Subject: Re: No Subject
Date: Wed, 14 May 2003 18:38:03 EDT
From: Skistz@aol.com


This was a question I received from my last post pertaining to painting foil 
balloons.

<< Having read your idea of spray painting the foils, Do you know if you can

spray paint latex?  I have a 6ft balloon non qualatex and it is a terrible

colour and it's been sitting there for ever. This might be the only way it

gets used, before it decomposes. >>

Qualatex has not made a 6 footer, to my knowledge, ever, so I don't think 
that it not being a "Q" balloon establishes a hallmark.  They also stopped 
making 5 footers a while back.  It seemed that they preferred to apply their 
expertise to 36 inch and smaller latex.

If you can get a hold of the ink used in imprinting I am sure that would 
solve most of the painting issues with latex since the ink contracts and 
expands with the surface.
On the other hand, by the time you hunt down the ink, pay for it and execute 
the coloring, you could have bought and sold a few new ones with more 
desirable colors.
I have painted several 8 foot latex chlorophene(sp) balloons from ToyTex but 
they were inflated first, the paint was from Design Master.  The only problem 
is that paint will not contract when the air is let out of the balloon and 
thus peels away from the surface, so ... once you paint it, it needs to stay 
blown up pretty close to the actually size.
In one case, I painted one for show and a second for backup.  The back up was 
deflated to about 40 inches in order to fit in the van.  It looked fine until 
we blew it back up again and things started to peel! 
Magic markers work well since they tend to shrink and expand more with the 
balloon surface but your would need one about a foot wide!
If you are crafty enough, you could create a bag for a cover and use the six 
footer inside, over and over again.  On our Raggedy Ann type sculptures, we 
make a head out of muslin and used the balloon inside for volume.  Details on 
the cover can also be painted on the cover!

James Skistimas
Balloon House Design Studio
www.theballoonhouse.com