Its funny how the subconscious can pick up details before the conscious ever does. Last night I set the orbs in place on the Bedlam sculpture. It had been resting on its side so I had no clear idea of how it would look until it was raised back up.
Instantly something looked off to me. I thought it was the orbs at first, but the more I looked at it the more I liked the orbs and suddenly felt like the sculpture itself sucked. It hadn't prior to adding the orbs but it sure looked off after.
I brooded about it all day. I'd come in and stare at it for a few minutes then go off in disgust. Then this evening it hit me. It wasn't the orbs, or the wood. It was the color being used. I'd applied a base of gold with a vague copper limning of the wood. Basically what my subconscious had picked up on was that the orbs were now much more tremendous looking than the rest of the sculpture.
I knew instantly that the color had to change in a very subtle way. The whole sculpture needed to be brought into sync with the orbs. So I composed a pallet of 7 metallic colors that most resembled the colors in the orbs and set off to blend all 7 together and repaint the whole structure.
The results surpassed my expectations. The photo above doesn't do it nearly enough justice. The blending of the 7 colors created stunning glow that makes the sculpture almost look like its on fire in the right light.
Sometimes its necessary to redo areas that don't look right. If we trust our instincts they will almost always steer us in the right direction to create the best art possible.
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