August 21 - Dolphin

"There's nothing wrong with enjoying looking at the surface of the ocean itself, except that when you finally see what goes on underwater, you realize that you've been missing the whole point of the ocean."

~ Dave Barry

This week I was doing my homework, watching Dave's weekly free twisting jubilee when he made a dolphin.  

He built a larger dolphin than he usually does, saying that he likes to make things bigger for the camera.  It makes sense.

I tried to build the original size.

So - for clarity, the size of a dolphin only matters if you're on camera.

 ... or if you're a hungry orca.

 ... or you're shopping for an aquarium.

 ... or if you're Jon-Eric Sullivan.

 ... or if you're choosing the mesh size for a tuna net.

 ... or if one jumped into your kayak.

You know, there are a surprising number of situations where this actually matters ...

(view other dolphin)

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Other balloons inspired by Dave Brenn:

August 20 - Rhino

I'm the mother flippin' Rhymenocerous
My beats are fat and the birds are on my back
And I'm horny (I'm horny)
If you choose to proceed you will indeed concede
'Cause I hit you with my flow
The Wild Rhino Stampede

~ The Flight of the Conchords - Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros

Thinking back this time to participating in the Balloon Rhino Project - led by Guido Verhoef in 2016 to raise awareness and funds to help protect rhinos at the Plainsberg National Park in Australia.

I looked at the website (http://www.theballoonrhinoproject.co.za/) with some hope that three would be a "here's how we made a difference" and dreading to hear how many rhinocerous had been poached since then.   I don't think it has been updated since 2016.

... don't look for me in the list of participating artists - I was too shy to click the link.

 

Thinkback: April 4, 2016.

(view other Scoobie Doo)

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Other color day balloons:

August 19 - Yellow Cockatiel

"In order to see birds it is necessary to become a part of the silence."

~ Robert Lynd

This is my favorite bird design.

The wings give it such a nice texture, and making them is bit of a challenge - which is exactly why I should build them again and again and again.

This is also my favorite type of photo, 'balloon animals in the wild'.   There's something about putting them in a real environment that makes it feel a little more magical.

And you really can't beat the sun for lighting.

Though yellow may not be the best color to demonstrate that particular point.

(view other birds)

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Other balloons by or inspired by Isopresso Balloons:

August 18 - Rockstar Dawg

"The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now."

~ Proverb

You don't have to be smart to succeed.

A book-on-tape on how to be successful in business made an observation that has stuck with me ever since.

Looking back, it wasn't necessarily the people who had ranked high academically who had become most successful.  Often, it was the opposite.  

The idea was that some people waited for the perfect opportunity, while others took a good opportunity and either turned it great or discovered great along the way.

They called it the corridor principle.  You can't see every open door  from the entrance.  Sometimes you have to start walking before you even know an opportunity is there.

And maybe you're meant to be the one knocking.

This is a color day BONUS balloon!
Tuftex Rockstar

August 17 - Cedric the Small

MONTESSORI SCHOOL OF RIVERMARK
FIELD TRIP PERMISSION SLIP

Name: ____CEDRIC THE SMALL____________________

Teacher: ____MRS. WILLOW_________________________

Destination: ____MT. CINDERPEAK______________________

Purpose: ____SLAY DRAGON_________________________

Bringing Maiden?
 ☐ yes   ☑ no   ☐ I AM the maiden

Next of Kin: ____FREDRIC THE TALL____________________

Lunch Provided?   
☐ yes   ☑ no

Known Allergies: __FIRE____________________________

Extra Class Credit: _PHYSICAL ED._______________

Parent/Guardian Signature:

_____MY DAD_HEDRICK HALL__________________

This is a color day BONUS balloon!
Tuftex Rockstar

August 16 - Tuftex Rockstar

They'll get you anything with that evil smile
Everybody's got a drug dealer on speed dial, well
Hey, hey, I wanna be a Rockstar

~ Nickelback - Rockstar

Tuftex Rockstar balloons are bad.   Like the original bad, before it became cool.  

Rockstar isn't a color last I checked, and honestly 'pink chrome'?   Be better, Tuftex.  Be - better.

I don't want to be "that guy", but these balloons are lousy to inflate and annoying to twist.  The Bret Michaels of balloons.   They also have that "chrome effect" of puffing up to a size, but losing elasticity like a pair of over starched underwear.

