September 13 - Bear Bubble Buddy

"If you're not a little afraid of a bear, you probably shouldn't be out there."

~ Bruce Smith

I don't typically watch a nature cam, I'll watch a highlights reel instead.  The prospect of tuning into a nest to see if maybe something is there doesn't compel me.

That was before I saw the National Park Service bear cams set up at Brook Falls in Alaska.  Multiple camera angles watch, where the bears are lazily catching the salmon that are shooting out of the river. 

Chat is into it too.  "Hey is that #86?  Nice to see he's back this year"  "no no that's #110, check the grey left ear, but #86 was around earlier".  

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This is a Bubble Buddy taught in the Balloon Brothers download for the concept.  I struggled a bit with this one, the chubby body made it seem like I was constantly re-adjusting the face to look up.

(view other bears)

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Other balloons by and inspired by The Balloon Brothers:

July 4 - Jojo Bear

"I'm gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse."

~ The Godfather

In this forest, honey flows like gold - but ONLY under his watch.

He built this empire jar by jar, hive by hive. Now every bee owes him a favor, everyone knows who to call king.

Pooh? Just another small-time junkie trying to sneak a nibble.

Sooner or later, they all come at the bear.

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Playing with Toby Twist's Jojo Cuties and having fun thunking thinks about things.     You could easily apply this muzzle to the panda that we've already made with the technique - though honestly, I'm not sure it makes a big difference when they are still bracelet and hairband size.

Nobody calls the boss 'tiny' without regretting it though.

(view other bears or jojos)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Tobi Twist:

July 3 - Jojo Panda

"What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us."

~ Helen Keller

Long ago in the misty Sichuan mountains, pandas were as pure white as fresh snow, gentle and shy among the bamboo groves. A kind young shepherd girl often played with the pandas and watched over them like family. One day, she saw a leopard about to attack a baby panda, and without hesitation threw herself between them, saving the cub but losing her own life.

Stricken with grief, the pandas covered their arms with black ashes to mourn her. As they cried, hugged, and wiped their eyes, the ashes spread to their eyes, ears, and legs. From that day on, their black and white fur became a living tribute to the girl and her sacrifice.

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This is another Jojo Cutie from the Tobi Twist collection.  Universally recognizeable creatures are perfect for practicing balloon techniques.

I really love origin stories like "The Legend of the Shepherd Girl and the Pandas" - even knowing they are fiction, they still connect me with a sense of ... primitive wonder?  
(view other pandas or jojos

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Other balloons by and inspired by Tobi Twist:

April 14 - Baby Panda

"Never underestimate the power of being adorable."

~ Terry Pratchett

The red panda was first.  That is today's factoid.

Obviously both existed, but a red panda was named in 1825, decades before anyone named the black-and-white version. 

I know they are different species.  I've been to a zoo.

But the branding got to me. I grabbed sunset orange balloons thinking the only reason I hadn't done this sooner was I didn't have the right color.  This poor animal - overlooked then, overlooked now - and with the same quiet shrug it got in the 1800s. "Oops. Oh well. Something something the squishy face on this guy though!”  

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This design is one taught in the MeyiaArt balloon channel using her mini doll as a base structure.  I actually really love the face shape this technique creates, but this arm design feels like it is designed to hold something (a stick of bamboo?) that I'm wishing I had done now because the visible twisted string is distracting.  

 
(view other pandas)

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Other balloons by and inspired by MeyiaArtBalloon channel:

April 6 - Bears

"Do not fear being repetitive. Repetition is the way to mastery."

~ Robin Sharma

I find myself compelled when I see images of a technique used to make such a variety of things -- I was hooked the moment I saw someone holding three versions of this bear at once.

It bears some mentioning (hahahahah, that was for me) that this is the second design that the auto-translation has to referred to as "on a stick".  And honestly?  That might be the best delivery method for balloon art in a linework setting.  It's quick, satisfying, and most importantly - it's actionable.

Consider the difference between a panda on a bracelet and a panda on a stick.  One's cute and delicate.  The other is something you're going to jump off the couch and swing at the dog as the new Panda warrior king.  Simply more fun.

This bear technique is fairly abstract, but works great and was shared by the Balloon Brothers Sepo on their YouTube channel.

(view other bears)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Balloon Brothers Sepo:

January 7 - Loopy Bearz

Always respect Mother Nature. Especially when she weighs 400 pounds and is guarding her baby.

~ James Rollins

These bears use the David Brenn Loopy Headz base design.

The simple concepts are great in so many ways.  Kind of like using a doodle to draw a picture from, you can pick two or three colors to use before deciding what to even create.  

I tried playing around with a couple different body styles (or pseudo-styles).  This is really a good minimalistic form to hang accessories on, which gives you the ability to make it as complex as you want it to be and/or have time for.

The polar bear is an homage in part to a balloon Matt Falloon showed during Q Convention 2020.  Matt, as always, brilliant in all he does - I'm looking forward to, but I am definitely not ready to try whatever finger burners he has been up to in the past years.   

Other balloons by and inspired by the David Brenn:

January 6 - Loopy Headz

Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.

~ Vincent van Gogh

I’ll be honest in I don’t quite have the confidence I once did to cook up any bits of weird flotsam or jetsam that float by.  More than practice -- I need to review some fundamentals.

In origami, you start with a base — a foundation structure with the correct number of limbs or points needed for the final design. These bases often don't even look like the finished model, they are just the framework you build with your left brain and then shape with your right brain.

This is similar to a balloon concept, a foundational structure that provides the basic framework for you to then refine to be your anything.

Loopy Headz is a balloon concept shared by Dave Brenn to Patreon members, and though simple in form, Dave includes special magical tidbits that really take things to another level -- including a technique that is so good, that I had never seen before, and one that I will probably frequently use going forward.  

Now to put a few more reps in ... 

Other balloons by and inspired by the Dave Brenn:

June 11 - Jerry Bear

"Don't lend your hand to raise no flag atop no ship of fools."

~ Grateful Dead, Ship Of Fools

A 'Jerry Bear' is the nickname for the iconic Grateful Dead marching bears, and it's rumored that it all started with Augustus Owsley Stanley III, who was the sound engineer and ... chemist for the band. His nickname was "Bear" and apparently had a unique form of dancing when not in his right mind.

It's also rumored that the original bears were on sheets of blotter acid, but the first "official" publishing of them was on the album "Bear's Choice" and created by Bob Thomas who is also responsible for the bands iconic skull logo.

May 25 - Dome Head Panda

"You gotta let go of that stuff from the past because it just doesn't matter.  The only thing that matters is what you choose to be right now."

 ~ Po  Kung-Fu Panda

The Balloon Brothers (Joe and Brad Mock) recently taught at the Q Corner Convention.  The convention had a "short story" kind of benefit in that you got a quick exposure to a variety of styles and authors that I hadn't known about.

Apparently I missed a whole thing when these guys hit to balloon world like a storm with their stylized and usable balloon forms and have released a huge amount of tutorials over the past couple years.

So to use that same band analogy I used with Mr. Sung -- this is like I'm at the record store, I pull of the headphones and say something super-lame like "wow, that Justin guy from NSYNC seems pretty good"  Finally catching on to something that everyone already gets.

Here is the Panda they showed, I really like the "dome head" technique they show ... and they do have a tutorial series for it.

That mouth was a series of bad decisions.  I believe the process went "Too low, too far right, too big, hmm .. uhh ...I think I'll just rebuild it."   There is a subtlety that is lost with a monster mouth, let along looking like it's a zombie-virus kind of crazed.  Simply "angry eyebrows" can be a lot more effective.  One might wonder why it's angry rather than assuming "oh, it's hungry".


(view other pandas)

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Other balloons inspired by the Q Corner Convention:

April 27 - Li'l Pig

Teacher: Kids what does a chicken give you?
Students: Eggs
Teacher: Very good now what does the pig give you?
Kids: Bacon
Teacher: Excellent now what does the fat cow give you?
Kids: Homework

Probably already expected at this point, but I do feel compelled to try a purple pig version of any balloon concept.

Jackie Ochitwa's "kawaii" creatures are a very versatile form, but there are two main issues you need to work with - first - they are not very poseable, second - there is no easy ear attachment points.

I ran into the same problems with ears as the tiger, but I think worked out a pretty decent solution this time with the pig.



(view other devils)

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Other Jackie Ochitwa inspired balloons:

April 17 - Panda

“If you keep on doing what you do, you will never be more than who you are right now.”

~ Master Shifu Kung-Fu Panda

Wise words from Master Shifu on the benefit of practice.  It's a good reason why to go to a convention, or try something new, or make a new version of something that you already know how to make.  You grow from the change.

This panda design is another from Stephanie Morace - and even though I've built (let me count... whoa) 10 other panda on this site, there is still value in making others.

Not only is it distinctly different from others here but it's also, like all of the designs Stephanie shared with us, an amazingly quick, simple and effective.  (Which should be obvious by how many were built!)

Panda with sons, P and A.

(view other bear, panda)

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Other Stephanie Morace inspired balloons:

March 31 - Koala Loop-Head

"Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty."

~ Albert Einstein

Playing around some more with the Loop-Head technique Mr. Boma teaches, this koala is one he shows in an example with a similar body to the panda.

I might replace the panda with this in a few days ... 




(view other koala)

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Other Mr. Boma inspired balloons:

March 30 - Panda Loop-Head

“The gypsies believe the bear to be a brother to man because he has the same body beneath his hide, because he drinks beer, because he enjoys music and because he likes to dance.”

~ Ernest Hemingway

The houses in my neighborhood have started hiding bears in windows as a scavenger hunt and activity for the younger kids.   This was what I put in ours, I thought white would be bright and visible - but I might swap this out for something more colorful soon.

This design is Mr. Boma's updated Loop-Head (link), used in a couple of his designs.   It's always fun to kick the brain bag around with a balloon concept ... hmmm.



(view other panda)

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Other Mr. Boma inspired balloons: