05-Nadja3
©2009 Craig Ashby
Mixed media on masonite.
7″ x 10″

So this is exactly what I am trying to say with all these paintings. The colors are great. The decay is great. And the imagery still shines through on this third and final image of Nadja Auermann.

It’s also the first not to use a black top layer. Opting for navy blue instead.

I really struggled with the top layer because initially the color was so dense. Sheets of sandpaper were too harsh and offered little control. At that point Ernesto Repetto suggested that I use a hole punch on sandpaper and then glue the tiny dots to the tops of eraser heads. This would allow me pencil eraser like control of the sandpaper. It proved one of many of Ernesto’s suggestions that aided in creating these pieces.

So I hole punched away. Went to the drugstore and bought Super Glue and pencils and made an entire set. Late at night I would sit and watch a movie with a piece in my lap. Finessing edges of the magazine layers. Controlling the density of the top layers.

At the end of the night all the damaged or used pencils needed to be remade for work the next day.