December 11 - Savannah Animals

"The wilderness holds answers to more questions than we have yet learned to ask."

~ Nancy Newhall

There's a strange sort of peace at a watering hole in the Savannah.

Creatures that normally keep a healthy distance drift into the same circle. Even the biggest bodies and sharpest horns manage to leave room at the edges.

No creature claims the resource, they simply take what they need and step away.

Can you even imagine a creature behaving otherwise? Truly unimaginable ... ...

---

These are another couple examples from Patrick Van De Ven's "Holy Snail" design technique.   So far so good for handling ANY creature!


(view other rhino or zebra)

---

Other balloons by and inspired by Patrick Van De Ven:

December 10 - Lion

"Patience is not the ability to wait, but the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting."

~ Joyce Meyer

... and Pigs and Bears - oh my!

Yes.  Bears again.

There is an optimal "slowness" with which to work through a set of lessons, that sweet spot where you linger just long enough to absorb something before moving on.

There is also too slow.   Like making the polar bears yesterday, only to read ahead and discover that Patrick's next step is his own version that is approximately 200% more adorabubble™.

(view other lions or bears)

---

Other balloons by and inspired by Patrick Van De Ven:

December 9 - Bears

"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."

~ John Muir

I saw a video recently of a polar bear doing its absolute best to rescue a poor cameraman who had somehow gotten himself sealed inside a fiberglass box.  

The bear worked every angle with a toothy determination - one single rivet not seated properly could have made all the difference.

I'm not sure how it ended, but I really hope they were able to free that cameraman.

Mother nature provides.

---

These use the panda bear form shown by Patrick Van De Ven in his Holy Snail tutorials, I like the "chewing" face more than I care to admit.

(view other bears)

---

Other balloons by and inspired by Patrick Van De Ven:

December 8 - Koala

"In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect."

~ Alice Walker

I heard audio of a koala recently and I'm not even sure what to call it - a warbing bellow?  

Whatever the sound was, I would have never matched it to something so naturally ... snuggly.

Be that cute and no one cares if you burp.

--

This is another one of the examples Patrick uses to demonstrate his show the "Holy Snail" technique.  I love how the nose looks on the face, and even more once I started seeing it as a happy yelling face. 

*burp*

(view other koala)

---

Other balloons by and inspired by Patrick Van De Ven:

December 7 - Kalisan Mirror White Gold

I'll bet you're his masterpiece
I'll bet you're his self-control
Yeah you'll become his legacy
His quiet world of white and gold

~ Insider - Tom Petty (1981)

After being so delicate with old expired chrome balloons, getting a new pack was kind of an amazing experience.

Chrome .. well "Mirror" in Kalisan vernacular, have an interesting and different feel to them than normal latex, there is a .. smoothness?   They lack that elastic springback and need 'encouragement' to get the pressure correct because of it.

These were sturdy, but like "I could probably twist up a replacement motorcycle parts" sturdy.  I tended to overinflate and deflate the amount I was going to twist, these are certainly not meant to be inflated by humans.  

Overall impression of Kalsan mirror white gold?  Great balloon, the color is what I would consider Platinum (about 5 gold pieces in classic D&D) - how many things do you need to be platinum though, this is another chrome color that needs a specific purpose to get got and remains simply a novelty.  

---

Other "color day" balloons:

December 6 - Farm Animals

"There's a sunrise and a sunset every single day, and they're free. Don't miss so many of them."

~ Jo Walton

The farm at the end of the day is a place of magic.

A long, lazy moo as the sun slips down, the smell of things growing, the sound of crickets tuning and the twinkling lights of the fireflies.

The road to that moment is paved with a BRACKLE-DOODLE-DOO!! wake-up call at dawn and twelve straight hours of real labor.

But that one perfect breath before the dark - worth it.

------

I had intended building these individually, but Patrick honestly provides a LOT of learning examples and these kind of seemed like variations on a theme that would fit together nicely.

(view other horse, sheep or cows)

---

Other balloons by and inspired by Patrick Van De Ven:

December 5 - Duck

"I have my opinions, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them."

~ George Bernard Shaw

A duck is the only creature that is also a completely different word.

Bear with that in mind that I didn't fish around for exceptions.  People love to crane their necks to hawk their contradictions, but I refuse to be bugged.  

Duck is the only one.

---

This duck is one of the designs deviations of the Holy Snail technique from Patrick Van De Ven.  This might also benefit from that 'wrapping' of the basic form to give a bit of a lower body ... 

(view other ducks)

---

Other balloons by and inspired by Patrick Van De Ven: