October 15 - Zombie Hand

"It's as much fun to scare as to be scared."

~ Vincent Price

A few weeks before Halloween they send the scouts, quiet little undead auditors crawl up from the soil.

They peek at porch lights, count pumpkins, measure cobweb density.

They see who is ready.

They're looking for that one particular neighborhood - the place destined to host this year's mash.

The Monster Mash.

(It's a graveyard smash, after all.)

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Dave Brenn shows a version of this hand as one of the free videos on his Patreon page (easily one of the best valued balloon resources on the internet - it's a Daveyard smash).

(view other hands)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Dave Brenn:

March 26 - Zombie

Q. Geo
(1917-2024)

"The only hole left is in our hearts."

I really like the quick and easy head shape you can get from a geo balloon. They are proving to be a good canvas for practicing some inkwork as they give a very distinct center line to use for reference.

A zombie bursting from the ground was the idea, but I would also accept "zombie pushing down his brown tutu" for an answer.

February 2 - Little Body Monsters

"The first monster you have to scare the audience with is yourself."

~ Wes Craven

I didn’t plan on capturing a monster. But when something screeched from the shadows while I was building one of Stephanie Morace’s Little Bodies, I knew I wasn’t alone.

I still don’t know exactly what it is. Was it always there, lurking, waiting? Or did I accidentally create it? I’ve been feeding it balloon scraps - it eats, but it doesn’t seem grateful. Just ... watching.

The cage is holding. For now.

(view other Little Bodies)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Stephanie Morace:

December 27 - Li'l Bee

The hum of bees is the voice of the garden.

~ Elizabeth Lawrence

Jackie Ochitwa shared this design at the Q convention in 2020 -- I had planned on writing some text and setting it to post that October but well ... but as I recall, 2020 was pretty sucky, and I certainly fell off the planet for a bit.

Jackie again has an uncanny ability to make everything she touches into something cutesy, even a ghost bee.

I personally find it completely tasteless if slightly arousing to refer to these as Jackie's Boo Bees, so I will refrain from saying that .. any more.

But I won't stop thinking it.  Giggity!!





(view other bees, ghosts, zombies, Li'l Guys)

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Other Jackie Ochitwa inspired balloons:

October 20 - 8-bit Zombie

"In those moments where you're not quite sure if the undead are really dead, dead, don't get all stingy with your bullets."

~ Zombieland (2009)

Earlier this year, Buster Balloon hosted a balloon lab where he went over in very fine detail the process he uses to create his show.  I don't perform, but it was chock full of valuable information nonetheless.  Additionally if you signed up for a certain subscription level - you were given the opportunity to have Buster design a balloon for you and share it with everyone in the group.

This was from the first of those videos, someone requested how to build a zombie face.  This was delivered in "lab" fashion - and I really like the conversational tone it has.  It is far more useful than a simple tutorial if you understand the reasons why something is this way rather than prattling on about a bubble sizes and twists.

I made a simple body to go with it.

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Other balloon designs by and inspired by Buster Balloon:

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September 13 - Two Faced Zombie

“…So when the last and dreadful hour
This crumbling pageant shall devour,
The trumpet shall be heard on high,
The dead shall live, the living die,
And Music shall untune the sky”

― John Dryden, The Major Works

Hey, it's "almost" October - arguably not too soon to have something with a Halloween theme!

I haven't been making many "two faced" balloons using David Brenion's Two Faced design concept - but I wasn't sure if I liked the eyeball zombie, so I made a normal yellow eyed one as well.

I was going for an Igor/hunchback look to this guy, and the traditional torso types all seemed a bit large for his torso as it draws in at the base, so I downsized it heavily.

It was a rainy day so I had to be quick taking these pictures.

Raaaaaaaiins!

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Other two-faced balloons:

Show All David Brenion Designs

June 12 - Rumble Zombie

It's close to midnight,
And something evil's lurking in the dark.
Under the moonlight,
You see a sight that almost stops your heart.
You try to scream,
but terror takes the sound before you make it.
You start to freeze,
As horror looks you right between the eyes.
You're paralyzed!

~ Michael Jackson Thriller

Marvel had an alternate universe story arc a while ago, exploring the zombie virus as it affected superheroes.  What would happen if the zombie virus affected cars?

These zombie cars use the David Brenion Rumble Truck design concept.  I think the added arms were necessary to complete the effect.   It was a happy accident that I painted the first mouth on the main part of the head instead of the bumper, one of the difficulties I have experienced with this type of design is that it doesn't pose well -- if you take a picture of the face, it doesn't look much like a car, and if you take a picture of the side, it's staring off camera.  Having the entire face on the upper bubble allows a little extra bit of posing.

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Other Rumble Truck designs:

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October 26 - Patrick's Zombie

With their tanks and their bombs
And their bombs and their guns
In your head, In your head they are cryin'

In your head, in your head
Zombie, zombie, zombie, Hey, hey
What's in your head, in your head
Zombie, zombie, zombie

~ The Cranberries Zombie

When I first started this blog I created a spreadsheet of the various balloon designs I wanted to build; the DVDs and downloadables that I had purchased, the YouTube clips that caught my eye, the bi-weekly webinars, images that I've seen posted and stuff I had learned at conventions.

Instead of shrinking, the list keeps getting bigger - and this month is a perfect example of why.  So many people are sharing their Halloween designs and I'm like a kid in a candy store (apropos for this time of year I suppose).  I'm saving much of them to my inspiration folders to attempt myself.

Patrick Van de Ven posted this little gem just yesterday and I couldn't resist attempting it.  I played around with the colors while learning the form, but I think he made a great choice with the pale blue. Green looks like Frankenstein's monster and blush looks a little odd.  I felt like I had underinflated things in the first build (above), but it ended up being my favorite - smaller = cuter in so many balloons.

One of my biggest learning experiences in this balloon was with the use of the grey marker.  It's more of a 'darkener' than a true color.  It worked great to provide the spots and more definition to the sunken eyes.

Zom A and Zom B	I love a woman with brains.
Fighting these plants is pretty much a no-brainer

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Other posts with Patrick's designs:


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October 20 - Zombie Hand

“Blood is really warm,
it's like drinking hot chocolate
but with more screaming.”

~ Ryan Mecum Zombie Haiku: Good Poetry for Your...Brains

Buster Balloon shared this zombie hand creation in his DVD Frightening Fashions.

I really love the rest of the forearm bone sticking out, such a cool idea - and with the "blood" it makes for added creepiness. This is a fantastic (and handy) design that I'm sure I will be using in our Halloween decor now and in the future.

Buster is also doing his own 31 days of Halloween balloon-a-day spooktacular. His sense of design and professional photography skills are something to strive for, I should pick through his list for a few designs to attempt to copy!

... Every hand needs a one to hold on to, Don't need to be no strong hand ....	Hand sum ... = 3
I'm in good hands..

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Other posts with Busters's designs: Show all