Leonardo Da Vinci
Leonardo is a very famous artist. His most famous pictures include The Last Super and The Mona Lisa. His engineering techniques are the best for his century; in his scrap books there are sketches of ideas for flight, such as parachutes, which were invented 4 centuries later.
Leonardo worked in a very odd fashion. For a while he would work in a fury, not stopping all day. Then, after a few days, he would examine his painting for hours, just putting a touch of paint on a character in a day. Then he would go away and do something else. He worked in this style when he painted the Last Supper for the Duke of Milan in 1495. He made very careful sketches, then began painting onto the plaster, a new type he had designed himself. Unfortunately, he hadn't tested this very carefully, so, in his carelessness and cocksureness, it began to rot, within 20 years of his painting it.
Book mark:
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/vinci/joconde/joconde.jpg
http://www.mystudios.com/art/italian/davinci/da-vinci-last-supper-copy.jpg
