Batman Villains - The Riddler

Hello Everyone, May I be the first to wish you all a very happy National Mousse day, I am going to celebrate this prestigious occasion by listening to the song We All Stand Together by Paul McCartney and the Frog Chorus, It has nothing to do with National Mousse day, I just like it. Today also happens to be day two of Batman villain week and here we have one of my favourites, it is the Riddler. 

I have based this Riddler on the one from Batman Forever (my favourite Batman movie . . . yes, its an odd choice I know), He is played by Jim Carey. The cane and green eye mask are all made from balloons however the details such as the question marks, eyes and mouth are put on in Photoshop. 

See you tomorrow

Rob

Batman Villains - The Joker

 

Hello everyone and happy national square dancing day, I hope you all had a great weekend. It is a brand new week which means a new theme - its Batman Villains. there were so many different characters to choose from and it was so hard to decide but I thought it might be a good idea to kick off the week with The Joker.

I have based this design on the Joker from the 2008 The Dark Knight movie, he was played by Heath Ledger. After I made the sculpture I added the details using sharpies, if you look carefully you will see my finger prints around his eyes and mouth. I found that getting the features to look purposely messy (but good) was actually quite tricky but I think I like the result. 

After I made the sculpture I opened it in Photoshop and added the text and backgrounds, the balloon itself actually has very little photoshop work involved. 

See you tomorrow

Rob

Batman Villain week

Morning all, here we go with this coming weeks theme, its a week of Batman Villains.

Who is your favourite Batman Villain? I loved Jim Careys Riddler but I also really liked Robin Lord Taylor's Penguin from Gotham, such a hard question.

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Peanuts - Woodstock

Hiya fellow space hoppers and happy national cake day, I suggest you celebrate this national day at least every 30 mins and extend it through the weekend.

It is the final day of Peanuts week and I have made Woodstock, the little yellow bird friend of Snoopy and gang. This Woodstock is made from 3  or 4 bits of balloon in 2 different sizes. 

I do hope you have enjoyed my week of Peanuts characters, I will announce the next theme on Sunday ready to start on Monday. Have a great weekend everyone and remember to eat cake. 

Rob

Peanuts - Peppermint Patty

 

Hello everyone, It was pretty tough trying to decide which of the many Peanuts characters I was going to make, I know there will be people disappointed than I have not made their favourite character so I am sorry about that. The way I did choose was to look at the various characters and choose 5 very different shaped faces, 5 characters which all contain different techniques to give you all a bit of variety. 

I am really pleased with how Peppermint Patty turned out, I really think it works well as a balloon sculpture plus with a big smile like that you can't help but smile back. Talking of smiles, this one is photoshopped on, along with the eyes, nose, freckles, hair detail and shirt stripes.  

Happy Thanksgiving and see you all tomorrow for my final balloon of the week. 

Rob

Peanuts - Linus

Happy National Sardines day everyone, I do hope you are celebrating National Sardines day in the best way possible. The Peanuts themed balloon I have chosen to make today is the best friend of Charlie Brown, it is the security blanket wielding Linus Van Pelt. 

Linus always has his security blanket with him and is often seen sucking his thumb, he sounds exactly like me when I was a kid. This sculpture was actually fairly easy to make compared to yesterdays Snoopy, I think the hardest bit was his hair, getting it to lay in a random mess was a little bit tricky. All I needed to do to finish him off was to Photoshop in is his eyes, eyebrows and stripes.

See you tomorrow folks

Rob

 

Peanuts - Snoopy

Hi everyone, I was going to leave this chap until the last day but I was just too excited to share him with you all, Its the hero of the Peanuts comic strip and all time greatest beagle ever Snoopy.

So far with this project I have spent 30-60 mins playing with the balloons and a further 45-50 mins editing each one on Photoshop, this one was different, I spent well over an hour working on his head alone, I think I had watched the entire movie of Godzilla, King of Monsters before I even got anywhere near photographing the sculpture which I have to admit is ridiculous but hey, I ended up with something which looks pretty good I think. 

So if you are wondering, Snoopy's head is made from a heart shaped balloon, please don't ask me to explain anymore than that, it hurts my brain to even think about it, his ear is a balloon too but the nose, eyes and mouth are all put on in Photoshop. 

Have a good day everyone

Rob

 

Peanuts - Charlie Brown

 

Hello all and welcome to a new week and a new theme. As many of you will have seen the theme for the week is the comic strip Peanuts. 

When I was a kid I grew up with Snoopy and his friends, my sister was a huge fan and I remember there being various cuddly toys and other Peanuts themed memorabilia around the house. 

I thought that the best way to start the week would be with one of the main characters of the strip, Charlie Brown, I think he is one of my favourites.

For this sculpture I used 2 different sized balloons for the head (and ears and neck) then made the body from a further 3 bits of balloon, as always I used left over scraps to create this sculpture.  I finished off by photographing the sculpture and then adding the features and zig zag stripe in Photoshop, (the thought bubble Charlie did himself).

See you tomorrow folks

Rob

Introducing Peanuts week

Hello everyone, 

I do hope that you are having a good weekend.  The theme for my balloon project this week is the comic strip Peanuts. 

Rob

Inside Out Week

 

Happy Saturday everyone, here are all 5 of this weeks Inside Out themed balloons all in one photo. Tomorrow I shall announce the next theme which will start on Monday. 

Inside Out - Joy

Hello all, it is the last day of Inside Out week and I obviously have to finish the week with Joy, its Friday which generally means its the happiest time of the week. The hair of the character joy is a real tricky one to get right, as you will see I have made the balloon and added in the mouth and eyes in Photoshop, along with the backgrounds and text.

Tomorrow I will give a small recap of the week and then on Sunday I will announce the new theme for next week. If you have made a suggestion then thank you so much, I am always looking for new ideas, I am currently working a few weeks ahead so don't be disheartened if your idea doesn't appear for a good few weeks. 

Anyway I do hope you all have a joyous weekend whatever it is you do. 

Rob

Inside Out - Disgust

Today I have a very disgusting balloon, the 4th character in my series from the Pixar movie Inside Out, it's the character Disgust. 

This character was fairly simple to do except for the hair, getting that hair curl looking right was quite a challenge. The pupils and mouth were created in Photoshop after I had made and the photographed the balloon. 

See you tomorrow for the final balloon of the week. 

Inside Out - Fear

 

Hey everyone, 

Its time for the third instalment in my Take Five project and the next Inside Out balloon sculpture. 

Today it is Fear. A few people I know have said that this is the character that most resembles me, in looks at least (I'm not sure about personality). I guess it's the bow tie, sleeveless jumper and purple skin. For this balloon version of Fear I have added his hair which is made from an uninflated balloon and then shaped with wire, I have added his eyes and mouth in Photoshop.

I always think fear is an excellent emotion to have and its great to feel fear at times. I love the feeling of being scared, whether it's upside down on a roller coaster or wondering what's hiding in the depths whilst I swim in the sea, it's an emotion that makes you feel alive. I think everyone should learn to face their fears.

I have had some amazing theme suggestions from various people, thanks to everyone who commented and liked my photos. I actually have the first few weeks all planned and ready to go but lets see how long we can keep this up. See you tomorrow folks 

Inside Out - Sadness

Hi there everyone, It is time to Take Five and check out day 2 of Inside Out week, today we meet a balloon version of the character called Sadness.  If you are wondering about the glasses, they are made from an an uninflated balloon which is then shaped with wire. Once I made the sculpture I edited it in Photoshop adding the pupils and background. 

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I make all these sculptures from scraps of balloons, generally it's the left over bits I find on my workshop floor and in the bottom of my balloon bag (waste not, want not and all that). 

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Its OK for Sadness to pay us an occasional visit here and there, everyone gets a visit from her, just remember she doesn't stay around forever, I usually find a chat and a hug will send her on her way and I've always got some of these handy if you need them.

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It would be good to get some more ideas of weekly themes so let me know if you have any suggestions? A movie, tv show, book, video game, or similar.

Inside Out - Anger

Hello everyone, welcome to my new project, this project features a combination of balloons and Photoshop work. For this first week I am featuring characters from the Pixar movie Inside Out and today we get to meet Anger. 

Just to give you an idea of the way I am working this challenge. I make all these sculptures from scraps of balloons, generally it's the left over bits I find on my workshop floor and in the bottom of my balloon bag. 

I love playing with photoshop so I probably spend longer editing these using photoshop than I do actually making the balloons themselves. I spent 1 hour editing this photo of Anger, adding the features such as the pupils and mouth, plus the background. 

I figured Anger would be a good fit for a Monday. Let me know if you have any suggestions for a weekly theme? A movie, tv show, book, video game, or similar. 

Week 1 - Inside Out

This first week I am going to be featuring 5 characters from the Pixar movie Inside Out

Take Five

Hello all

I have a new balloon project starting tomorrow (Monday 15th) which I am calling 'Take Five'. 

Each week I make 5 balloon sculptures on a certain theme (a movie, tv show, book or similar). As you all will realise I LOVE making balloon sculptures but I also LOVE playing with photoshop and so this project is going to be a fusion of the 2, some of the sculptures will be photoshopped to within an inch of their lives but I still want the balloon aspect to look like balloons in the final photo. 

This first week is going to be on the theme of the Pixar movie Inside Out.