November 30 - Gonzo

This is another one I copied from Patrick Van de Ven's inspiration folder.

I have always loved Gonzo.  Gonzo is the ... thing .. that would blow the trumpet at the end of the intro song to the Muppet Show, and each time it wouldn't work, doing something weird instead - spray water, blow up a balloon, explode, etc.  I was a little sad that the new Muppet Show didn't live up to it's former glory, but it's not without it's moments of awesome (link for evidence).

It's all about the nose, and it took soooooo long to get one I was satisfied with, and then it was a fragile thing to deal with because it had to be tight to retain the tip.

I shall now eat a rubber tire to the music of 'The Flight of the Bumblebee'...music, maestro!	I shall now defuse this highly explosive bomb while simultaneously, and at the same time, reciting from the works of Percy Bysshe Shelley.
I shall now sing Richard Wagner's "In fernem land" accompanied by the dulcet tones of this purple pig.

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November 29 - Elvis

Cow goes "moo", Frog goes "croak"
And the elephant goes "toot"
Ducks say "quack", And fish go "blub"
And the seal goes "ow ow ow"

But there's one sound
That no one knows
What does the fox say?

~ Ylvis What Does The Fox Say?

This Elvis design is the very last one on the Buster Balloon Adorable DVD.

Twisting along with Buster is always both a joy and an education.  He uses balloons in ways I haven't seen before, the chin on this guy for example.  I've made almost all of the designs on this DVD, so I'm sad to have reached the end.

Buster, thankyouverymuch.

Well, you can do anything but stay off of my grayscale shoes.

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November 28 - Sabina's Parrot

"When eagles are silent, parrots begin to chatter."

~ Winston Churchill

Sabina Kellner has a PDF that shows off her neat weaving technique, but you'll have to contact her directly on Facebook to purchase it.

You can use it to weave both circles and straight lines - everything holds together very tightly, and she does a great job with both computer art and photos to show you how to use it, taking you through a number of designs to practice along the way of learning.  This parrot design is the reason I bought the PDF, I love the look of these wings!  This technique works great for feathers, fish scales, flower petals, a cloak or a good variety of other things that look good in a pattern.

I tried making a different color parrot and switched up the wings a little bit - but I attached them backwards and they took some effort and tying to get to keep their form.  The only thing that worries me about this design is I think it might be a short lived creation using all those 160's and manhandling them into place.

Great technique to play with!

Cheese!

November 27 - Raccoon

Rocket Raccoon: His people are completely literal. Metaphors go over his head.
Drax the Destroyer: *Nothing* goes over my head...! My reflexes are too fast, I would catch it.

~ Guardians of the Galaxy

I copied this design from my Patrick Van de Ven inspiration folder. I really think the design looks fantastic, and I love the cheerful personality he's able to get in the face.

The main purpose of this blog was to inspire myself to be a better balloon artist. I really love showcasing the designs that people have made available not only because it's an easier way to figure out design elements, but I also really respect and admire their dedication to furthering the artform and want to support their efforts. Oftentimes the effort to create far outweighs any financial rewards, no one makes a fat bankroll selling balloon designs.

Copying a design from an image is certainly much more difficult (I included my chubby first attempt below), but definitely worth the effort.   In comparison to music, it's the difference between being taught a song and being able to play after listening to a song. It's okay if you're not exact in your copy, you're playing from the heart and using that as a launching point for your own creations.

I still have a good number (too many?) actual tutorials, that won't stop. But it's in that spirit that I will be trying more and more to create from images, with the eventual goal to get past the reliance of these images.

It was like this when we got here ...

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November 26 - E.T.

Phone ... Home.

~ E.T. E.T. the Extra Terrestrial

The first time I saw Dan Staples E.T. design, I knew I wanted to build it.  But more than just build it, I knew it deserved to be put it into that iconic scene from the movie.  I'm glad my youngest son was happy to try out a couple versions.

The instructions are available at Dan's Gumroad website directly (link).  PDFs can sometimes be hard to follow when they are too wordy, but Dan does a great job including many extra pictures from different angles.  This was a breeze to assemble and sprinkled throughout with his humor.  He also demonstrates how to create the basket and handlebars to turn this into a fantastic wearable costume.  The instructions call for blush, but after taking the first pictures I thought building it in mocha might make the colors stand out more.

The image in the upper right is also an homage to the inspirational Rob Driscoll (link), the original daily balloon blogger.

... We're getting away, hey E.T. -- give them the magic finger!

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November 25 - Adventure Pups

"I should think so — in these parts! We are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner!"

~ J.R.R. Tolkien The Hobbit

John Justice has a new video tutorial release on the horizon, Adventure Pups. This is somewhat of a companion piece to his detailed Paw Patrol design, and a simplification of the design.

Though the demonstrations are centered around Paw Patrol, it is really to visit the concept of the hound form in a number of different ways and give ideas on accessorizing.  I love concept videos, they encourage and spark your own creativity.  Instead of trying to remember bubble sizes, you're thinking "how would I realize this using the abstract idea?"

The wolves and dalmatian in this post were taught as the basic structures on the video.  The only one I used the concept on myself was the Clifford shot at the bottom.

Easiest ... hide-and-seek ... ever.

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November 24 - Big Pilgrim

My country 'tis of thee
Sweet land of liberty
Of thee I sing
Land where my fathers died
Land of the pilgrim's pride
From every mountainside
Let freedom ring

~ My Country 'Tis of Thee

Happy Thanksgiving!

