April 12 - Gabrielle's Horse

I thought I would try something different in lieu of a quote today, please enjoy "конь" - a Russian folk song. (Translation: horse)

Gabrielle Hodge showed us how to make this horse in our recent webinar. I'm still not content with how far up I was able to get matching sidewall bubbles, the legs have bigger shoulders than I would prefer.  It still works well, even though it's a bit cartoonish - I fell in love with the design once I started thinking of the prancing horse from that bugs bunny opera.  Let me find an image ... :

The face, in my opinion, is the sexy bit to this design, hearts give really chubby jowl cheeks, and this same facial structure could become a squirrel head by changing a couple colors.    Add another sidewall bubble to the outer cheek and you could make the classic triangular /_|_\ face structure with pudge bubble cheeks and easy connection points for the ears .. call that the Hodge Effect, she gets you thinking about using hearts in ways you haven't before. <3 <3 <3  .. The Queen of Hearts!

Now you should also see why I'm such a fan of Steve Klein's webinars - you never know what you have signed up for on a given night, but that is part of the fun, it's almost always great, and sometimes pure gold.  We learned 3(!!) things from Gabrielle in that hour, the bug, mermaid and this horse, all with her distinct flair. Yes I wish there was better technology, yes it's hard to follow along sometimes, and yes I wish there was a way to access the archives, but the content given the meager cost - GOLD I say.

Me?  Stirrup trouble?  ... Neigh.

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April 11 - Gabrielle's Mermaid

"The sirens will sing his mind away,
on their sweet meadow lolling,
There are bones of dead men rotting in a pile beside them,
and flayed skins shrivel around the spot."
  ~ Homer The Odyssey

Who knew Homer was so metal? \m/

Gabrielle Hodge proves again why she is the Queen of Hearts! - here is another creative use for them, taught in a webinar last month. It took a couple attempts to find the right softness and sizing for the tail fin, but I really like the overall look, sort of a pudgy belly "cutie doll" mermaid. I've actually been meaning to post this mermaid for a while now, my prototype was getting smooshy.

It's easy to see how important it is to over-size rather than under-size a face when comparing these two builds. Let's just say I think the not-so-little mermaid in the red top bikini might be able to swim in colder climates...

Come to think of it, you still might want to add a 160 waist to get rid of the muffin-top regardless.

Anna T.

.. but I love muffins!

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April 5 - Bug

"We hope that, when the insects  take over the world, they will  remember with gratitude how  we took them along on all of our  picnics." ~ Bill Vaughann

Gabrielle Hodges taught this bug design in her last webinar.   The structure works well as an ant face, and gives good anchor points for the neck and eyes.  I like the look but the eyes take a bit of mooshing to get to stay in the loops - which makes me feel like the whole thing is a bit fragile and in need of constant adjustment.

I didn't have any light blue hearts for Flik ...

Why was the preacher ant shaking?

He always gets nervous when bugs pray!

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February 18 - Hodges Bird

Crazy-eye - bird brain

"I always wonder why birds stay in the same place when they can fly anywhere on the earth. The I ask myself the same question." ~ Harun Yahya

Gabrielle Hodge, the "Queen of Hearts" showed a design similar to this in a webinar ages ago.  Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures at the time, so this is just a mushing together of her heart ideas for a bird.

... I could do better, the crazy pupils are driving me a little batty. :\  Feeling a bit under the weather though, heading back to bed.

January 17 - Dogs

I was lucky enough to attend a Steve Klein webinar featuring Gabrielle Hodge.  Early in the session, someone referred to her as the "Queen of Hearts" - and I now know it as truth.  She has used hearts to such great effect in many of her creations to give a organic plumpness that you can't get very easily with the normal twisting balloons.   This design in particular I tried coping from an image I have seen of hers.  The tail isn't visible on the chubbier dog, and I personally prefer the bigger jowl, but I think the smaller has a cool doberman look as well.

I expect you will see a lot more of Gabrielle on this blog over the year...

"That'll do, purple pig."

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