Today's itinerary
advice: Roadblocks and detours are part of the experience.
This post is a bit
late, but at least I can say my balloon-animal-making is on track. I will try
my best to avoid making this just an exhaustive list of the balloons I made
earlier this week.
SATURDAY
Learning the 'fancy flower' and the horse were both simple, actually easier than expected.
SUNDAY
Learning the turtle took ten minutes. Near the end it seemed like I had missed a step, or maybe the
instructions were wrong, so I went back and just added an extra twist where I
thought was right. The only thing about this one was that I couldn't find any
green balloons until exactly ten seconds after I finished it.
Learning the crown hat was fun. I made it for my friend when I was at her house for a Chinese New
Year's dinner (yes, I brought the balloons and pump to her house). It took five
to ten minutes, so I do want to simplify it somehow (and practice will
definitely make it a lot faster).
MONDAY
Learning the stegosaurus was chosen because I thought it would be fun… it took more than thirty minutes,
if that tells you anything. It takes two balloons, one for the body and one for
the spines and tail. I messed up the first versions of both the body and
spines, and the second versions kept randomly untwisting, but I managed to
finish it.
Learning the pterodactyl (also a two-balloon animal) took more than thirty minutes as well. I learned a
new trick too, but it's kind of difficult to explain. I might make a video soon
that shows some of the things I've learned.
TUESDAY
Learning the dinosaur probably should have been done earlier (if you haven't noticed yet, I'm awful
at choosing an appropriate order in which to learn these balloon animals). For
this one, I pretty much just guessed based on the photo, with a few of my own
modifications.
I made the stegosaurus again to see if I could do it faster. It still took twenty-five
minutes, so I'm probably not going to make that on the spot. I plan to combine the simple dinosaur and the stegosasurus into one that looks cool and
can be made quickly. (I'll update you on how it goes.)
WEDNESDAY
Learning the frog was very difficult because I could not get the proportions right; both times I
ran out of balloon at the end. I might re-do this one in the future.
Learning the tiger was similar in that the proportions were difficult too. The distinguishing
feature of this animal is its head, so I kept making it too big… the second was
slightly better than the first.
THURSDAY
Learning the pig
was fairly easy, although I had to re-do the proportions (seems to be a
recurring theme here).
Learning the fish was interesting because I made it along with the video. I realized at the end
that it was very wasteful (I only used a few inches of one balloon), so I tried
to re-design it.
SUMMARY
It was a mundane but
educational week. The triceratops and pterodactyl were tedious, frustrating,
and a lot of fun. Although I probably will never use them because they're so
complicated, I realized how much freedom I have to design and experiment with these
balloon animals.
I still have several
more basic animals to learn, but I can take any requests if you have them now.
Also, let me know if there is anything specific you might like to see in a
video.
I'm really in the
middle of learning everything right now - stage four will start to explore
design and requests.
Mundane? Really? because it looks like you had a lot of fun and you're skill set is definitely expanding! I really love the fancy flower because simple can sometimes be beautiful, but I have to say, the triceratops is the cutest! Especially the first orange and red one you made with its eyes :D I'm sure that with more practice you'll become an animal-balloon-twister/ing-machine! I have faith that you'll bring so much happiness to children with your balloons. Requesting: a duck please? Good luck! Looking forward to your videos
ReplyDeleteA duck.. hmm.. Dani actually asked for a baby duck too. I found this one video before but the final product barely resembled a duck, so I'll have to look for another one (or maybe I'll make my own) :)
DeleteI WANT A BALLOON TRICERATOPS.
ReplyDeleteI don't care, I'll push small children out of the way to get one. I really appreciate that you're adding some originality and your own thought to the designs. I'm hardly a creative thinker, and I like to abide by the rules - if the directions don't say it, don't do it! But I definitely see where it would be necessary to deviate, like in the instances you mentioned. In the end, I think it'll help you build up your independent skills and finally achieve mastery.
(You'll get me a balloon triceratops tho, right?)
Yes, I can definitely get you a balloon triceratops :) And hopefully it'll take less than twenty minutes this time...
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ReplyDeleteIt looks like things are coming along very smoothly and the balloons look really good. I like how you explain the "anatomy" of the balloon animals and the number of balloons that make up the final product. It gives us a good idea of how large each creation is. My favorite parts of the balloon animals are the little feet that are at the bottom of each of the dinosaurs. They look so stubby and small... but ANYWAY I am glad to see that your research and creations have been going smoothly and I wish you luck.
ReplyDeleteIf I may, I would like to request a Xenomorph. Maybe?... Please?
Xenomorph... really? I think I'd need like a hundred balloons to make it look not like a random blob-creature, but I'll see what I can do.
DeleteLiliana, I'm absolutely in love with your balloon animals. Honestly, I would adopt them if I could. Less maintenance than real pets... haha but seriously, I think you're doing really well! Your practice and effort is evident and I'm excited to see what you do next. Can you make an elephant?
ReplyDeleteHey Lili! I'm so glad I stumbled upon your blog! Your genius hour idea is amazing and I love reading your blog. It's really interesting and engaging. Your balloon animals look they they were done by a pro :). I'm really liking the dinosaurs - they seem really complicated though! Have you had any problems with your balloons like them popping or having too much balloon left over (like an awkward tail)? I wonder how many balloons you've gone through! Once you master these animals (which, let's be honest, it looks like you already have), maybe it would be cool to make animals that require more drawing on the balloons, like a tiger's stripes. Then you could combine the art you're used to doing with the art you're learning to do! Good luck and I hope to see more balloon animals!
ReplyDeleteWow, Lili, you've come such a long way! That flower is really pretty, and the triceratops looks super cool. I question your definition of "mundane", however, as this seems to be anything but. I think you're doing a great job!
ReplyDeleteWow, Liliana! It looks like you are on your way to basically becoming a professional! It is cool that you can redesign the balloons from your head without just following a sort of recipe, which shows that you understand how the balloon algorithms actually work. I've tried to make random balloon animals before but I couldn't do anything really complicated because I had no background practice or knowledge.
ReplyDeleteThat looks awesome, Liliana! I can see that you've come a long way and have been putting lots of effort into your balloon animals (the triceratops is absolutely adorable)! How many balloon animals do you make in a week (do you try to make one every day)? Have you considered making a balloon human/person (do you think that would be harder than an animal)?
ReplyDeleteMy goal was to make two a day - of course that doesn't always happen, so I make up for it on other days (yay snow days!). And I think I might try making a person now... I did make an alien today, if that's at all similar :) I don't think it should be harder, but it might be just because it's such a different shape than what I'm used to (since most animals follow a dog sort of 'algorithm,' as Dani put it).
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