September 12 - Bunny Bubble Buddy

"It is a happiness to wonder; it is a happiness to dream."

~ Edgar Allan Poe

I just learned that rabbits get a special kind of zoomies - called "binkies".

It's when a bunny is so ridiculously happy that it launches itself into the air and does a little mid-leap spazz-out that it just can't contain.

Chaotic joy.

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This is another one of the designs taught by the Balloon Brothers in their Bubble Buddy assortment, the larger feet help give a little space to lift the head.

(view other bunnies)

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Other balloons by and inspired by The Balloon Brothers:

August 25 - Baunnies

Alice: "How long is forever?"
White Rabbit: "Sometimes, just one second."

~ Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll

Bling Bling had an interesting set-up in their jam room - instead of a sponsor, they had 3 balloon companies with their wares set out in front of them and All-American Balloons set up right in the middle of it all.

Ignoring the fact that there was an actual vendor in the jam room, the fact that each of the tables had a representative at them made me feel like I was ... sampling product rather than playing?

I can't simply "use" the balloon, I have to consider it. Note the yellowness of the color, the texture - the pressure, the length. Stare at it like a woodcarver trying to see the little wooden boy inside. THEN twist.  Its way too many steps for one prone to overanalyze things...

These bunnies were something that the always amazing Dennis Bauyon threw together in the Bling Bling jam room, two-balloons only if you practice!  (or if you're been saving your scraps like you should be!)

 

(view other bunnies)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Dennis Bauyon:

August 6 - One Balloon Bunny

"There is no path to happiness: happiness is the path."

~ Buddha

You down with O.B.B.?  (Yeah you know me!) ... OBB .. how can I explain it?  One balloon bunny something something frame it .. ... okay let's maybe not do this.

One of the awesome instructors to meet at Bling Bling Jam this year was Cecilia Ladyballoon, who has just as much energy and enthusiasm in person as she does in all of her videos. She's a fountain of energy and joy, and you can't help but smile being around her. Infectious happiness?

She shared a concept for a one-balloon creature/base in her first class and demonstrated this little bunny. Adding a scrap or two of other balloons and you have a really quick and stable bracelet and almost any animal.
(view other rabbit)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Cecilia Ladyballoons:

July 2 - Jojo Rabbit

"If you chase two rabbits, both will escape."

~ Chinese proverb

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy defines rabbits as "rations". Endlessly reproducible, lightly flavored with terror, and universally irresistible to predators and gardeners alike, they are essentially mobile meatballs that rely on outbreeding their own deliciousness.

Their true agenda remains unknown.

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This is another of the Tobi Twist Jojo Cuties - I went ahead and added front feet, they felt missing.  

Working with such small accessories forces you to pay closer attention to get proportions right.  Extra twists, slightly different pressure, almost everything can change the shape of a pinch twist when you're working with such a small bit of air.

(view other rabbit or jojos)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Tobi Twist:

April 21 - Bunny

"You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep Spring from coming."

~ Pablo Neruda

It's the day after Easter. The cleanup has begun.

The egg launch system is smoldering in a ditch. Three rabbits are missing.  The jellybean reserves were practically depleted.  We've recovered 42 baskets from rooftops, but no one is admitting they put them there.

We're starting crunching the numbers to calculate how many actual days until next Easter.

We're tired. We're sticky. We have glitter in places that should not be sparkling. The elves have it so easy.

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I first tried to build this bunny about nine years ago (link) - back before Isopresso had released any instructions. Now it's the first design in their advanced tutorial series, and great to finally see how things are built.

Looking back I feel like I did a pretty good job ... but it's definitely a little clumsy around the leg area.

(view other rabbits)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Isopresso:

April 19 - Bunny Mini-Doll

"Easter is the only time when it's perfectly safe to put all your eggs in one basket."

~ Evan Esar

It's the day before Easter. Final preparations are in full swing. Eggs are sorted by pastel gradient and spiritual ambiguity. The delivery catapult system is locked and loaded, if mildly unstable.

Each rabbit gets a final fluffiness inspection - fur brushed, paws polished, ears aligned to regional specifications.

Launch windows have been calculated to avoid migratory birds and brunch traffic. Backup baskets have been staged at all major municipalities. Emergency jellybeans have been bagged and distributed. By the time the ceremonial egg timer dings, the operation will be a go.

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These balloons were inspired by MeyiaArt balloon tutorials, this was in the background of a different video and seemed appropriate to build for today.  They've shown a rabbit on the channel that is slightly different than this.
 
(view other bunnies)

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Other balloons by and inspired by MeyiaArt:

January 22 - Loopy Warner Broz

“Looney Tunes didn’t just entertain; they set the bar for animation as an art form.”

~ Steven Spielberg

Disney always sort of takes the limelight, but the characters with the biggest personalities are certainly from Warner Bros.

Daffy doesn't have a rich uncle, like Donald "Fontleroy" -- he was raised on the hard streets of Toonville.  Where dodging falling anvils and dynamite-wielding rabbits is just another Saturday afternoon.

One thing I find interesting is that the cheeks of WB characters are a much taller, turning them sideways fills out their faces well for that. 

Other balloons by and inspired by David Brenn:

April 10 - Dennis' Bunny

"Put all your eggs in one basket. Then you're less likely to drop that basket."

~ David Haye

This gigantic Easter basket delivery is a Dennis Scott design that he shared in his class at the Q Corner Convention this year.  Dennis makes a point of creating a big and beautiful centerpiece at most of his events to encourage people to use him for decor work as well - as he says, "that's where the money is for this kind of art".

I appreciate that he makes efficient use of hand pump sizing rather than relying on a timed inflator, this basket was pretty quick to assemble.



(view other rabbit)

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Other Q Corner Convention balloons:

April 9 - Anthony's Bunny

“You can get help from teachers, but you are going to have to learn a lot by yourself, sitting alone in a room.”

~ Dr. Seuss on learning

Anthony Lena taught a class at this years Q Corner Convention called "What the World Needs Now Is... FUN!" where he showed a couple of his recent creations.

This was his rabbit with some wrapping distorted ears -- I thought to make it again in grey to practice the technique but got inspired to try something different. There is a lot of shaping in distortion -- it's definitely a tough and technical discipline to master but it allows for some very interesting shapes. 

The "cost" is the potential for darkening the natural transparency of a balloon, the whites look visibly different without double-stuffing - the grey balloons are more opaque so the difference is subtle but still there.



(view other rabbit, elephant)

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Other Q Corner Convention balloons:

April 8 - Jackie's Bunny

Kawaii (not to be confused with the Hawaiian; "lovable", "cute", or "adorable")[1] is the culture of cuteness in Japan.[2][3][4][5] It can refer to items, humans and nonhumans that are charming, vulnerable, shy, and childlike.

Kawaii, not to be confused with the Hawaiian Island, is a Japanese word for the embodiment of small/lovable/cuteness.  It's ambassador must be Jackie Ochitwa, because she gave a class at the Q Corner Convention entitled "Kawaii Cuteness Overload!!" and showed a number of her adorable little guys that make you want to says "awwww".

This is a recent rabbit she created while cooped up at home.  It looks like "Snowball" from The Secret Life of Pets, before he speaks.

As with most cute things, smaller is better, the pink one wins out by a hair .. accidental ba-dum-tish.



(view other rabbit)

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Other Q Corner Convention balloons:

Apriil 7 - Zsolt's Bunnies

“Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow.”

~ Anita Desai

There are many brilliant things about having a balloon convention online, but one that certainly bears mentioning is the accessibility to balloon artists that I might never have had simply because of geographical and language barriers.

Zsolt Dömötör is a Hungarian balloon artist that taught a class on the first day called "Quick & Easy Cute Animals".  Unfortunately the Q Corner boys didn't mention much more than that, I did see that he has a number of placed entries in Qualatex color contests.

With the Q Corner convention two weeks before Easter, you can imagine a number of the designs would be rabbits.  So I am going to pop around and make them while they are most appropriate.  Zsolt taught two -- one using a basic body base of his, and another more realistic looking one that uses an interesting technique to shape the body.

(view other rabbit)

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Other Q Corner Convention balloons:

April 6 - Rabbit-ichu

“All for one and one for all, united we stand divided we fall.”

~ Alexandre Dumas, The Three Musketeers

The balloon community really outdid themselves this last week.  Everyone is going to be out of work for a long while, so some folks got together and put together a free online balloon convention with over 100 individual segments spread over 5 days.

I didn't even realize this was going on until day 3 (!!), like someone dropped off a bag full of Halloween candy.  All of the content of a balloon convention without the travel, the cost or the social anxiety.

But additionally - a convention can be  a bit of a whirlwind with instructors/competitions/events, overwhelming before you add the need to sleep/eat/make merry.  Since we are all cooped up, I'm going to invite you all to share this Halloween candy with me.

One of the first twisting segments was with Juan Gonzales where he showed some quick line-work Easter designs and ways to re-use his Pikachu design.  It works great for the rabbit ears, but my favorite use is definitely the frog.

The blue bunny "should" be sitting on top of a carrot wand, but that makes for a difficult picture ...





(view other frog, rabbit)

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Other Juan Gonzalez inspired balloons:

April 3 - Pig, RA-bot, Owl and Cat Loop-Heads

“Beyond the edge of the world there’s a space where emptiness and substance neatly overlap, where past and future form a continuous, endless loop. And, hovering about, there are signs no one has ever read, chords no one has ever heard.”

~ Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore

Here are a few other Loop-Heads I made while playing around with Mr. Boma's head design.

I really like the way the owl turned out, I feel like this face design could work with most anything and so much of the overall look of the balloon is what you do with the body.

To whit, I think the RA-bot body should have been more like the cat body with those hoppy back legs, and the cat should have probably just been a standing "Garfield" body.

As with every balloon technique we explore here, I had to try my hand at a pig.


View other: owls, cats, rabbits, bunnys, pigs

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Other Mr. Boma inspired balloons: