Did you ever see a good balloon artist? I mean a balloon artist that makes more than a dog or a sword? There are some out there who are amazing.
Balloon modelling or balloon twisting is the shaping of special modelling balloons into almost any given shape, very often a balloon animal. People who create balloon animals and other twisted balloon sculptures are called Twisters, Balloon Benders and Balloon Artists.
There are two primary design styles: “single balloon modelling” and “multiple balloon modelling” which uses more than one balloon. The origins of balloon modelling are a little murky. The 1975 book by “Jolly the Clown” Petri credits “Herman Bonnert from Pennsylvania at a magician’s convention in 1939” as being the first balloontwister. Val Andrews, in Manual of Balloon Modeling, Vol. 1, An Encyclopedic Series, credits H.J. Bonnert of Scranton, Pennsylvania as being the “daddy of them all.” Jim Church III states, “Frank Zacone from Youngstown, Ohio was doing a balloon act during the 1940s and had been doing the act for some time.” Another candidate for first balloon artist is Henry Maar. Regardless of who the original was I have two favorites: S. Frank Stringham and Tawney Bubbles. You can see some of the balloon artistry of S here and Tawney here.
A balloon artist typically uses the most common size of twisting balloon called a “260”, as it is approximately two inches in diameter and 60 inches long. A “160” is 1×60 inches when fully blown up. These are the most common sizes used but there are dozens of other shapes available as well. The balloons come in all the colors of the rainbow as well.
Here are a couple fun pieces created by a balloon artist:
If you would like to create some balloon animals or even become a top notch balloon artist like S or Tawney you should start with the basics like a dog or a sword. There are several good sources for learning balloon artistry. You can always check you local library or visit balloon-animals.com or About.com. There you will learn the basics and perhaps even get good enough to make a viking hat for someone and make them smile.
Can you make balloon animals? Share your thoughts in the comments. Would love to hear from you.
If you liked this or any other posts you read on 1KSmiles, please share it with your friends. And feel free to ‘like’ us on our Facebook page.
I totally agree — I’ve been twisting balloon animals for over 15 years, and I now always carry at least a dozen in a pocket, since the opportunity to give a smile comes too often 🙂
One other resource to mention, that I dearly wish that I had had when I began, is YouTube – an amazing number of tutorials and demonstrations there on twisting.
Tom Raymond recently posted…The Clown in You
Awesome Tom. Thanks for sharing. Let’s give you a plug shall we. Hey Everyone- Check out http://famousclowns.org/
Say Tom, do you have any YouTube videos? Send me the link to one and I will post it up here. 🙂
Troy recently posted…Why I started 1KSmiles.com
Thanks – I appreciate the link 🙂
Here’s one of my YouTube videos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNAMLCn7rrc but there are literally thousands of others but people more talented than me 🙂
Tom Raymond recently posted…The Clown in You
really some balloon artist are so good and make different shapes of balloons.The images you share are also really amazing.
Oh for sure. I have seen some AMAZING stuff out there. Life size models of actual people. Amazing flower bouquets. Some really great stuff for sure.
Thanks for stopping by and visiting and best of business to you and your balloon company.
Troy recently posted…#839 Fake plants create real smiles
Everytime I attend a children’s party, clowns usually do balloon designing and i cannot help myself but smile because i find it very amazing. Clowns usually make animals and make the kids guess what kind of animal have they done.
Moo Jae recently posted…JANE & PHILLIP
Very cool. See? They DO make people smile!
Thanks for stopping by and for your lovely comment.
Troy recently posted…#827 Inflatable lawn decorations