Paul Woods
Visual Artist

I first became aware of the Notebook Project in 2012. I was very impressed and surprised by the level of talent, diversity of ideas and general openness to participate in the project. My first conception of what to do with the Moleskine Notebook came after reading a quote from Leonardo da Vinci on the nature and wonder of the human eye.

I had subsequently become interested in the eyes of artists as depicted in their self portraits. I decided to take 100 of my favourite painters and depict their eyes only on the each A5 page of the notebook to make a compendium of visual interest. It took me an average of 3 hours for each page and the artworks were executed in a variety of drawing and painting materials.

What I found most rewarding was the opportunity to execute the images in so many varied styles, textures and techniques and staying as true as possible to the original depiction. The more modern or abstract images took just as much time and effort to render as the more traditional, academic pieces.