December 12 - Great Apes

"There is no fundamental difference between man and the higher mammals in their mental faculties."

~ Charles Darwin

I always feel drawn to the orangutan exhibit when visiting the zoo, but it always sits a bit heavy on my chest.

The way they move - slow, deliberate, impossibly bored, unmistakably intelligent.  So ... human?  

Even knowing the good intentions, there's a part of me that keeps doing the math and not liking the result.

What's the difference between a zoo and a prison to an animal?  A prison you might eventually get out of.

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These are using the Holy Snail technique from Patrick Van De Ven, I tried a couple different ideas for getting the orangutan forehead, a bigger ridge would work but it sort of overshadows in a picture.

(view other great apes)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Patrick Van De Ven:

February 10 - Iso Gorilla

"You never know how strong you are until being strong is your only choice."

~ Bob Marley

The vending machine is out of bananas.

Not just this one - all of them.

The vending machine guy can't keep bananas in stock because, thanks to the new banana tariffs, prices shot up overnight.  People panic-bought every banana within a 50-mile radius, the same people who somehow still have a garage full of toilet paper.  (Which ... now that I put those two together, kind of makes sense.)

Nobody wins by angering a gorilla.

This gorilla is another Isopresso design - a little abstract, similar to the gibbon - but when built as-is, it’s undeniably cute. Cute is fine... but this is a gorilla, and I wanted it to be more ... unga bunga.

(view other gorilla)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Isopresso:

January 30 - Little Body Great Apes

"Consider orangutans. In all the worlds graced by their presence, it is suspected that they can talk but choose not to do so in case humans put them to work, possibly in the television industry. In fact they can talk. It’s just that they talk in Orangutan. Humans are only capable of listening in Bewilderment."

~ Terry Pratchett Men at Arms

Stephanie also demonstrated a few ways to turn her Little Body basic concept into a few different animals.  It involves a slight change to the basic structure - but I feel that they deviate somewhat from the original concept.

I tried to do it, but I still found myself wanting to change things to make it more 'animal'.  These guys really needed eyes to pull the face together, without them, they felt too abstract, like something was missing..

(view other Little Bodies)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Stephanie Morace:

September 9 - Two Faced Gorilla

Chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans have been living for hundreds of thousands of years in their forest, living fantastic lives, never overpopulating, never destroying the forest. I would say that they have been in a way more successful than us as far as being in harmony with the environment.

~ Jane Goodall

Here is my attempt at a gorilla using David Brenion's Two Faced Table Decor technique.

I felt a need to double up on the body bubbles to give him a bit more mass, and with the long gangley arms blocking view, I'm not sure this works anymore as actual "table decor".

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Other two-faced balloons:

Show All David Brenion Designs

April 4 - Gorilla

"When you realize the value of all life,
  you dwell less on what is past and concentrate
  more on the preservation of the future."
    ~ Dian Fossey

This gorilla is the second entry in the latest creation by Matt Falloon - flower buds.  The geo works perfect for the big gorilla arms.  Matt provided artwork instructions, but I kind of like the abstract look even better.

Ben	Anna
So what should I call you guys?

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Other posts with Matt's designs:	Other Gorilla designs:
Show all

February 16 - Gorilla

I have a hard time not feeling emotional whenever I see gorillas in a zoo, they sit with a chilling dignity that oftentimes brings me to tears:

"[I]n Africa I was a member of a family—of a sort of family that the people of your culture haven't known for thousands of years. If gorillas were capable of such an expression, they would tell you that their family is like a hand, of which they are the fingers. They are fully aware of being a family but are very little aware of being individuals. Here in the zoo there were other gorillas—but there was no family. Five severed fingers do not make a hand." ~ Author: Daniel Quinn

Patrick Van de Ven posted this design in Balloon Magic magazine #79 along with his frog.  Another fantastic, yet simple characterization of a gorilla - there are relatively few balloons used to create such nice form.

"Grape Pig, Grape Ape"