September 30 - Smoosh Pig

Well the first little piggy,
well he was kinda hick.
He spent most of his days,
just a dreaming of the city.

And then one day, he bought a guitar.
He moved to Hollywood, to become a star.

~ Green Jelly Three Little Pigs

I can't believe it's the end of the month already!  The second half of Smooshtember went by too fast, I need more days!!  I hope you can tell how much I like the Smoosh technique and the creativity it fosters.

What is interesting is Scott Tripp has given us pseudo-retro balloon twisting.  In any other discipline it would have made sense to start from basic round building blocks instead of "twister" balloons.  He has shown us the roots we had ignored, or at least never thought to pay attention to.

Here is my version of a Smoosh Pig.  I used the Smoosh Kitty style of sideways body which seems to work well for animals.

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Other Smoosh:

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September 29 - Smoosh Benson

This was the design that made me decide Smoosh! would be the second balloon concept to explore this month.

I was originally going to make Benson around the same time as I made Pops, but remembered Scott Tripp had made a gumball machine on The Balloon Blast Video Show.   This is similar to that with arms and legs and a face.

Benson has the personality of Donald Duck on Regular Show. He is the park manager and always getting angry with Mordecai and Rigby.

I've included an image of the prototype (with arms way too long) I built back then as well.

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Other Smoosh:

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September 28 - Smoosh Ninja Turtles

This is another one from the John Justice line of Smoosh! characters, and once again John uses his unrivaled Jedi sharpie art skills on the face and sash. Scott Tripp's Smoosh! technique provides a nice simple androgynous doll form with which to practice your sharpie art.

Now I have to put on my fussy face for a minute and say you need to know which ninja turtle is who. It's completely distracting when it's the wrong color or weapons. A sports star doesn't run onto the field with a different jersey on.

Leonardo (Leo) - blue mask - two katana - the level headed leader
Donatello (Donnie) - purple mask - bo staff - the smart one
Michaelangelo (Mikey) - orange mask - nunchucks - the goofball
Raphael (Raph) - red mask - sais - the serious/angry one

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Other Smoosh:

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September 27 - Smoosh Spider

Ziggy played guitar,
jamming good with Weird and Gilly
And the spiders from Mars.
He played it left hand
But made it too far
Became the special man,
then we were Ziggy's band

~ David Bowie Ziggy Stardust

Here is another balloon inspired by Scott Tripp's Smoosh! videos (link).

I was thinking about smooshing a printed round, I have a bag of these fierce eyes that I I've seen used for spiders and scorpions, so I tried a smoosh-spider.  (Which is conspicuously the only state a spider is allowed to be once inside the house.)

You can't really see the shape well in these pictures, but the taller spider has a nicely shaped abdomen and could easily work as a black widow.

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Other Smoosh:

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September 26 - Smoosh Minions

So you call in your minions
And see what you can find
Night time or morning
These hands are sticky but I don't mind

~ Sinéad O'Connor ~ You Cause as Much Sorrow

This started as an attempt to recreate a minion that Scott Tripp posted to help showcase his Smoosh! video concept (link). I made the hair a bit short, and only the tiniest of tufts sticks up above.

I also found an image of John Justice's smoosh minion, he always has such a clean look and oftentimes he creations are full of great sharpie artwork. This one is no exception, I really like his two-eyed minion face, something I probably wouldn't have even hazarded attempting before seeing his example.

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September 25 - Smoosh Frogs

One of the big questions in the climate change debate: Are humans any smarter than frogs in a pot? If you put a frog in a pot and slowly turn up the heat, it won't jump out. Instead, it will enjoy the nice warm bath until it is cooked to death. We humans seem to be doing pretty much the same thing.

~ Jeff Goodell

Scott Tripp's Smoosh! balloon concept is interesting in the concept yet unequaled in it's ability to foster creativity.  I know I've said it a few times but it really bears repeating - the way to make "anything" in balloons is to reduce it down distinct characteristics.  Color, shape, features.  An elephant has big ears and a long trunk.

By placing a restriction on yourself (a proper Smoosh! requires round balloons) -- you allow yourself to be more focused in the creative process.  Cosider this -- instead of "How would I build a frog?" - you ask, "using Smoosh! - how would I build a frog?".

Sometimes when building things, I make multiple versions of a balloon to try and make it look better.  This time I made three and I like all three of them for different reasons.

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Other Smoosh:

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September 24 - Smoosh Monsters, Inc.

Sulley: Mike, this isn't Boo's door.
Mike: Boo? What's Boo?
Sulley: That's... what I decided to call her. Is there a problem?
Mike: Sulley, you're not supposed to name it. Once you name it, you start getting attached to it. Now put that thing back where it came from or so help me...

~ Monsters, Inc. (2001)

Not only have I made a Mike Wazwoski on this blog before, but I've done it this month!

This time I was thinking to use Scott Tripp's Smoosh! balloon concept to make some Tsum tsums. Tsum tsum's (literally "Stack stack") are a small plushie created specifically for Japanese Disney Stores, roughly the shape of a sandbag guinea pig. They were an instant hit (remember Kawaii - the Japanese 'cuteness factor'), and now there is a dauntingly huge collection of them.

