Basic and Simple Balloon Twisting Instruction that every amateur Balloon Twister should know.
Simple Balloon Twisting Instruction
After many years of working as a professional balloon twister, I have helped lots of amateur balloon artists that have come to my booths and inquired about how to become a certified balloon artist. I have taken the time to personally teach them the basics and even showed them how to make balloon animals the same way that my teacher and friend did with me. However I realize that not everyone interested in balloon artistry will have a chance to stop by my booth so I felt that designing this website would help me reach other amateur balloon artists in the world.
Now, I truly feel that there is no chance for anyone to actually learn how to make balloon animals through a book. I find it impossible for someone without any balloon twisting experience to actually grasp the concepts and master the techniques necessary for making balloon models through written instruction and diagrams. So I have decided to create small instructional balloon twisting videos which I will host right here on this website for all of you to take a closer look at some of the basic techniques of balloon artistry.
In the meantime, while I put together these small films I have written some simple balloon twisting instruction so that you can get a basic idea of what is involved. Do not expect to become an expert from these examples as I myself feel that much like you cannot learn martial arts through a book, you cannot learn balloon twisting through written mediums either. Nonetheless, I have broken down some easy balloon twisting instruction and sketched out some sample diagrams for your convenience. Enjoy.
The picture above represents a 260 balloon and all our balloon twisting instruction will be based upon this design. The first thing I want to cover is how to inflate a balloon. I highly recommend using an air compressor or pump to inflate these balloons to avoid spreading your germs on the very same balloons you will be handing out to children. You also do not want to risk becoming lightheaded or the balloon accidentally blowing up in your face.
Now after inflation and before you tie off the balloon, let a short gust of air out of it. This will soften it up so that it won't explode while you are sculpting and twisting. Again, this is very important to avoid accidental pops.
Next you want to pinch the balloon at about 1 inch to 2 inches down from its nozzle and let out all of the air from the front part. This will make the balloon easier to tie into a knot. Remeber if you are planning on modeling an animal or character with a tail or numerous amounts of twists, it is vastly important that you leave an extra amount of uninflated balloon nipple. Refer to diagram A.
Now you have to get used to twisting and using the uninflated space. Every time you twist, you will be using some of that space which is why I pointed out how important it was to leave an ample uninflated balloon nipple. Go ahead and hold the end of the balloon's nozzle and work your way towards the nipple, twisting along the way.
When you first begin twisting, you should always begin at the nozzle end of the balloon. The reason for this rule of thumb is because everytime you twist, the air inside the balloon gets pushed towards the uninflated space so you want to be sure and start at the very very end of the balloon to guarantee the most possible twisting space. Make sure to twist each bubble 4 times for beginner balloon models while keeping in mind that the more advanced your models, the less you will be able to twist. Don't forget to twist in the same direction at all times.
Be sure to hold on to the first bubble you twist of any section until it is secured or twisted together with other bubbles. As you can see from Diagram C, the first bubble is not secured while the first bubble on diagram D is secured.
If you want to make a fold twist, used for making ears, you twist the ends of the same bubble. In the diagram, bubble B is the one being twisted. You are to twist the ends, 1 and 2 together.