It’s been a stressful week… + NanDesuKan Report

This week has been full of tedious and time consuming obligations. I’m still not done but things have been progressing quite well. Of course I haven’t really stopped working and have some things to show you guys. One other thing to note is that last week was NanDesuKan so I’ll talk a bit about that.

Since I went to two conventions earlier this year I was having convention fatigue. I didn’t really feel like going but I did want to take some artwork for the Art Gallery section of the event. This time I decided to take only some prints so that I could sell them for a lower price in hopes that I could sell them this time. This year I took the piñatas That I made all throughout the end of last year and the beginning of this year. Some have actually sold already, such as the Popplio and Eevee and have been comissioned to make another one. So for NanDesuKan I was offering Pikachu, Rowlette, Litten, Mimikyu, Totoro, Jiji, and I made two new ones for this convention. Goku and Kuririn. I made them as kids wearing their attire from their training days under Muten Roshi (I even decided to make their turtle shells the day before the convention).

Just in case you forgot or haven’t seen them before, here are the piñatas that I took with me.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32628223106/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32628014416/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32515650162/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32628204896/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/31856433233/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32546322051/in/dateposted-public/

Here are Goku and Kuriring that I made especifically for NanDesuKan.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/37152283125/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36754812210/in/dateposted-public/

The construction of the turtle shells using foam board.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36963133466/in/dateposted-public/https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/37152447945/in/dateposted-public/https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36316265314/in/dateposted-public/https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/37152441715/in/dateposted-public/https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36316258924/in/dateposted-public/https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36316255544/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/37152447945/in/dateposted-public/https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36316265314/in/dateposted-public/https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/37152441715/in/dateposted-public/https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36316258924/in/dateposted-public/https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36316255544/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36316265314/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/37152441715/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36316258924/in/dateposted-public/

And here they are with them on and painted (painted using spray paint). Tied with some garden ropes to emulate the ones in the series.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36338391343/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/37152268315/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/37152251955/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36316051194/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36754626810/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36754643650/in/dateposted-public/

This was the piñata side of things. But I prefer drawing more, so of course I took some of the new 2d art that I have been working on this year. Thinking back I was learning more than creating this year. But I feel it was worth it (I still have a ways to go, but I’m starting to understand things a bit more now).

My original plan was to show these pieces on their own and before the convention so that those who take the time to visit this site would get a sneak peak as a sort of special “reward” for visiting the site. But I got really busy preparing for the convention that I didn’t have the time (those two weeks before the convention were also quite stressful). Luckily I did get not only the new piñatas finished, but I also had two new artworks done in those weeks prior.

I took 4 art pieces in total this year.

I made a new piece with the prints of the legendary Pokemon from X/Y.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/37153150535/in/dateposted-public/

I dumbly chose to do a Saber piece (from Fate Stay Night, I think). But that series can get rather complicated if you haven’t seen or played any of the games (which I haven’t). (There’s so many Sabers) So I really didn’t know what I was doing at all… This was one of the pieces I was doing right before the convention. Thinking back maybe I should have done something else, but oh well.

Done both traditionally and digitally.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/37153226875/in/dateposted-public/

This piece I had been working with during the summer. I took a bit of a break and did some minor tweaks right before the convention though.

It is Misaka Mikoto from the To Aru series (will make a post especifically for it later).

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36982080862/in/dateposted-public/

And the last piece that I offered this year is the other drawing that I made right before the convention.

This one is of Goku, Kuririn and Muten Roshi. (I will also make another post just for this one and talk about it more).

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36982148692/in/dateposted-public/

So these are the pieces I took this year. Now for the results. Out of all the piñatas, only Rowlette and Mimikyu were sold. And of the 2d art, all of them were sold except for the Saber piece. And out of all the pieces only one went to the live auction, that being the Pokemon X/Y piece.

On top of selling a good amount of them this year, I also won an award again this year.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36982351652/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36982350522/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/37153546725/in/dateposted-public/

Seems like I won the 3D category again this year. Plus I also won the Video Game Room Art Show award. Seems like the 3D award was for the piñatas, and the Video Game award was especifically for Rowlette. With that said, I assured another weekend pass for next year.

Not too bad.

Sorry I haven’t really been posting much, but it has gotten a bit stressful these days. And now the future is looking a bit shaky… Heck even the sun and moon were kind of ominous when the outcome of the future was put on jeapardy.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36340111293/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36756416450/in/dateposted-public/

A bit weird but won’t deny, they looked beautiful. (by the way, they look red because of the fires that were burning on the west coast.)

