Untitled 6
©2003 Craig Ashby
4″ x 5.5″
Digital Art

A year later but the process remains unchanged. Except on this go I sample Willem de Kooning.

Wanda Padgett, my high school art teacher and friend, once said that after seeing a de Kooning retrospective she felt that he hated women. Even in high school, this bitchy quip about his female portraiture style made me giggle.

Funny stuff, queered here into funnier stuff. This is a sample from the Excavation series. Just layered over the top and sitting there like a sheer shirt from 1982. The primary color scheme of that decade toned down by the use of layers in Photoshop.

It’s a great image. It would look amazing as a duvet cover. Don’t get me started on that idea. I have some fantastic ideas for duvet covers and home furnishings. They just need a bit more edge like this piece.

Overall this piece succeeds in spite of the low resolution because the forms flesh out so nicely. The shapes and tones model the figure enough to balance the oppressive misogyny of de Kooning.

The little bit that is out of control to the right side of his head works. As do the great patterns across the face.