The Front Room Tapes Vol 5 - One Balloon Wonders by Graham Lee

Available from http://www.balloonartwholesale.co.uk priced £19.99

To celebrate my 25th balloon review I thought I would take a look at one of Graham's own DVDs. For the risk of being banned permanently from these forums, this review will be completely unbiased  :lol:

To start with, I have never been a very big fan of single balloon models. In fact, I only make the odd single balloon dog or sword for fast party giveaways so I approach this DVD with interest to see if there really is anything useful here. Firstly, I love the look and feel of this DVD. There is no fancy studio setting but the quality is excellent and this adds to the feel of the DVD in that it is easy to believe you have just popped around to Graham's for a cup of tea and some 1-2-1 tuition. The DVD has easy to access menus and is well put together.

The instruction is very clear and concise. Graham measures his balloon bubbles by the number of fingers. It may take a few turns to work out how many of Graham's fingers match your ones but it didn't cause me too much problem.  Each model on the DVD is shot twice. One view is facing Graham and the other is as if you are looking over your shoulder which is excellent if you are a beginner and need a little extra help.

OK, let's see what we have here....

POODLE

For many years I have been making the standard balloon dog. This one is superb in that I now have a dog that will stand up on its own and is harder for the little darlings to pull apart. The pinch twist I have put at the front of the neck could do with being a little smaller so that the dog's head isn't tilting too far back. A very nice poodle.

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PARROT

A classic balloon model. I also struggled with the parrot in that the swing wasn't big enough. This is sized correctly and the additional two mini-feet hold the model together well. Really good.

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PIG

I've taken the photo of this pig tilted upwards to show a better view. The pig's face has great character but I struggled with this one to make it out of a single balloon. I am guessing my bubble sizes especially for the body were slightly too long. I couldn't be bothered to make it all again so I cheated and used a second balloon!

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FISH

A wonderful balloon fish. With this one bubble size is very important as to complete this one with just a single balloon was a bit of a struggle. Maybe my bubbles were too big or I over inflated the balloon. The front view video was a little difficult to follow in places but the over the shoulder shots really helped. Very nice fish.

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SPACE GUN

I found making this space gun I had to stretch the balloon to extend the length. The gun I usually make only has two loops and is a little faster to make.

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DOLPHIN

Considering this is just a single balloon it makes for a pretty good dolphin. Probably not one of the single balloon designs I will use very often but still nice.

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FLOWER

This balloon is great. I made a few of them at my son's karate club tonight and all the women loved it. The animation is wonderful. Beginners may struggle to make the pinch twists on the stem to start with but it doesn't take to long to get to grips with it. This is one I will be using. The photo doesn't do it justice.

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Another great review Darren,

I can't believe it is 25 you have done....It must be costing you a fortune in DVD's      

Cheers Kevin - I've not finished this one yet. I must still have a 100 or so more DVDs, books, magazines etc to review! I am looking forward to the day when a new item is released and someone donates a copy to me to review - now that would be good  :lol:

I do know people here value my reviews and it is also fair to say a number of artists have benefited in additional sales so it is a win win situation.

Your feedback as ever is appreciated.

Cheers

RABBIT

It makes a nice change to see a single balloon rabbit that is laying down rather than sitting. A nice technique for the face. Quick and easy.

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FROG

A cute frog. The head design is very clever (sorry doesn't take much to impress me) and I can see myself using this for line work. I did struggle to make this on the first attempt as I ran out of space to make the end few bubbles. Worth perfecting.

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ELEPHANT

A good elephant and in this attempt I may have made the trunk a little too long. It's OK but my least favourite from all the designs.

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PONY

A great little pony. I make similar multi-balloon versions of this pony design to add variety of colour but as a single balloon this is very effective and fast to make. I will be using this one in the future.

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VACUUM CLEANER

This balloon has huge potential of becoming a leg on a future superhero or monster! I really struggled to get sufficient length on this balloon and so my cleaner has a very short handle. A novelty balloon to be used at the right time!

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