August 3 - Gemar Grey

"Sorry that you feel that way, the only thing there is to say
Every silver lining's got a touch of grey."

~ Touch of Grey ~ Grateful Dead

Orange you glad I didn't say Bluey?

Every Gemar balloon I've sampled sort of fits a similar profile, they got the latex formula correct - perhaps scientifically, there is a good consistent feel between different colors.

I spent a number of these trying to get another knacky thing, there is a tight spiral I've seen done incredibly well that I'd like to be able to do.   At this point I do think there are certain colors the technique works best with - something horribly loud and squeaky like clear.

Overall impression of Gemar Grey - is a medium grey, somewhat between Sempertex and Qualatex greys in color.   They are just a bit shy of being completely opaque - and on the ... shinier? wetter? side of the greys in the batch.

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Other "color day" balloons:

June 23 - Coiled Snake

"There's a snake in my boot!"

~ Woody, Toy Story

To pay proper credit - I stumbled across an image similar to this on in a "Year of the Snake" Pintrest board and reverse image searched it back to a Facebook post by Ryo Tam.

It was the "don't bother me, I'm smothering something" face that won me over.  

The design has a good bit of the Isopresso maggot in getting some tight organic looking coils looking ... unsettling.  

(view other snakes)

June 15 - Elitex Sweet Corn

It's corn
A big lump with knobs
It has the juice
I can't imagine a more beautiful thing

~ Tariq - It's Corn (link)

After the Great Shattering, many different balloon companies have embraced twister balloons to try and fill the gap.  Unfortunately it's a little restrictive as many of these brands are only available at one distributor in country - I honestly can't imagine that lasting long.

But Marigold is a color that I need a replacement for, and EliteX is a brand carried by my local distributers. Sounds like a match made in negotiated retail inventory overstock protection and management to me! 💛

The color "Sweet Corn" is on the end of the yellow spectrum and compares very closely to Honey Yellow (image comparison on blog).  The texture of the balloons is good twisting sponginess, though I feel in some ways like I'm trying to describe the notes of a wine bouquet.  I really do need some some comparatives better than "a good medium squish with a slight dry back end".

For the sake of future comparisons.  I do think of "wet" or "dry" not as the feel, but more like a tree branch.  A dry balloon snaps cleanly, a wet balloon is potential chaos exploding.  

Overall assessment, looked and worked great -- I admit I intentionally beat the balloons up a bit while making the giant letters, but these performed well without complained.  A couple of these designs are becoming somewhat standard to use as a sort of test as to the abuse they might be able to withstand.  

Other "color day" balloons:

June 1 - Gemar Green

Do you have the time to listen to me whine?
About nothing and everything, all at once
I am one of those melodramatic fools
Neurotic to the bone, no doubt about it

~ Green Day - Basket Case

These particular balloons are a few years old, so this isn't exactly a fair test.  I got a few samples for entering a Gemar contest back in the before times so it's high time they see daylight again.

I'm realizing that for these single-color challenges, weaving is going to be a critical component to finishing the goal.

Gemar Green has two numbers - #12 & #13.   12 is slightly lighter than 13 -- 13 is slightly lighter than forest green.  (comparison image on blog)

Gemar balloons have a really nice "spongey squish" to them - if they were easier to get, I probably would have already adopted them into my kit.  They don't come as heavily powdered as other brands, though, and that causes some initial "stuckness" that has only gotten worse with age.  That said, these were stored in a sealed plastic container for five years and most still inflated cleanly and held up well during twisting.   

Quck take:  Gemar Green (#12/#13) are pleasant mid-tones with a nice feel.  Old stock still performed admirably, and the only real problems I had with sticking were when the stuck bit was right near the nozzle, but I can only blame my own neglect for that.  They had great twist integrity despite this age.  Gemar is a beast in all the right ways.

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Other "color day" balloons:

May 25 - Tuftex Red

"When the war gets here
We're all gonna get on the level
Everyone will look a little bit nicer
When you finally meet the devil"

~ Jesse Welles - Red

I had the pleasure of meeting Marvin Hardy - legend of the industry, and a special guest at Bling Bling Convention 2018 (guessing year). In his talk, he mentioned going through "a bag of balloons a day". Not just on gigs - daily practice.  A hundred balloons.  Every day.  One Punch Man energy.

I have a few bags of different brands/colors that I've obtained with the intention (if not yet the motivation) to try out.  So here is the challenge, pick one, every week.  No rules other than that.  No goals other than this - use the bag.

Tuftex Red rover, Tuftex Red rover -- I dare you to ... lets just get on with this.

I didn't have a plan, so I just sort of noodled around some basic shapes. Honestly, kind of a slog fest at first, I don't have many same-color-multiple-260 builds in my pocket and I just finished that whole crab day which in hindsight would have been perfect.  The lobster is an Isopresso design that is mostly 260s.

Quick take:  Tuftex Red is easy to inflate, sits on the darker side of the red spectrum, and has just the barest of transparencies - very similar to the Sempertex red in that regard (blog has comparison images).  They seemed to take a decent bit of abuse without problem - I wasn't going crazy, but I certainly wasn't trying to be careful either.

 

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Other "color day" balloons:

May 1 - Li'l Brain Snake

“A baby has brains, but it doesn't know much. Experience is the only thing that brings knowledge, and the longer you are on earth the more experience you are sure to get.”

~ L. Frank Baum, The Wizard of Oz

Sometimes people ignore facts and obvious evidence, rewrite their own version of history despite video evidence of the opposite.  Sometimes people attempt to convince us that what we heard and saw was not what we heard and saw, gaslight ... and sometimes these people have a brain snake.

Here is the thing.

A brain snake is not a parasite, it's a symbiotic relationship that is cultivated through years of avoiding the work of using it.  It is no simple feat to replace ones soul with a serpent - but it is very profitable.

This is another Kawaii-not, inspired by the class Jackie Ochitwa taught at the Q Corner Convention.

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Other Jackie Ochitwa inspired balloons:

January 16 - Pumpkin Spice Virus

And would, if you could, turn that mighty clock back,
To that long, fateful night. Now, think carefully, Jack.
Would you do the whole thing all over again,
Knowing what you know now, knowing what you knew then?"

And he smiled, like the old pumpkin king that I knew,
Then turned and asked softly of me, "Wouldn't you?"

~ Danny Elfman ~ Closing
  (The Nightmare Before Christmas)

Researchers have now discovered that pumpkin spice is indeed an annual virus that afflicts society.  A hyper-intelligent mutagen that has been systematically ravaging our world in a yearly assault, turning us into orange incubators for the next seasonal wave.  Year after year the virus has spread as you can surely tell by the quantity of pumpkin spice creations available; oreos, cereals, candies, ice cream, beer, english muffins, etc.  It's an epidemic and the world is no longer safe.  Our Commander in Chief has been identified as patient zero.  Resist!  #notmypumpkinspice

That was the original idea for this blog post, however, this will be a little different than others in that I'm going to add my personal review for one of the newer Betallatex colors, Pumpkin Spice.

I get a bit excited when a new balloon color releases.  As balloon artists, our palette is somewhat limited in shape and colors - frequently we have to cheat around the limitations of our media.  I am a fan of Betallatex, typically they have proven to be more consistent and vibrant colors than many of their Qualatex counterpoints, they are my go-to when given similar colors.

I bought a bag and played around with making a few creations, and was quick to form my reaction.  These balloons are quite fragile, not thin - but similar to the old Betallic Pearl or Metallic balloons.  I had to work with them very soft and try to minimize the unavoidable friction because they were quite susceptible to forming a leak at a twist point.  My floor is littered with more failed attempts than balloons used in these final forms.

There is a sound that I'm sure haunts many balloon artists, and that's the faint little 'tic' that lets you know something is deflating ... that was my night.

You can gauge color difference to orange in the close-up of the eyeball from the spice-virus.  The ring around the eye is an orange 160B.  The pumpkin spice color is a ruddy orange, and it wasn't long into this exercise that I started thinking that this was more of a novelty color designed to capitalize on the name "pumpkin spice" more than an actual attempt to create a new color.  I wanted to like them, but in any event, the latex formula is off.  I know where to store the remaining of these...

April 2 - Fauxlaf Snake

Original for reference

"I like warm rodents!"

~ Fauxlaf

Ssso you thought it wasss an April Foolsss prank?

Here isss the sssecond Fauxlaf in the ssseriesss.

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Other Fauxlaf balloonsss:

May 31 - Rattlesnake

I walk 47 miles of barbed wire,
I use a cobra-snake for a necktie,
I got a brand new house on the roadside,
Made from rattlesnake hide,
I got a brand new chimney made on top,
Made out of a human skull,
Now come on take a walk with me, Arlene,
And tell me, who do you love?
~ Bo Diddley Who Do You Love?

Arizona Rick yesterday gifted us all in the balloon forums with his rattlesnake design.

This design is fantastic yet so simple, it's also great practice for making sidewall bubbles and curling balloons!

I confess I only know Arizona Rick through what he's shared on the forums and on his YouTube channel, but from that I gathered he's a talented balloon twisting cowboy masterful at managing the crowd excitement in his balloon shows - oftentimes coming with a gigantic bin of balloons and weaving them into a story or game as he passes them out.  There are a few examples out there of him working his crowd charm worth watching for any entertainer.

He added sprinkles into the tip of the rattle, for the sound effect. Genius!

	360 snakeskin? - I better get my stand in...
Sssssmilessss everyone!