Finishing the work

Yesterday, I heated the shop and began the finishing touches to my sculptures. I had in mind to submit a few with just the oxidized (rusty) surface untouched. I really like the look of that red/brown surface. I think that they go the best outdoors, as they blend into and mimic the colors of nature. Two of the rusted ones I have reworked slightly. They incorporate diamond plate surfaces. I will grind the tops of the diamonds to give a sparkle to the pattern and leave the rest of the plate natural. I have , at times, painted the plate and then grind the diamond tops. This time I am going to leave the rusty background and just clear coat the whole piece after the grinding. The piece that I call 'one', I am going to take to its original image. The 'one' is painted black and the 'halo' is ground and left with the 'rough ground' finish, then clear coated. The same idea for 'pegasus' , ground area and the rest left rusty. No coating on that one. This gives the ground area a 'matte' sheen instaed of a shiny one. The 'menorah', the 'trunk and branches' are being clear coated only and the base is painted royal blue. I put the same textural elements running from the trunk, around the base and then down the base in the front. The paint will cover these, with the idea of making it look like the textural element is running under the coating and then up the trunk and branches. I am going to put the final touches on them right now.