I first made Tsum Tsum Sully on the left, below, when playing around -- but thought to simplify him.  The face of the actual Sully tsum-tsum is simple, like the build on the right with no mouth - but now that I see them side by side I like the first face best.    Mike also started as a tsum-tsum, feet but no legs - it kept a nice scale between the two balloons.  He needed arms, and once he had those - legs.

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Other Smoosh:

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September 23 - Smoosh Eagle

“Farewell," they cried, "Wherever you fare till your eyries receive you at the journey's end!" That is the polite thing to say among eagles.

"May the wind under your wings bear you where the sun sails and the moon walks," answered Gandalf, who knew the correct reply.”

~ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Annotated Hobbit: The Hobbit, Or, There and Back Again

Similar to the geo's, I was gifted a few bags of older hearts to play with -- and thought I would try my hand at what I could using Scott Tripp's Smoosh! style.

The principles are the same, but having multiple lobes created somewhat of a diagonal attachment.  The basic structure was making me think of a bird so I traveled down that corridor, making the one in all white first.

The head was so large it makes a nice cartoonish bald eagle.  I started out with no arms, drawing the wings in on the white - but then the arms made it more expressive and helped position the head.

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Other Smoosh:

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September 22 - Smoosh Little Indian

When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice.

– Cherokee

This is my attempt at a Little Indian Boy using Scott Tripp's Smoosh! technique..

I'm trying to exercise more creativity in my day to day life, actively searching for patterns in things and keeping a notebook of what I find.  I was visiting my brother this last weekend and we walked through a street fair where I noticed a shirt with a Native American.

This one can serve as a sharpie-art 101 reminder lesson.  I first made the one with the headband, but the face is so small within the area that it looks chubby.  The second with the face paint has over-sized eyes and looks much better.  I also opted to not make ears on the second which keep everything a bit tighter.

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Other Smoosh:

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September 21 - Smoosh Cartman

If some girl tried to kick my ass, I'd be like, "HEY! Why don't you stop... dressing me like a milkman, uh, and making me dance for you.... while you go and smoke crack in your bedroom and have sex with some guy I don't even know. On my Dad's bed!".

~ Eric Cartman

Here is another one I was playing around with using Scott Tripp's Smoosh! technique (link).

Smooshman from Smoosh Park..

I played around with this guy for a little bit trying some different styles for a hat.  I could have colored it completely to keep the nice round head, but opted for twisted.  I should have given him angry eyebrows.

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September 20 - Smoosh Pennywise

Ohhhh... You want it, don't you, Georgie? Hmm... Of course you do. And there's cotton candy, and rides, and all sorts of surprises down here. And balloons, too! All colors.

~ Pennywise It (1990)

I've yet to work my way through the rest of Scott Tripp's Smoosh! (link) - but I'm working with a limited amount of time in a month and want to get to some designs inspired by the technique!

I hear It's fantastic, but I've yet to see It.  Here is my Smooshywise.  Tim Curry is one of my wife's favorite actors, this is probably my second favorite roll for him (no contest for Frankenfurter).  The new Pennywise has some big shoes to fill - see what I did there?

I ended up making this for the folks at Starbucks - sometimes things are really well received and sometimes it's a new person who doesn't know what to make of me shoving a balloon in their hands before driving off.  I believe the direct quote was "wow!  this is ... whoa.  This.  This is .. something!"

Yep.

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Other Smoosh:

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September 19 - Smoosh Pooh

"No, silly, old bear! You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is even if we're apart, I'll always be with you."

~ Christopher Robin Pooh's Most Grand Adventure: The Search For Christopher Robin

I can't read the title of this post without my inner child giggling - and I'm sure that's one of the reasons Scott included this design.  This is Pooh from Scott Tripp's Smoosh! (link) balloon concept.

Again I have to point out what a positive influence Scott has been on not only my own art, but for other balloon artists as well as probably most people he comes in contact with daily.

Scott has recently offered a 6 week course entitled "Creativity Blaster" - which I had the great fortune of taking part in.  It is a treatise on imaginativeness in which he has put an incredible amount of effort and research.

They say if you learn one thing from a course, it's time well spent.  I wonder what they say about learning 100+ things ...

I tried my hand a making Piglet using similar techniques.  Once again it seemed to work better with disconnected arms, and he always has such a big smile I thought that was important to include in the full face.  You can see by the picture of them together that Piglet is actually a little bit bigger because of this -- I could have tried to make him appropriate size, but it was easier to stick closer to the true technique and cheat a little in the final image.

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Other Smoosh:

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September 18 - Smoosh Elmo

Sometimes me think, "What is friend?" and then me say, "friend is someone to share last cookie with."

~ Cookie Monster

I would share my last cookie with Scott.

One of the advantages to Scott Tripp's Smoosh! (link) over other techniques is the accessibility.  Everyone has and knows round balloons, they are easy to fill and these can be quick to make.

But you shouldn't think of this concept as formula's for designs, if you do you have missed the point entirely.  Instead think of this as Scott the Sensei, who has reduced things to the simplest form in order to open your mind to further potential.  Like a trained ninja who can turn a stick into a deadly weapon, train yourself to do this with balloons and you can make anything.

Scott shows Elmo and Cookie, I was able to easily and confidently turn this into Zoe with only a few minor changes and my attempt took only a couple minutes.

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