Nothing can be done except go forward I guess… ε- (￣､￣A) ﾌｩｰ

That should be all for now, I’ll get back to you guys later.

Hasta la proxima,

-Nube

September 10, 2017 0

Preparing for Animeland Wasabi II -Piñatas Part II

It took me a month to make 8 piñatas, I could probably push at least 10 in the same amount of time. I say a month but really it’s about 3 weeks and … 3 days? Some did take a bit longer due to me not having the right color of paper or thinking about the shape I would cut the strips of paper. Despite keeping that in mind, I was surprised that they took that long to make. But now that I have finished them I can look back and and think about ways to cut at the very least 5 days off (if not more). In the end, preparation and planning takes time, almost half of it. I wonder just how much I can refine out of my process.

Looking at the pictures, I will have no choice but to divide it into two more posts. The middle process of actually putting together and giving shape to the balloons that had hardened with the engrudo and newspaper. And the final part of decorating them and giving them their final appearance.

I took a lot of pictures about the process, but don’t wan’t to flood you guys with information so I only posted the most important photos here. But if you click on one, it should take you to flickr which is where I uploaded all of them. There you can get a full view of the process in case you need more angles and steps in between the photos that I did post. In case you don’t want to leave this page as you see flickr than you can right click and open in a different tab.

I made it so that the photos spoke for themselves about the process I took, but if you have any questions do let me know and I will respond as best as I can.

Sorting out the shapes once they had dried sure took a while, next time I have to find a way to keep together the balloons that correspond to one another.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32252956550/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32478830102/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/31820294113/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/31789145354/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32591818516/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32478815652/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/31820280493/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/31789122444/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/31789117984/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/31820267073/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32632173215/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32591764026/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/31820211643/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32632112145/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32252834090/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32509636691/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/31820136413/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32509593571/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32591605716/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32591595286/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32252733110/in/dateposted-public/

To speed up the process of cutting the paper that will cover the piñatas I recommend to do several at once. Line up strips of paper together than folded up in halves.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/31820061383/in/dateposted-public/

You’ll end up with this at the end, from there just cut out the shape or shapes you wish to make and that will minimize the amount of time you will be using to cut paper. Otherwise it is a time eater, I can tell you that from experience.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32509530941/in/dateposted-public/

Here’s a sneak peak at what is to come next time.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32252715430/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32591584436/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32252705620/in/dateposted-public/

That will be all for now. I will be adding the final process and showing you photos of how they turned out. I’d say they came out great but we’ll see what you think.

Hasta la proxima.

-Nube

January 31, 2017 0

New Page Added

(update: Not really doing them anymore – 9-5-18)

I have actually given hints about this on some of my earlier posts, and the time has finally arrived for me to unveil a new area I will be dealing with on this space…Piñatas. I wanted to find a way to meld my love for anime and games into some of my culture, and what better way to do that then to make a traditional symbol of every new year that a person goes through. Using skills I learned back when I was only a few years old and some of the new skill I developed through drawing. The result is actually much better then I could have imagined.

One of the things I noticed was that most of the Piñatas I found here in the states have lost alot of the original quality they once used to have. I actually was searching to see if anyone out there had anything I had envisioned and to my surprise there were none. One thing I did notice was that most of the best if not the best Piñatas were found in Mexico (my motherland). Almost all of them had a great likeness to what they were supposed to be. While here in the states most had only two types of Piñatas. The first kind were oddly shaped and gave a hard time to the viewer who was trying to figure out what character the Piñata was supposed to be. The second kind were just plain Piñatas that just had a picture of the character on it, and that was it. Many of them were poorly made, some already breaking apart before even being used. It seems that the two original methods have been discarded for a more simple carton base instead of the sturdy “engrudo” and newspapers or it’s other counterpart made with clay (not as common anymore since it can me a bit dangerous).

I of course have decided to use the “engrudo” and newspaper method which can be very manageable and flexible when making creations. the results are a very strong (you would be surprised at how hard these can be made) and sturdy body, but also very light which makes it ideal for Piñatas.

The story about how Piñatas came to be can be read here: http://www.pinatadesign.com/story.html

or here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi%C3%B1ata

Please note that many of the stories have different variations

So if you ever wanted a certain type of piñata but never seemed to find it anywhere else here is the place to do so. Browse through the already made piñatas or customize your own. The designs are made to look as good as an actual collectors figure, having most of the details taken cared of. I have invested all of my abilities so that they are deemed as art pieces that can be collected, but with the characteristics of an actual Piñata ready to get busted to realease the goods of your choosing.

May 4, 2012 0