03-Nadja1
©2009 Craig Ashby
Mixed media on masonite.
7″ x 10″

Continuing with another supermodel, this is Nadja Auermann. Considering the perspective of the original image, I was going for a towering Godzilla look. Something you would call the Air Force to handle.

Overall I love the color scheme on this one. Especially the vertical stripes of the Chanel watch ads interaction with the top black layer. The pastel color scheme in the face replicated in darker tones in the handshake diamond. That acid yellow-green in the bottom left corner perfectly shaped.

The staining of the masonite itself is wonderful. That gigantic stain at the top right corner is from the original boards I found on the street. A bit of secret history in each layer.

In this piece you can see the remnants of the first layer. There are dots and wormlike squiggles at the top center of the painting that let you know there is a very bottom layer that allows me to line up all the layers. At first I thought of sanding them out and then realized how that would be bad for the piece. I might lose some of the original water damage. Again I made peace with the mistake and learned to love it.