January 22 - Chicks

Camilla, you're sweeter than wine or vanilla, Camilla.
Come lie beneath this tree, it's a willa, Camilla.
Camilla, the night it grows stilla and stilla, Camilla.
You're prettier by far than Godzilla, Camilla.

~ Camilla Gonzo

I have spent a while exploring Truscheit-style, and would happily explore another hundred designs with it - but it's probably time to move on. Not so much auf wiedersehen (goodbye), as bis später (until later).

These two were made a bit in haste as I was preparing to leave on a plane to visit my mom, and there are things that should be cleaned up in both of them that I just didn't have time for. This is a balloon concept, but this is one that Linda posted and she has an uncanny way to elicit such personality from her designs. Hers is posed laying on it's belly in an "aren't I just adorable?" pose, that I wasn't able to achieve.

Thank you, Linda - your images are so full of attitude, so clean in design - I feel like I will be trying to reach that bar for some time!

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January 21 - Dragon

“So comes snow after fire, and even dragons have their endings.”

~ J.R.R. Tolkien The Hobbit

This is a copy of one of Linda Truscheit's designs from my inspiration folder from her.

I only made one because I'm in bit of a rush - I'm heading out of town to celebrate my mom's birthday and I need to prepare a few more of these because I don't know that I'll have any time while there.

Posing this guy was a bit rough, if I built him again I would definitely provide a couple offset connection points. So many parts coming out from the same connection points created some chaos. It works well as a flyer, but I would like a little more control to put him in a standing position.

PURPLE: ... If you are holding me with your wings, how are we flying? DRAGON: ... Helium?

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January 20 - Lion

"Simba, let me tell you something my father told me. Look at the stars. The great kings of the past look down on us from those stars... So whenever you feel alone, just remember that those kings will always be there to guide you. And so will I."

~ Mufasa The Lion King

I've been on this "Truscheit-style" kick for a while, but they are just so cute!

Maybe I'll just do a couple more - I am heading out of town for a few days for an early celebration of my mom's birthday, so I need to make a few to be set to go while I'm away.

This baby lion is one Linda Truscheit created and I have saved in my inspiration folder for her. I think this style is one of the best to create that innocent baby face this lion has. I ended up bringing these two to Starbucks and they were cuddled immediately (as they should be!), it was amusing to see someone try to operate a cash register with a baby lion under each arm.

Balloona-Matata - what a wonderful phrase!

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January 19 - Mouse

I know a mouse, and he hasn't got a house
I don't know why. I call him Gerald
He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse

~ Pink Floyd Bike

Eeeeek! A mouse!

This balloon started as my attempt at Linda Truscheit's chipmunk, but it looked a little bit like a mouse on the first build - so I went with that.

The chipmunk-become-mouse attempt is below and on the right.  I built another to try and embrace mousey-ness in grey, but I started not liking the big fatty body and it was kind of looking like a bit like a cat. I then made a third, the one you see in the upper right here.

It could still use some tweaking, the eyes are a little bit mismatched and he's looking behind you rather than at you, but like where it ended up, almost looks like Jerry.

Ok - I've had a chat with the cat.   He's ready to forgive if you are.

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January 18 - Cockatoo

I was striking, suave, ambitious.
Feet to beak. So bodylicious.
Now I am wild. I am villainous and vicious.
Oh! And malicious.
I had it all. A TV show. Women too!
I was tall, over one foot two!
And then they got a pretty parakeet to fill my shoes.
That's why I'm so evil why I do what I do!

~ Nigel Rio

My wife is away on business so I had a pretty busy day between work and kids and choir practice, not much time for balloons so I played it safe and made something that wouldn't need a lot of rework and wasn't too complicated.

This design is one from my Linda Truscheit inspiration folder, and when I looked up some of the previous versions of this bird I had built for this blog, I realize I have mislabelled them as cockatiel (link and link). They are both crested birds, but a cockatiel is a distinct and smaller bird in the cockatoo family and is typically grey with yellow and orange faces, whereas a cockatoo is typically larger and solid white or black. A cockatiel is a better starter pet bird, whereas a cockatoo is like having a pet 2 year old who is loud and needs a lot of mental stimulation. "The more you know ..."

But before I had all this info I built one in lime green ... (with his feet upside down)

Next time we should hang out at my place ...