These are CJ Nelson's Big Pilgrim, available at Twisters Cookbook in his Pilgrim series (link). With this video instruction is also the smaller versions I posted earlier this week (link) as well as a candy cup smaller version of these larger heads.

CJ is both creative and insightful in his designs.  This pilgrim torso is put together in a fairly elegant way, much more efficiently than a standard 4-bubble torso.

This marks the last of the Thanksgiving holiday designs, I had something else planned for today when I realized my mistake, so I made these in somewhat of a rush late last night (much of yesterday was taken with dress rehearsal and our performance of Carmina Burana). I think this speaks to how effective CJ is at teaching that I didn't have to redo anything and was done when the video's completed (each was about 30 minutes).  I can always nitpick things I could do better next time, but generally I think I got his form.

The turkey is a quickly made design by JJ Szabo.  I think it's a great use of a balloon with a tail (either 321 or more plump as a quick link) and reminds me of an Aardman creation.

I hope you have a delicious Thanksgiving!

Two pilgrims ... and a Turkey in a Fall tree.

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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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November 22 - Buster's Turkey

You're sublime, You're a turkey dinner.
You're the time of the Derby winner.
I'm a toy balloon that is fated soon to pop.
But if, Baby, I'm the bottom,
You're the top!

~ Cole Porter You're The Top
(Anything Goes)

Frequent Flyers was a project put together by Phileas Flash earlier this year to benefit Warchild.uk.org, an organization dedicated to helping children victimized by war.

Buster Balloon's contribution was his usual awesome, he made a "frequent fryer", with his ingredients measured out in cups and diced in mise en place cups (always use fresh, never frozen!).  There is a link to the right with all of my entries in the contest, but here is the one I made for this design:

Even though the tail is simple, it was one of the more difficult to make.  It has an interesting style, but it is held together with glue dots rather than twisting.  I didn't have any so I had to make due with rubber cement - which popped a couple of the balloons immediately when touching them with it.  I'm not sure why ... It probably warrants investigation.

Thanks for inviting me to dinner, but I'm already stuffed	There's a fowl odor in the air ...
Could be worse ... could be tofurkey.

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November 21 - Pilgrims

"Whoa, take 'er easy there, Pilgrim."

~ John Wayne The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

These pilgrims are in a group of designs CJ Nelson offers in his Pilgrim Series at The Twister's Cookbook (link). I have built the larger figures in the past, but I had never built these so I figured I'd give it a whirl.

The larger designs are a little more exciting and detailed than these. I chose these to fit with the Thanksgiving theme, and they are a very functional design and quick to assemble.  CJ is a very good teacher.

That said, I need to stop building line work style balloons, they are becoming more an exercise in posing than in building them.  In fact, if I hadn't come up with the idea to build them like they look in American Gothic, I probably would have built something else entirely.  But I couldn't resist once I thunked it.

"Hey guys!  Dinner's ready!"

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November 20 - The Mayflower

But we come on a ship they called Mayflower
We come on a ship that sailed the moon
We come in the ages' most uncertain hours and sing an American tune

~ Simon & Garfunkel American Tune

The first time I saw Dan Staples was well before I discovered he was master of all things Bear Head - it was in a random webinar sponsored by YTE events where he showed how to make this boat.

I was in the middle of making a costume for one of our traffic guards at school for their book fair, but got hooked following along once I saw what he was doing. So I stopped what I was building, quickly sketched notes on what I had missed and followed along with the rest and then made one for the following morning to bring into the office.

This balloon has what both the highly detailed and the quick replica balloons oftentimes lack, it tells a story. It's not just a ship, it's a particular ship - the Mayflower.

Not speaking until he asks for directions...	S.S. Myheartwillgo-on
We're okay, Spring showers bring May flowers.

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November 19 - Pico Kitties

“Way down deep, we’re all motivated by the same urges. Cats have the courage to live by them.”

~ Jim Davis

We go from gigantic turkey to a micro kitty.  These are the next designs from Matt Falloon's Picos DVD.

Picos are a fun challenge to get right.  You don't have the same flexibility as you might when making a larger size balloon.  One of the things you need to learn when twisting is that it's not only the size of a balloon, but it's the relative pressure you need to be in control of when you are creating things.  A tight 1" bubble that you pinch twist looks very different than a soft 1" bubble than you pinch twist.

When you are working with Picos, you are working with the smallest sized balloons making tiny adjustments - it's much less of an exact science and more of a "feel".  It actually forces you to twist the way I believe you are meant to - watch the video first, then attempt (rather than trying to twist along with the video).  I built the designs that Matt showed on the DVD, but also had a corny idea of doing an invisible cat and giving it a Cheshire grin.

Hello Itty Bitty	Kwazii Cat - Octonaut meets Micronaught
I'm taking these mini-cats to meet Minnie Mouse

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November 18 - Big Turkey

So take me back to Constantinople
No, you can't go back to Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks

~ They Might Be Giants Istanbul

This is one of my favorite things to build this season. There is something extremely satisfying about bringing in a balloon sculpture that doesn't quite fit through the door.

This design is another one of the turkeys included in the Turkey Time release by CJ Nelson at Twisters Cookbook (link).

So far I've made four (!!).   One I brought to work when I realized this week marks the first week that Carol starts work in a new office building.  Although I knew it was coming I am sad to see her go, she always seemed so happy when I brought in balloons, so I made an extra one to bring to her new office.

The third I made for my son's dance studio, they already had some holiday decorations up, but this got a prime location for display on the front desk.  Finally (at least for now!) I made one for my local Starbucks - the people there are always so nice and this is a good one to show off with.

Pardon both of us?

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