The 2007 Family Ornament Blitz - End Results

Yes, I managed to finish ornaments for the family again. I actually finished juuust before midnight, so nobody can accuse me of procrastinating. (Why, yes, I usually am up past midnight on Xmas Eve finishing the things...) In the interest of cluttering the internet and boring my nonexistent readers, I posted pictures taken with my old camera. Old camera, I hear you ask (deliberately ignoring the sarcasm)? Yes, old. I got a new Sony Cybershot for Xmas, but I have yet to figure out how to use the thing... consider this the last blast of the ol' reliable Fujifilm FinePix. I also got two books, three McFarlane dragon figurines, and other loot... but this post isn't about holiday loot. It's about ornaments. So, let the picturefest commence! Click the links to view my horrendous camerawork, or just read the descriptions and imagine them. I expect the latter will result in better impressions than the former, but whatever lights your tree...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v147/dreamlurker/GpaBob2007fj.jpg
Okay, first off, it should be noted that I did, indeed, have to scrap plans for sculpting with Paperclay. Demand for drum ornaments was greater than expected, so I just plain didn't have the time or space to clear my workbench for sculpting. So I did drums. I painted the sides in holiday colors (not visible in the photographs, unfortunately) and didn't fool with hanging drumsticks, but that's about it. Anyway, these are the fronts of the drums I did for Grandpa and Bob. Grandpa got an eagle, because it was in painting the eagle tamborine/drum for him that I came up with the idea for making drum ornaments for sale in the first place. My uncle got a ground sloth, because I traditionally do weird things for him. For one thing, he doesn't seem to have a "thing" to latch onto, and for another it's a bit of creative liberty. It's a giant ground sloth, if you can't tell. I wound up hybridizing a skeleton image with a cruddily-posed reconstruction, but I still couldn't get the feet and claws to look right. Ground sloths actually walked on the outer heel of their hands and feet, to protect their claws, and it's a pain in the tail to try painting that on the fly, especially on a small scale if you have minimal painting experience to begin with... not to mention cruddy brushes.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v147/dreamlurker/GpaBob2007bj.jpg
The backs of Grandpa and Bob's ornaments; should be easy to tell whose is whose. I was going for something a little different... dunno if it works or not, as it's hard to get a nice, clean line on canvas. At least, it is with my brushes... I think I need to try stiffer brushes, to get into the grain. But I digress.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v147/dreamlurker/BrbSct2007fj.jpg
My aunt and her husband got drums, too. Hers is the whale, as she loves whales. At least, she used to before I started making ornaments; I expect she's a bit sick of them by now, but it's her own fault for not telling me something else she likes. Her husband got a raven, because he likes Northwest Coast Native American stuff and ravens figure big in local myth cycles. Well, that and my original plans fell through and I happened to have some raven ref pics on hand for a last-minute substitution...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v147/dreamlurker/BrbSct2007bj.jpg
The backs of the previous ornaments. Annotation shouldn't be necessary here, so just ignore this pointless rambling sentence. And the one before it... and this one, too, for that matter.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v147/dreamlurker/FamOrnFrnt01j.jpg
For immediate family members, I had to do something different, because I just didn't have the time or space to do drums. I had painted up these paper mache books a couple years ago for ornament plans that fell through, so I dusted them off and finished them up with Elmer's metallic acrylic paint pens. (Have I mentioned how cool those things are? I mean, one or two coats actually covers even on dark backgrounds...) Mom's is green, Dad's is red, and my sister got a dark blue one that looks black in my lousy lighting.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v147/dreamlurker/FmBk07j1.jpg
The backs of the ornaments. (The spines just have "2007" on them, which I didn't deem photo-worthy.)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v147/dreamlurker/FamInside07j1.jpg
In the interest of saving space, and because my photos sucked burnt toast, I compiled the interiors of the books into one image. Yes, the books open... and, yes, that's shrink art. I go all out for my family, don't I? Mom got hummers, Dad got an alien and a rocket, and my sister got a unicorn and a narwhal (from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6kNxf6axY4 - frellin' hilarious YouTube video.)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v147/dreamlurker/BlckPnthrDrm01j.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v147/dreamlurker/BlckPantherDrmBk01j.jpg
Okay, so this one wasn't for family... it's the black panther drum I painted for a request at the store. It was the third drum I sold. (The hummingbird one was the second.) Oh, and the cougar drum sold, too, so I'm down to three in the store. I'll resume painting them after New Year's, or at least a few days after Xmas... I need a break now and again, after all.

Well, I suppose I ought to publish this thing and poke my head out of my room to see if family plans have been finalized. We're heading over to Grandpa's for the traditional family gathering there later today. In the meantime, I'm celebrating in the traditional fashion: vegging in front of the computer while listening to Xmas CDs and munching on cookies.

Happy Holidays, everyone!