He was practically born with a pen in his hand, and he gestures with those hands as he speaks. "Well, I often carried a little notebook with me as I explored the fields and rivers around my home, because I was very curious about the things I saw there."

Leonardo brightens up, and he turns his gaze a bit skyward as he recalls his teacher fondly. "But when it comes to art as a profession, I learned from a very skilled man named Verrochio. I would do things like mix paints, prepare the painting surface, and, when I grew more skilled, paint minor characters while he would handle the main ones. But painting is a different skill from drawing, and requires more... space and time, while drawing can be done whenever one has a spare moment.

So, when it comes to drawing, I would say that it is very helpful to start with subjects that interest you, no matter how small they may seem, or how difficult they may be to capture in your work."