A couple years ago I decided to make a slight tweak to my Steamthing, IPIK-7 bust. He was originally sculpted holding a plant, and even though I replaced it with my own plant and added roots, I kept the sculptor’s original intent. More photos of my original version here.
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When a friend gave me some laser-cut vellum butterflies to play with, I thought it would be cool to replace the plant with a butterfly. I really like what this does to the figure. It keeps the strange juxtaposition of some kind of weird post-apocalyptic creature perplexed by encountering nature, but in a non-destructive way (instead of the original uprooted plant).

Also, by replacing a green element with a yellow one, I ended up with an overall color-composition I’m happier with. The color scheme becomes something like a primary triadic one, rather than the original which was a bit all-over-the-place. I sometimes like all-over-the-place color schemes (the mermaid I just posted is a good example), but I find that I have a hard time integrating green into such a color scheme, and I am overall much happier if I only use green in simpler color compositions.

My favorite part of the paint job continues to be the coke can. I imagine Steamthing as a post-apocalyptic cyborg using found materials to replace components as they wear out, and I thought no object would represent that better than the iconic Coke can. I especially enjoyed including the regulatory labeling and only half the logo. If you’re curious, I shared a lot more thoughts about the painting in my original post on Steamthing.

Also, some of the roots broke off while transporting him to and from conventions, so I had to do something. 😉😛
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