Placing historical figures in modern situations is a fun thought experiment that offers a fascinating exploration of how their talents, ideas, innovations, and inventions might intersect with, and impact, the digital tools and technologies that we use in our work today.

In this article, we creatively imagine how a figure like Leonardo da Vinci – with his innovative spirit and almost supernatural understanding of art, science, human anatomy and the natural world – might influence the modern world of 3D artistry. To do so we will attempt to combine a historical understanding of Leonardo's life and work with an appreciation of the possibilities offered by current digital technologies.

Most people probably know Leonardo da Vinci for his paintings, including The Last Supper, which featured prominently in Dan Brown’s book “The da Vinci Code,” igniting significant debate and unprecedented public attention; and the Mona Lisa, which is perhaps the most famous painting in the world. The Latter’s most distinctive feature – the enigmatic and ambiguous smile that has intrigued us for centuries – is an example of Leonardo’s profound understanding of the human form, and hints at the subject matter of this article.  

But Leonardo was more than just an accomplished painter. He excelled in the sciences, too. He saw art through the lens of mathematics and science, similarly applying artistic principles to his inventions.  

Leonardo da Vinci is considered to have been the quintessential Renaissance man, a universal genius and polymath, who excelled not only in art, but also in science, engineering, anatomy, and invention.

Beyond his artistic endeavours, Leonardo's scientific explorations were nothing short of revolutionary. His anatomical studies in particular stand out for their detail and accuracy. His notebooks are full of drawings exhibiting a deep understanding of the inner workings of the body, including the skeletal structure, muscular system, vascular system, and organs. Such was the level of detail, that it could only have come from the direct study of human bodies, and we imagine a dramatic image of a young Leonardo clandestinely sneaking into graveyards under the cloak of darkness to dig up cadavers in order to cut them up and study them.

While he is known to have dissected over 30 human corpses, the more macabre aspect of this story undoubtedly stems from the fact that obtaining bodies for dissection was, and remains, a controversial and morally ambiguous task at best, and was legally restricted by the church at the time.

Examining the role of modern 3D artists, we begin to see parallels with the great painter and scientist. Just as Leonardo explored the boundaries of art and science, blending the two disciplines to give us a unique view of the world, Dazzle Pictures’ 3D wizards also operate at the intersection of art and technology. Indeed, they must harness the power of sophisticated software programs to create artistic worlds, environments and animated characters that are at the same time believable and fanciful.

Our 3D artists embody a fusion of technical skill and creative imagination reminiscent of Leonardo's melding of art and science.

A 3D artist’s role is to push the boundaries of what is visually and technically possible, constantly expanding the possibilities of visual storytelling, working across fields as seemingly far apart as entertainment on the one side, and complex scientific and medical visualisation on the other.

The scope of their role encompasses several key skills on the artistic side, including a strong sense of aesthetics, an understanding of anatomy, colour theory, perspective, composition and lighting, as well as more technical aspects of their work, like modelling, texturing, rigging, animation mechanics, as well as a deep knowledge of the software at their disposal – Maya, 3ds Max, Blender, Cinema 4D, After Effects, Nuke.

Our artists are not unlike the famed Renaissance-era polymath himself, versed in, and able to bring together, art and science seamlessly.

Now let’s bring Leonardo into our studio and examine some of how he’d play an integral part in our team.

Anatomy and artistry

Leonardo’s expertise in human anatomical structures and his unparalleled ability to convey the complex relationship between muscles and the skeletal system are a well-known and foundational aspect of his work and art. His literal beneath-the-skin dissection of the subject matter allows

Poetry in motion

We wonder what Leonardo’s forays into the world of, say, inverse kinematics might look like. He would most certainly have been a masterful rigger and animator, intrigued by the puzzle of replicating the natural movements of the human body within a digital framework.

With his ability to dissect and understand the mechanical functions of the human body, perhaps he might even have envisioned inverse kinematics as a principle not merely for creating art but for exploring the very dynamics of life itself. It’s conceivable that the great man’s experiments into IK would not only enhance the realism of digital characters but also deepen our understanding of human biomechanics and a grander scale.

Imagine if Leonardo da Vinci had had access to today’s computational power to animate his many machines and models.  

Da Vinci ex machina

If Leonardo da Vinci had had access to even half the computing power we take for granted in this age of M3 chips and 76-core GPUs, there’s no telling what he might have done. Get excited, probably. And then get stuck into some serious digital design.

Consider what he might do with the power of modern hard-surface and mechanical polygon modelling algorithms. The flying contraptions on war machines of his imagination could be visualised with exact specifications and to a Level of detail that surpassed the limitations of ink on paper.

There are other places, too, in the VFX pipeline, where our old friend Leonardo would find himself wondering if perhaps he weren’t born in the wrong era. With modern VFX technologies like rigid body solvers, cloth solvers, and particle solvers, he’d be like a kid in a digital candy store.  

We imagine him creating complex simulations in which his mechanical machines would come to life and realistically rumble across the screen, interacting with gravity and fighting with friction with the help of rigid body algorithms just as they might in the real world.  

What magic he would weave, as he experimented with cloth solvers to breathe life into the drapery and fabrics of his paintings. And what a world would he discover where particle solvers allowed him to simulate nature’s subtle rhythms, the flow of water, the rustle of leaves, the ethereal ebb and flow of smoke, even the delicate patterns of light and shadow that he so loved to capture, bringing a lifelike vibrancy to his landscapes and scenes.

Illuminating perspectives

And while we’re on the subject of light, there’s no question da Vinci would be awestruck by modern lighting engines. Down the veritable rabbit-hole, he’d go, experimenting with the way these sophisticated software tools allowed him to investigate the physics of light, play with shaders, delve into global illumination outcomes, explore HDRI, and manipulate ray tracing.

From his extensive notebooks, we see that he had a fascination with the way light interacted with surfaces, from human skin to metal, to running water, how it reflected off and around shiny surfaces and refracted through clear ones, a phenomenon we understand in the VFX world as caustics.

Our Renaissance friend was also aware of how light and shadow affected colour, or perhaps more correctly, the perception of colour. His notes on the biology of human vision delved into not just the physical eye itself, but also the subjective, more psychological aspects of colour and our experience of it. How colour can affect human behaviour.

His intuitive grasp of light and his art offer a fascinating point of intersection with modern colour science and methods, a field that combines all of the previous points discussed here into a neat little box.

Leonardo would have undoubtedly reached a level of realism and mood in his digital works that the static medium of oil on canvas could never permit.

Putting it all together

Leonardo da Vinci would likely view the compositing aspect of modern VFX and 3D with a blend of wonder and intellectual curiosity. The ability to create and alter manipulate reality so convincingly would deeply engage his Renaissance mind. The opportunity to see and possibly engage with such possibilities would have undoubtedly inspired him to push the boundaries of his own creative and scientific inquiries even further.  

We wrote earlier that Leonardo da Vinci saw his art through the lens of math, while similarly applying many artistic principles to his scientific endeavours. We think it’s safe to say that his role in modern 3D artistry would be reflective of his holistic view of the world, where art and science co-exist as complementary disciplines.  

His work continues to inspire us here at Dazzle Pictures, just as we’re sure it has laid the foundations for future generations to explore and understand the world in ways he could only imagine.