I was happy to be done with these and will avoid in the future.

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Other color day balloons:

August 14 - Gorillas

"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change."

~ Charles Darwin

Today was obviously inspired by yesterday's gorillas.

Geo balloons have been out of print for a while now, which has unfortunately made a number of older specialty balloon tutorials difficult to reproduce as originally taught.  Matt Falloon used them in quite a few of his designs.

So today's exercise was more of  a check-in that this is still viable.

As it turns out, there wasn't actually that much to reconfrabulate (technical term).

(view other gorilla)

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Other balloons by or inspired by Matt Falloon:

August 13 - Gorilla

"Any fool can be happy. It takes a man with real heart to make beauty out of the stuff that makes us weep."

~ Clive Barker

I have a dentist named Dr. Cheek.  I sometimes wonder if he was fated to be a dentist with a name like that.

I think the same think about Matt Falloon and balloons.

Falloon, as his gym teacher used to call him, is an amazing craftsperson, artist, and all-around cool guy.  

And attempting some of his designs was like trying to solve the Lament Configuration.

Good pain.  

Thinkback: April 4, 2016.

(view other gorillas)

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Other balloons by or inspired by Matt Falloon:

August 12 - Monarch Butterfly

"Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out."

~ Robert Collier

I'm playing around again with the ideas behind the Isopresso butterfly and thought to try a monarch.

I like how the upper wing turned out, but the curve on the lower wing probably needs another attempt or two.   I considered using a bunch of puff inflates to outline the wings, but that felt like too much when it was already not sitting right.

I'm okay with this being where I got today.

Tomorrow gets to start from here.

(view other butterfly)

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Other balloons by or inspired by Isopresso:

August 11 - Coffee Dawg

"Hell is - other people!"

~ Jean-Paul Sartre, No Exit

Sartre was not simply saying other people were awful.

He was talking about how being observed by others changes the way we see ourselves.

Imagine you are alone in an elevator.  You're not particularly thinking about anything - just leaning against the wall, picking at the crumbs on your shirt, quietly humming the  song that's stuck in your head.  Whatever.  Being you.

Then the doors open and someone steps in.

Nothing about you has physically changed, but now there is another point of view in the room.  You become aware of yourself as something "viewed".  Do I acknowledge them?  Are they staring? Am I staring?  Well where should I look?  Why am I holding my hands like this?  

This is why we vertical commuters have collectively agreed upon the upward number gaze.

This is a color day BONUS balloon!
Celetex Coffee

August 10 - The Harvest Dancer

Mushrooms don't grow simply because of the rain.

Every autumn, when the rains have softened the earth, the Harvest Dancer returns.

With each pirouette, hidden threads beneath the soil awaken. Tiny caps push through the forest floor in widening circles.

Graceful steps coax clusters of mushrooms up through the moss, as if called to the dance in its wake.

By dawn, the Harvest Dancer has vanished without leaving a footprint, while the forest floor bears the only proof of the celebration.

This is a color day BONUS balloon!
Celetex Coffee

August 9 - Celetex Coffee

One more cup of coffee for the road
One more cup of coffee 'fore I go
To the valley below

~ Bob Dylan - One More Cup of Coffee

Coffee is one of the few Celetex bags that I purchased when looking to fill the new color gaps in my kit.  

I delayed using these and finally did so rather reluctantly, based on my first experiences with the balloon brand - these were much better than I expected.   They have a decent pliability and durability - but I would still add that there is less friction than other balloons.  

Your miles may vary - this may be good or bad depending on what you're doing.  I personally don't like the "fwip" of a pinch twist undoing itself, but less friction means less potential fractures at the joints ... 

Overall impression of Celetex Coffee - pretty good, pretty pretty good.  Not the right one though.

Other color day balloons:

August 7 - Wile E. Coyote

"What's in a name?
That which we call a rose /
By any other name would smell as sweet."

~ William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

I am not sure why we don't just call him 'Wile'.  

How many other Wile's do you need to know before you feel a need to differentiate?   

Which Wile?  The coyote one.  Which coyote one?  E.

This week's lesson again comes from Dave Brenn's Patreon, where last week he showed this in anticipation of the new movie out soon.     

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Other balloons by and/or inspired by Dave Brenn: