A coil-estion, hehee…

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  • #1531027
    Zelda
    Participant

      Hello Melody,

      In looking over some of the photos of the latest batches of GB coiled dragons, and trying to ID the stone spheres, a question popped into my head. Do you paint the dragons first, then try and match spheres to the colors/patterns, or is it the reverse? I can imagine you and the others at the shop having fun filtering through a big box of spheres to find inspiring ones or good matches (which is the geologist’s version of a kids’ ball pit, by the way! :D).

      From having worked in museum gift shops that sell these, I know that bulk shipments often contain a lot of ‘dull’ spheres that are fairly monochrome or don’t have much character to them. Do you do anything special with the ‘leftovers’ that don’t get paired to a dragon?

      Thanks!

      Forever seeking: Blackwatch the raffle Old Warrior, Jennifer Miller's pieces, and GB Baby unis!

      #1531034
      Ela_Hara
      Participant

        OOOooooo! Interesting Question!
        What does happen to the ‘dull’ sphere rejects? Would they perhaps fit in the PYO Oriental Dragon’s mouth? If so, I’d be interested in purchasing one or two… just a thought!

        IN SEARCH OF MY NEXT GRAILS:
        Black Peacock & Butternut Adult Poads
        Kickstarter 'Rainbow Tiger' Bantam Dragon

        *~*~*~* Ela_Hara: The DragonKeeper *~*~*~*
        *** Come visit me on deviantArt at http://ela-hara.deviantart.com

        #1531045
        Melody
        Keymaster

          We do both. When I planned to paint these dragons, I looked at the available colors of these mineral globes, and attempted to  paint the dragons in colors that would work with them, but in the end, Norma, the finishing person, just matched them by eye. We were surprised by how nice they looked in these crazy dragons! Some of the fairly monochrome globes really looked great in some of these dragons. Many globes we got were too large to fit  ( her nose ends up really close to the globe, even with a small sphere) so we’ll probably use these in curlies, or ebay dragons of some kind.

          Yes we have a lot of fun  admiring the mineral globes! I snatched a really nice amethyst one with some rainbow colors in it. I didn’t know amethyst did that!

          * edit* I just looked it up . All quartz can have rainbow “veils” in it! Cool.

          These spheres won’t fit in the PYO Oriental’s mouth.  He takes a 10 mm size globe.

           

          #1531068
          Angelika_Zen
          Participant

            I thought the PYO Ori held a 14 mm ball (or so says the description in the store) … I have some jasper spheres at home that are looking to be put to use.

            Wanted: "Dragon Fruit" Male Dragon ~ "Fire Berry", "Paradise", "Dragon Fruit", "Tie Dye" ~ The brighter, the better!

            #1531313
            Zelda
            Participant

              Thanks for your answer Melody! Makes sense that the sizes of some of the globes would be a little off and too big for the coiled mama. Ever tempted to do your own lapidary work with rocks you’ve found in your travels? They do make a lapidary machine for polishing spheres, but even with a machine it’s a complex process. They must have a trick for producing smaller ones in bulk.

              Glad to hear you find little gems worth keeping for yourself in among the pile too! You’ve got far more discipline than I do to set aside just one 🙂

              Forever seeking: Blackwatch the raffle Old Warrior, Jennifer Miller's pieces, and GB Baby unis!

              #1531350
              whisker hunter west
              Participant

                Are there sculpts that allow more flexibility in stone size, or are the sizing tolerances always relatively tight?  Do the stones have to be a snug enough fit to stay secure, if the stone size runs small? