January 9 - Bald Guy

All the same we take our chances
Laughed at by time
Tricked by circumstances
Plus ca change
Plus c'est la meme chose
The more that things change
The more they stay the same

~ Rush - Circumstances

For the few of you who have contacted me concerned about the future of the Daily Purple Pig blog, you can see - plus c'est la meme chose..  I had need to bring something to the office this Monday so I built the next balloon keeping that in mind.

I've never really liked my medium sized humanoid shape and this was a good opportunity to play with those.  First I made a base one in blue who had me thinking of a politician.  I was going for "everyday office worker" on my second build and cleaned up a few things, changing the mouth to a smile.  I minimized the hip joints on the pants and gave him some fatter shoulders for the rolled up cuffs.  I also used a smaller sized outer balloon which made for a rather nice pear shape to the overall head. 

This uses Tatyana DjeTa Lyashko's most recent collection of videos, "Vol. 11 - Heads 2". Tatyana has taken to making video's nowadays instead of PDFs - it's helpful and perhaps necessary to demonstrate some of the distortion techniques she uses. This is the first of the collection and probably the simplest - it uses a non-standard face structure and creates a nice cartoon image with the gigantic nose.

I think this is also a good demonstration of the benefits of doing a test build when creating something like this.  Be self critical - analyze the awkward bits from that first build and build that in consideration.  Here's an example of how I tore down my first build before starting the second:
- awkward arms
- bulbous tie
- gigantic hip pinch twists
- too long of torso, too short of legs
- mouth too round
- eyes too small
- eyebrows should not be flesh color

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Other designs by or inspired by Tatyana Djeta Lyashko:

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January 6 - Anastasya's Boy

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”

~ Søren Kierkegaard

This week I worked through a bit of what I will refer to as creative paralysis.

I have a lot of things I want to do, but with the freedom to work on any of them and lack of the structure I had established made it so I was doing and second-guessing and redoing and changing my mind as to if it was good enough.  There was an assumed apology with previous entries here "well I only had 24 hours" - but now with the freedoms I'm allowing myself, there are no excuses.

I'm reminded of a video poker game I built back in the early internets, easily worthy of being published freeware.  But I instead I thought would add  the ability to import your own deck of cards.  ... and then what about allowing you to paint your own deck of cards.  ... and then what about adding a CD player to the program ... custom sounds ... etc.  Feature creep in hindsight that was probably to avoid publishing.

You feel exposed, it's a bit of an assumption when you make something and say - "I created this for you to enjoy".  I want it to be something great, but I have to realize and not to wax too poetic but it's a journey and not a destination.  So here we are - one step on the next bit of the journey together.

The idea for this image was to embody the notion of starting fresh with the knowledge of the past and the freedoms of the future, cliche idea perhaps - but I won't let that stop me.  The head is based on one of the designs from  Anastasya Sokol's faces collection. This is a simple example, but I really love the hair style varieties she's able to achieve. The body is a copy of the little girl by Tatyana Djeta Lyashko. One of my projects for this year should be to build bodies with more confidence, I think this style matched okay - but not perfect.

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Other designs by or inspired by Anastasya Sokol:

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Other designs by or inspired by Tatyana Djeta Lyashko:

July 6 - Ice Skater

“A man learns to skate by staggering about and making a fool of himself. Indeed he progresses in all things by resolutely making a fool of himself.”

~ George Bernard Shaw Advice to a Young Critic

This is the second of five deliveries I have made for people who bid on my auction our school's gala.  This ice skater is a birthday decoration for a long time friend of my oldest son Josh, Lily is an avid and talented skater.

The design is based on the little girl design by Tatyana DjeTa Lyashko, but I tried using a different head/hairstyle.  I also forgot to put the flower in her hair ... it's sitting sad and alone beside my desk as I type this.

I ended up made this late at night and there are a couple things that I would have done over if I had the time - and I didn't have the right colors so I had to use Q. wild berry with my B. fuschia.  So noticeable ... hopefully not too distracting, but it burns my eyes to see.

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May 27 - Pole Dancer

She can dance a Cajun rhythm
Jump like a Willys in four wheel drive
She's a summer love in the spring, fall and winter
She can make happy any man alive

Sugar magnolia
Ringin' that blue bell
Caught up in sunlight
Come on out singing
I'll walk you in the sunshine
Come on honey, come along with me

~ Grateful Dead Sugar Magnolia

I always exercise better in a class, the comradarie and the accountability really help me keep it going.  I joined a gym last October, but my wife has been going to the same pilates course for over six years.  The people who run her Pilates studio also run the Pole Play Fitness center and were having an open house celebration, so I made this dancer for the event.

The dancer is actually derivative of the new girl video (link) released by Tatyana DjeTa Lyashko.  This is the first of Tatyana's video instructions, and it's well produced.  Her PDFs are fantastic, but it's nice when you're learning distortion techniques to have that additional visual aid.

I always learn a lot from Tatyana's instructions, and the way she creates the arms and legs is fantastic and adaptable - but the way she weaves the top is probably the big win for me here.  I won't spoil it here but she does something simple in hindsight but so helpful that I know all my box weaves will benefit from it.

This also shows probably the main thing I've used geo's for in the past, as a base.  It gives a perfect anchor point to tie anything to the center, and you can easily weight them.

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Other designs by Tatyana:

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Other geo designs:

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April 15 - Senior Wedding

Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of joy, you must have somebody to divide it with.

~ Mark Twain on Marriage

Congratulations!

Senior is a teacher at my son's school and is getting married today.

His actual name is Nick Smith, but the school encourages address most teachers by their first names.  When there was a student named Nick, he adopted Nick Senior to avoid confusion.  That was shortened to "Senior" and the name has stuck long past the student leaving.

I made this display for a cupcake feast they were having at the school to celebrate the occasion, but today is the actual day of the wedding. The design is from one of Tatyana DjeTa Lyashko collection of PDFs. Which are always both an education and fun challenge to complete. There was a big accomplishment in getting the arch to stay up straight!

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Other designs by Tatyana:


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December 12 - Wreath

Subtle salvation in poems we know
Hiding our heads in a shadow of home
Now I wasn't looking for wreaths or for bells
Just someone to listen to stories I tell
Stories I tell.

~ Toad the Wet Sprocket Stories I Tell

This wreath was created by Tatyana DjeTa Lyashko.  It was one of the first of her designs that I had ever made and the reason I bought her first batch of PDFs.

I have made a few of them at this point; as gifts for people, for hanging up outside our house, and I made one to hang outside our door last Christmas when we were staying at Disney World.  It never fails to impress.

I've said it before, but Tatyana's designs are not only beautiful but also tend to provide a good education.  I was able to make a few giant birthday numbers using the techniques she taught in making this wreath.

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October 31 - Young Witch

Add thereto a tiger's chaudron,
For the ingrediants of our caldron.
Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.
Cool it with a baboon's blood,
Then the charm is firm and good.

~ William Shakespeare Macbeth

Happy Halloween!

I saved my favorite PDF from Tatyana DjeTa Lyashko's Halloween collection for last.

Overall I'm pleased with how it turned out, but there are a few things I would definitely do more efficiently next time. For example, I left drawing the face for last and it made it for some awkward hand positions and shakiness - I should have drawn it even before I attached the hair. I also would size the broom angle and legs a little better so she could stand more easily while holding onto the broom handle.

Thank you, Tatyana - these PDFs were fantastic and a pleasure to build for this holiday project!

It's a beautiful night to fly out for a spell

I got ninety nine problems but a witch ain't one

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October 30 - Audrey II

I've given you sunlight
I've given you rain
Looks like you're not happy
'Less I open a vein!
I'll give you a few drops
If that'll appease
Oh please-
Oh oh oh please-
Grow for me?

~ Little Shop of Horrors Grow For Me

Tatyana DjeTa Lyashko has another amazing design in her Halloween PDFs. I delayed building this until I had all the proper supplies assembled, and once again this a very educational experience and certainly pushed me to the edge of my abilities. I shouted out in dismay a few times while building it as things weren't coming together.

I am not complaining though, it really is a fantastic opportunity to practice things. Though I might understand a concept upon reading or first use, it takes a lot of applied practice to get the nuances of it. There are complications that I had to work through five times, and by the fifth time I was doing it quite well.

This was a gigantic balloon to suspend on just a small plant stem, I wouldn't have considered it possible without Tatyana's directions on how to defy gravity.

One more until Halloween!

Feed me, Seymour!	<<burp>>  What kid?
I tiptoed through his two lips...

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October 27 - Crystal Ball

Who could have predicted Snapchat
would have the perfect filter?

"Serpents, and spiders, tail of a rat…
Call in the spirits, wherever they're at!
Rap on a table, it's time to respond…
Send us a message from somewhere beyond!
Goblins and ghoulies from last Halloween...
Awaken the spirits with your tambourines!
Creepies and crawlies, toads in a pond…
Let there be music from regions beyond!
Wizards and witches, wherever you dwell...
Give us a hint… by ringing a bell!"

~ Madame Leota's incantation

This was the next in the awesome group of PDFs Tatyana DjeTa Lyashko released for Halloween.

I had tried to build this last week, but faced some frustrations and quit early. These PDFs are all full of complicated techniques, a masters course in balloon art.  This was definitely a challenge to complete, but "Sometimes you have to shoot for the moon, even if you miss you'll land among the stars."  I know I learned a lot while building this, and if I were to build something similar to this again I would do it with much more ease.

For one, I know to be more careful when attaching things using glue.  I had bit of a catastrophe right at the end of building this, while attaching the first ball, it popped and took out a finger.  (I should have predicted that ..)  Once I attached the new digit, I took an insurance picture before trying again more carefully.

I was also a bit disappointed to find how short lived the flashing light was, only about 5 hours until it looked like it was just flashing red.  I rarely use them, but I should probably do some tests comparing the brightness/flash over time with some different lights I have.

If you like it put a ring on it	The numbers for tomorrow's lottery are ...
Some days I'm small, and others I'm a medium.

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October 21 - Tatyana's Pumpkin

Each year, the Great Pumpkin rises out of the pumpkin patch that he thinks is the most sincere. He's gotta pick this one. He's got to. I don't see how a pumpkin patch can be more sincere than this one. You can look around and there's not a sign of hypocrisy. Nothing but sincerity as far as the eye can see.

~ Linus The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

This was one I almost gave up on.

Tatyana DjeTa Lyashko must have an incredible amount of patience and/or an extremely soft touch. The process of getting the little bumps in this pumpkin that caused me to cry out in frustration and fear. As I was moving them into position, occasionally (*often* until I adjusted some things) it would explode and little beans would fly everywhere. I'm still finding them throughout my room.

The design looks amazing and was once again is like taking a masters course in balloon art. Tatyana is really wonderful and her advanced creations push you to create things beyond your skill. I still have a few more from her Halloween set to do - I'm both excited and terrified.

Sincerely, pick me!	One number I dislike - 3.14159265359....
Still no trick-or-treaters ... hmmm ...

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October 15 - Sp-eye-der

I am the eye in the sky
Looking at you
I can read your mind
I am the maker of rules
Dealing with fools
I can cheat you blind
And I don't need to see any more
To know that I can read your mind.

~ Alan Parson's Project Eye in the Sky

I almost resisted posting this next Tatyana DjeTa Lyashko design because I feel like I didn't do it the true justice it deserved. The design is fantastic and creepy, her instructions are clear, so I can only blame myself.

This was built in haste during hurricane Matthew in anticipation of a potluck we were going to have the following day at a friends house. The power went out at one point and I was delayed until the next day to finish the hair and legs. I didn't spend the amount time on the details that I would prefer and indeed I skipped over a few steps. For example, Tatyana does some double stuffed leg distortion on the legs that would likely have given them the strength to hold to body up, with my straight pinch twists - once I attached them, he just squished flat. But I had deviled eggs to make as well, so I cheated (they were delicious by the way).

Eye still have another few of her des-eye-gns, and Eye'm saving my favorite for when Eye can spend the proper amount of t-eye-me!

Eye fallen and can't get up	I brought Eye-scream to the party as well...
Beauty is UNDER the eye of the beholder...

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October 9 - Jack-in-the-Box

This morning my old jack-in-the-box
Popped out– – and wouldn’t get back-in-the-box.
He cried, “Hey, there’s a tack-in-the-box,
And it’s cutting me through and through.

“There also is a crack-in-the-box,
And I never find a snack-in-the-box,
And sometimes I hear a quack-in-the-box,
‘Cause a duck lives in here too.”

Complain, complain is all he did– –
I finally had to close the lid.

~ Shel Silverstein Complainin' Jack

The next design in Tatyana DjeTa Lyashko's latest batch of PDFs is this Jack-in-the-box. The scary clown is awesome.

This now counts as probably the hardest balloon I've ever attempted. The neck springs alone took so much maneuvering and manipulation to get right, the head distortion took a good number of attempts and even so I left off some bits to it because I just couldn't cram any more inside and manipulate it. So hard, but so fun.

I would like to point out one absurdity in the recent clown scare hoax that the news is perpetuating. We don't call someone who impersonates a police officer a police officer - if someone dressed in a monkey suit attacked people, we wouldn't say monkeys are attacking. Why are they insisting that these deviants in manufactured stories are "clowns"? They are not. The world needs more clowns, not absurd fears of them.

Jack-out-of-the-box	Ahhh, nice to think outside of there...
I always feel like someone's watching me ...

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October 3 - Tatyana's Bat

The baby bat
Screamed out in fright,
"Turn on the dark,
I'm afraid of the light!"

~ Shel Silverstein Batty

Tatyana DjeTa Lyashko latest batch of PDFs are themed for Halloween, this is the first of a few I should be showing this month. All of them are fantastic, huge and really involved - I am really looking forward to learning them.

This one had some interesting ear distortion, but I didn't end up taking a picture until the next morning and air tends to leak back in to equalize pressure, Eric Weinstein had some techniques for dealing with that I should use a little more consistantly.  What like most about this bat is the way the wings act as support, to hold it up in a cute pose with the flower ... and that adorable face!  Pure win.

I love bringing in huge delivery pieces like this to give away - people get so excited, and I get to see their inner kid come out.

Battin' my eyelashes..	You and I should hang out
Help!  He's got me in his batting cage!

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