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January 17 - Daffy Duck

Ho! Ha ha! Guard! Turn! Parry! Dodge! Spin! Ha! Thrust!

~ Daffy Duck (wielding a staff)

The next installment in my attempt to use "Truscheit-style" is this Daffy Duck.

The first built is the below and on the right, I had a few things I fixed with the body but I mostly wanted another build so I could play with posing him shot like in the cartoon.  I should have spent a little effort in getting the eyes taller, his face doesn't quite have the oval shape I was looking for.

A while ago I was working with a classic cell animator helping with his computerized renderings and he was explaining to me how even though computers make some thing technically easier, things are lost and that you need to account for artistically.  His example images were with fairy hair - no matter which way she was looking, you could see the ponytail poking out perfectly behind her.  In the real world the ponytail would not be visible most of the time.

I mention this because it is lost as well in trying to dress a balloon for a photo.  It wasn't enough for the beak to blap on backwards and change the cheek color, I had to create a new beak that was almost twice as large to make it visible in the pose instead of a tiny orange mound.

... You're dithpicable...

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January 16 - Bunny

One pill makes you larger,
and one pill makes you small
And the ones that mother gives you,
don't do anything at all
Go ask Alice, when she's ten feet tall

And if you go chasing rabbits,
and you know you're going to fall
Tell 'em a hookah-smoking caterpillar
has given you the call
And call Alice, when she was just small

Every week I take my son to his evening dance classes which are right next to a Starbucks, and it's rapidly become one of my favorite places to drop off random balloons.  They have been so nice with their compliments and so thrilled to get whatever it is I bring them, I look forward to it weekly.

One of my favorites baristas is Katie, who practically bursts when I bring something - she wrote me the nicest thank you note when I brought in another rabbit.  Her nickname is "Bunny", so this was made with her in mind.

This is another one exploring the Truscheit-style face design, and I think it works perfectly for it. I just want to squeeze it until it pops!

Sorry! I don’t want any adventures, thank you. Not Today.

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January 15 - Cow

Line 'em up now to greet the sacred cow.
My hands are full of protein, my arms are made of fire.
If you're calling me a diplomat, I'll be calling you a liar.

~ Primus Greet the Sacred Cow

This build was actually a request from one of my wife's friends, so I figured I could take care of two birds with one stone and build it using the Truscheit-style head.

This one is a hodge podge of a lot of different people's work:

• The muzzle is based on the Balloon Blast Patreon video Bull by Sam Cremeens (Patreon link)
• The body is Buster Balloon's Spike the Dog from his Adorable DVD (link)
• The tail bobble is David Lima's contribution in the Betallic "Be Brilliant" video series (link)

Once I built the first muzzle, I thought the nostrils were a little funky with a big ring, so I replaced that with one that just used a puff inflated balloon and gave it more structure.

It was pointed out to me that I forgot to add ears (!!!!) so I did some emergency repair work and built another, trying for a squatty pose.  It didn't work so well trying to get the legs straight with such a chubby belly..  I also faked the cow in the field picture to include ears.  I feel shame.  But dare I say - No sense crying over spilled milk?

They're looking for latex Terrestrials

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January 14 - Linda's Penguin

There is a mysterious ritual that dates back thousands of years. No living creature has survived it except the penguin. They have wings but cannot fly. They're birds that think they're fish. And every year, they embark on a nearly impossible journey to find a mate. For twenty days and twenty nights the emperor penguin will march to a place so extreme it supports no other life. In the harshest place on Earth loves finds a way. This is the incredible true story of a family's journey to bring life into the world: March of the Penguins.

~ Narrator March of the Penguins

This penguin is another one from my Linda Truscheit inspiration folder that uses "Truscheit-style".  She has a knack for getting them so chubby cheek cute.  Hers didn't have arms, but I felt when I tried copying that it was missing - I probably didn't get the backside right, so I added.

This one took a few tries until I was satisfied with the neck connection, there is one that looked too weird to even post.  I also tried a couple different body types and ideas with attaching the feet, but with great shame I admit I attached them with rubber cement on my last attempt after getting frustrated and giving up trying to get them to sit right and have him stand up.

That's one of the complications with having to take a picture - things have to be able to stand or lean well enough to look good while I take the picture.

I've marched until April.  May I leave now, June?  (If julyke?)

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January 13 - Walrus

"I like the Walrus best," said Alice, "because you see he was a little sorry for the poor oysters."
"He ate more than the Carpenter, though," said Tweedledee. "You see he held his handkerchief in front, so that the Carpenter couldn't count how many he took: contrariwise."
"That was mean!" Alice said indignantly. "Then I like the Carpenter best—if he didn't eat so many as the Walrus."
"But he ate as many as he could get," said Tweedledum.
This was a puzzler. After a pause, Alice began, "Well! They were both very unpleasant characters—"

— Lewis Carroll Through the Looking-Glass

I am starting in on my "Truscheit-style" quest, but I can't resist first trying a few that I have saved from her collection.  Not only will it hopefully help lock in and explore the style, they are just so darn cute!!

This walrus, for example, is from one of her earlier images using the technique.  I tried building a few times, but one of the things I really need to keep in mind is they are not designed to be big and bold, they work better as baby cute.  The first built was the fatty bellow with the speckles on his cheeks - WAY too big. Even the second suffers from too much blubber in the rubber up there. Ah well ...

I am a pig man, he is the walrus, goo goo g'joob.

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January 12 - Underdog

When criminals in this world appear
And break the laws that they should fear
And frighten all who see or hear
The cry goes up both far and near
For Underdog! Underdog! Underdog! Underdog!

~ Underdog intro song

I was looking through some more photos from Florida Super Jam and noticed another design used a form similar to Juan's Superman - Underdog!  The photo's caption doesn't give specific credit, but Stacey Schmude and James (Mr Me) were holding up versions of it, so I'm not sure who came up with it.

It's sometimes hard to credit people.  For example, here is a design where to body was taught by Juan, customized by someone else to be Underdog, photo posted by another person entirely, but then I used a head style I learned from the amazing Linda Truscheit.  It's also pretty cool and collaborative even if inadvertent.

I tried a couple different head forms before settling on this one - I really love the shape of this style head, the gigantic eyes and the cheeks are what I believe the kids now are calling "adorbs".  It's based on the face form that Linda teaches when building her Soft Kitty (link), and she uses this head style so effectively with those big expressive eyes to add such fantastic personality to her amazing balloon art. She also takes wonderful pictures of her work and is a great person to try and emulate, you will be better for trying it.

That should be the next style/concept montage - "Truscheit-style".

There's no need to fear, under Underdog is here!

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December 31 - Purple Pig

“In each human heart are a tiger, a pig, an ass and a nightingale. Diversity of character is due to their unequal activity.”

~ Ambrose Bierce

I find it fitting that the final design of the year is a purple pig.

It has been quite a journey, what started out as an impulse using the blogger app from my new phone and uploading directly from that, to the weird ideas of morphing pigs, to launching the Facebook page, to terrible (and glorious) puns, to where we are today. ... and in similar fashion to that beginning, I still have no idea what will become of tomorrow.

Though this project initially was set to be a year of exploration, I enjoy the challenge and feel that continuing in fashion benefits my growth as a balloon artist. That said, there really should be some sort of evolution or growth not just to mark the year transition, but to force me to get out of what has become a 'comfortable rut'.

Will it still be in the same format? Will it still be daily? Will the changes happen right away? Will Ferrell? I suppose we will have to figure that out together. I told myself in the beginning that I wouldn't abide by any rules, save one - that Purple should be in at least one image.

These pigs were inspired by Linda Truscheit, her head concept is one of my favorite and makes for giant eyes and adorably chubby faces.

Happy New Years Eve!

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November 23 - Linda's Panda

Po: Maybe I should just quit and go back to making noodles.
Oogway: Quit, don't quit... Noodles, don't noodles... You are too concerned about what was and what will be. There is a saying: yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.

~ Kung Fu Panda

Linda Truscheit is a gem. She is always creating art, recently it's been fabric balloon dogs and balloon wallets instead of actual balloons, but I have a folder full of images to try and copy at some point.

This is one of those, her panda is fantastic, and like most of her designs - pinch-able cheek cute. I've done my best to imitate it here, but I could try a hundred times and still be missing that special something that she's able to bring them to life.

What I really love about this design is once again it tells a story, it's more than just a panda, it's more than just a panda with an accessory, it's a hungry panda nibbling on grass about to topple over and giggle and grab at it's toes.



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