February 29 - Trucks

Cause we got a little old convoy Rockin' through the night. Yeah, we got a little old convoy, Ain't she a beautiful sight? Come on and join our convoy Ain't nothin' gonna get in our way. We gonna roll this truckin' convoy 'Cross the U-S-A. Convoy!

Stephanie Gintz Morace is a balloon twister from Louisiana.  But you would never guess from her accent... .... (long pause for added hilarity if you know her).

I first met Stephanie at the Florida Super Jam 2015 where she won the "Best in Show" competition for her amazing Shih-tzu dog design and I've been a fan ever since, not only was her dog the hands down winner, but she was so nice to take the time and repeatedly show everyone in the jam room how to create it.

This truck design is something she showed us in a balloon webinar last year.  I did my best to try and recreate it from memory and some scrap pictures, but I'm not sure I got it right.  I struggled and played most with a variety of wheel designs to try and get something with hubcaps and yet not have them angle weirdly.

Da-gum!

February 28 - R2 & BB8

“Gar taldin ni jaonyc; gar sa buir, ori'wadaasla." (Nobody cares who your father was, only the father you'll be.) - Mandalorian saying

 Consider this post a little bit of a cleaning of the closet.  I created this over the new years holiday and never got around to posting it.  This marks the actual first sighting of the purple pig in the area.

Also these are my recreations of a couple of my favorite star wars droids, R2-D2 and BB-8.  I tried a number of attempts and techniques at getting BB-8's head to seem like it was floating around the ball of the body.  In the end, it was artwork that probably helped the most.  

R2 was a easy to create, but a struggle to position well - which I "solved" by adding some clear balloons as support beams for the legs and weighing down the feet to keep it stable.

February 27 - Crab

Googly eyes = +5 cuteness

"Under the sea, Under the sea
 Darlin', it's better, Down where it's wetter
 Take it from me.
 Up on the shore they work all day
 Out in the sun they slave away
 While we devotin', Full time to floating
 Under the sea!" - Sebastian



Jeanine Von Essen Sharpen has some very good PDFs, so good that instead of choosing one - I decided to get them all numerically, and had already bought the first 4 when she posted something in a balloon group to the effect of "if you ask between now and midnight I'll send you some designs".

I was one of the lucky ones who happened to be around at that time!  This is one of those designs - all of them are very quick to build, this guy is perfect for line work, the basic form is done in moments.

And then .... link

February 26 - Lion

"Simba... Let me tell you something that 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 Again we revisit Balloon Magic magazine issue #79, most likely for the last time - but this is really a good issue!  Here is Lily Tan's lion.   It's cute and cartoonish, this is squeezable and huggable - which I think is somewhat her trademark. I really do like this creation, but I don't think I got the face right in these builds.  There is so much balloon around the cheeks that they droop.  I tried one where I made a smaller mane, but that took away from the overall effect.  I think if I made the whole head structure smaller, and made the outer bit of the mane softer, it could look a lot cleaner. As always, "my next build would be so much better!"

Tickle fight!

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February 25 - Briar Rose

Lips that shame the red red rose,
In ageless sleep, she finds repose.

  "We can complain because rosebushes have thorns,
    or rejoice, because thorn-bushes have roses."
                   ~ Alphonse Karr



This is one a many "cutie princess" designs that are a recent release from Shana Brenion.  Shana and David Brenion are Los Angeles based balloon artists, with no apparent fear of Disney litigation. :)  They have published a lot of videos to the balloon-animals.com website, but what I really enjoy about much of their work is that it's "concept based".   Taking these videos as an example, even though Shana gives a lot of details on how to make this particular princess, it was more of a lesson on how to make various dress features, using the Disney princesses as models.

Shana released an earlier video on how to make fancy princess eyes, a perfect companion video to this.

Briar Rose is the unevolved form of Princess Aurora, and is cursed to never be known by either of these names.   She is Sleeping Beauty.

I had to resist the temptation of putting all of the cutie princesses that I attempted to build into this post.  Not only could they all use that "second build" attention to quality, but I figure if I did more than one I might not do any more from the series.

This one is the first and probably the most basic form in the set.

"They say if you dream a thing more than once, it's sure to come true."

February 24 - Jenny's Dogs

"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read"     -Groucho Marx

A while ago I contacted Pet Smart to volunteer to twist balloons on the weekends when they have a pet adoption event.  The idea was to twist dogs or cats only to attract more families and have something for the kids to bring home even if they couldn't adopt that day, and any tips would be donations to the adoption organization.  The balloon animal a reminder to "come back and adopt for real."

