Stage One: Map Marked Up

Today’s itinerary advice: Always plan a trip before you go on it.

So, dear reader, I assume you are here to accompany me on this exhilarating adventure – learning the art of the balloon animal.

If anyone out there is afraid of popping balloons (like my older sister), I advise you to run away now or choose this to be the moment you [vicariously] face your fear. I say this because I am sure my inexperience and clumsiness is going to cause the unfortunate end of several balloons.

I will be spending the next six weeks or so reading online tutorials, watching videos, googling a lot of stuff, and trying to twist inflated pieces of plastic into complex shapes. Very rough timeline shown below:

At this point, you might be thinking, “Uhh… that’s great. Not quite sure how this is a significant real-world skill though.” That thought did pass through my mind, so here’s my answer: balloon animals are a very successful way to a little kid’s heart. To elaborate, I volunteer a lot – at my own church, on various mission trips, at school – and often times the job includes taking care of and entertaining little kids. Balloon animals are a surefire way to do that.

My other reason is that I’m an artist. Whether it’s sketching, painting, doodling, building, or shooting (photos), I love to play around and experiment creatively. The hope is that balloon-animal-making might somehow help with my spatial thinking, proportions and that kind of stuff. This stems from an idea my mom planted in my head a while back – any kind of practice with art, regardless of the specific action, helps you learn how to more effectively get that image in your head out onto paper, or in this case, plastic.

Before my final presentation, I plan on asking a few friends for requests to see how well I can reply. This means I’ll have to learn as many different shapes as possible, and maybe a few shortcuts if possible. My end goal is to be able to make most things on request, and be able to talk to the other person as I make it, especially if it’s a little kid.

Game plan set and ready, map drawn out.

xx| Liliana, animal-balloon amateur

Looking forward: Stage two will include packing for the journey.