world by a storm through his talent as the sky is the limit. The talented artist further said Da Vinci does not limit himself by doing almost everything from fine art to studying the laws of science and nature, which greatly informed his work.