No one returned my phone calls...

In the meanwhile I scoured the internet for a few other dog and cat balloon ideas.  It was then that I found Jenny Wagoner's YouTube channel.  She designed this dog for a client and they loved it so much she thought to share it with the world.  I hope she hasn't given up, she is a great teacher but only has the two posted videos, parts 1 & 2 - and they are about 7 months old at this point.

The dog is very cool and cartoon-ish and big enough to wow!  ... to ... wait for it, wait for it ... bow-wow?   I really like the way the face and ears go into that classic "huh?" look dogs can give you.

If it lands on the floor, it's MINE!

We're having updog for dinner again. 

February 23 - Swan & Flamingo

        "Now wakes the hour,
         Now sleeps the swan 
         Behold the dream,
         The dream is gone. 
        Green fields are calling 
        It's falling, in a golden door."
           ~ A Pillow of Winds (link)


Jeffrey Hayes is one of the most creative balloon artists that I know and have the pleasure of calling friend.

I first met Jeff last year in a Steve Klein webinar, but it would be hard not to know of him, he has been a frequent contributor to balloon forums and the art in general - and a huge inspiration.  He is probably one of the most fun (terrifying?) people in the world to jam on an idea with, because he has a balloon mind like either a chess grand-master or a mad scientist - an idea or simple concept turns into Chewbacca-riding-a-shark-with-laser-eyes awesome.

Last night he stepped in and hosted an impromptu webinar when there were some computer issues in the regularly scheduled program.  With no audio, he was able to teach so much that he could have just dropped the mic halfway through and walked off stage - it would have still been worth the admission price, yet with only 6 minutes to spare, he quickly taught us this swan as well.

Grace under pressure.

Since it's Jeff, I couldn't just build the swan, I had had to try and push it somewhere else.  So I tried making a flamingo.  I like it!  Now I just need to add the shark and the lasers ...

Ivory & White

Thanks Jeff!

February 22 - Ant

"Oh, I know it's a rock, I know. But let's just pretend for a minute that it's a seed, alright? We'll just use our imaginations. Now, now do you see our tree? Everything that made that giant tree is already contained inside this tiny little seed. All it needs is some time, a little bit of sunshine and rain, and voilá!" ~ Flik 

Nao Osaka design, this unlike most of Nao's designs does use a couple different sized balloons to get the thin legs and antennae.

What I like most about this are that the way the legs, antennae and mandibles are made - it ends up being a very pose-able figure.  I could see this design used for a number of different insects as well, with very few changes this could become a wasp, or a termite.  A couple more changes could give you a grasshopper or a praying mantis.

Great design!

Have you seen my uncle?

February 21 - Angel

    "It's not about the amount of years in your life,
     it's about the amount of life in your years."


Yesterday I had the sad task of singing at the funeral services for a friend of mine, Dustin Powers.  He was the guy I would sit next to at rehearsal practically every Tuesday, a passionate fellow bass in the North Carolina Master Chorale and just an all-around great guy.  I don't know if I ever saw him without a smile, a big beaming infectious smile - he was the type of person that you would know within seconds of meeting that you would be friends.

Tim Chapman mentioned something in his eulogy that points to what kind of person he was, Tim would sit on the other side of him during practice.  There are times when we sing some of the most beautiful, and at times heart-wrenching pieces of music - and I remember confessing at one point in particular when we were singing the opening of Dvořák's Stabat Mater (link), written as dedication when his two surviving children died within a short time of each other - that in knowing that, I had trouble singing the emotional opening passage without tearing up.  "Then we'll cry together." 

... and we did, and we laughed, and we made amazing music together.  He will be missed.

 The angel design is by Graham Lee, and was used as December's competition.  The wings of the ascending angel were inspired by a cupid design by Sam Cremeens.

"I miss you!"

February 20 - Turtle

        "And the turtles, of course...
          all the turtles are free.
          as turtles, and, maybe all
          creatures should be." ~ Dr. Seuss

This turtle design was provided by Rob Driscoll -  creator of "The Original 365 Days of Balloons" blog. (link)   I discovered Rob almost immediately when starting out on my balloon passion. But since that was only about a year and a half ago, he was working on his latest project, "Twisted Cinema" - in which he is recreating famous movie scenes.  They are amazing, it is well worth checking out that link and following his blog.  I confess that despite the name of the blog, I never looked through his archive of daily creations .. they aren't easily clicked to, perhaps because it's so easy to get distracted by all of his more recent amazing pictures.  I had to navigate deep to see the first image, but now I'm hooked and stepping through day-to-day.

Rob is an inspiration - not only in the fact that he created the original 365 balloon-a-day website, but also in providing such a comprehensive example of how this exercise of trying to create something daily/monthly/publicly really improves your game over time.

This design was a fun one to play with, I tried making it large and it was super squeezable cute, and made it small and it was adorable cute.  I fiddled around with the shell too, which I might stick with if I can get the tail to poke out better.

The whole family!

Different shell style

Hangin' with my homies

February 19 - Nao Fish

"I'd like to travel under the sea, I could meet all the fish everywhere, I'd like to travel under the see, but I don't think I'd like to live there. I might stay for a day if I had my wish, but there's not much to do when your friends are all fish. And and oyster and clam aren't real family, so I don't want to live in the sea." - Ernie
That quote is special to me, I would sing this Sesame Street song to my sons when they were young.

If you've spent any time on this blog at all, you already know that I'm a huge fan of Nao Osaka.  I continue to be amazed at the life he can capture in his designs, and this fish is no exception.

Nao's designs are complex at initial glance, but very straightforward after you understand them - it makes it a delight and very easy to attempt these larger or smaller.  When you upsize these - they really amaze people.

Look what I caught!

What's neat about this fish, similar to the dog - is that it's the foundation for a good variety of fish,  By simply changing the quantity, color or length of the stripes - you could make most fish shapes.  I've included some extra pictures in this entry to show.

Angry eyes!

160 fish

Smooch!

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February 18 - Hodges Bird

Crazy-eye - bird brain

"I always wonder why birds stay in the same place when they can fly anywhere on the earth. The I ask myself the same question." ~ Harun Yahya

Gabrielle Hodge, the "Queen of Hearts" showed a design similar to this in a webinar ages ago.  Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures at the time, so this is just a mushing together of her heart ideas for a bird.

... I could do better, the crazy pupils are driving me a little batty. :\  Feeling a bit under the weather though, heading back to bed.

February 17 - Geo Fish

I was just a little pup and it was derby day

Was dad and me and Darrell out in San Pablo bay

Taco flavored Doritos and my orange life vest

Dad caught a hundred pound sturgeon on twenty-pound test

Now he fought that fish for an hour And a half

Darrell'd say "Jump ya sons a bitch!" and he grabbed for the gaff

When we got him in the boat he measured six feet long

I was so danged impressed I had to write a song

called Fish On 

~ Primus 

This is called a Geo Fish because the main body uses a giant Geo balloon.  I don't know many uses for Geo's, mainly I use them for a quick flower or a base for something else.  Geo's are ... weird?  I have wondered at times what inspired Qualatex to create such a thing, but I do enjoy them.

This fish was designed by Rob Balchunas for Balloon Magic Magazine Issue #80, and despite having to frumple twist to get the mouth, you have to have a decent amount of air in there or you lose the head shape - so with a 16" Geo this becomes quite a wrestling match.   I think the end results are worth the finger pain!

There's something fishy about the guy in the middle...

February 16 - Gorilla

I have a hard time not feeling emotional whenever I see gorillas in a zoo, they sit with a chilling dignity that oftentimes brings me to tears:

"[I]n Africa I was a member of a family—of a sort of family that the people of your culture haven't known for thousands of years. If gorillas were capable of such an expression, they would tell you that their family is like a hand, of which they are the fingers. They are fully aware of being a family but are very little aware of being individuals. Here in the zoo there were other gorillas—but there was no family. Five severed fingers do not make a hand." ~ Author: Daniel Quinn

Patrick Van de Ven posted this design in Balloon Magic magazine #79 along with his frog.  Another fantastic, yet simple characterization of a gorilla - there are relatively few balloons used to create such nice form.

"Grape Pig, Grape Ape"

February 15 - Monkey

"We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true."

These monkey's were designed by Lily Tan - taken from Issue #79 of Balloon Magic magazine.  That issue is chock full of goodies!   I really like the look of this monkey, and you can make the arms long enough to wrap around someone or something for added cuteness.  In fact, you probably do want to do that - the way the tail attaches at the bottom makes it unable to stand on it's own.

The body style is similar to some bear bodies I've seen - with the bubbles running down and up the sides to form appendages.  So knowing that, as I look at it - I see 6 limbs total, arms hanging to the side and reaching up.  Can't unsee. :)

Boots?

A monkey on your back -- literally!

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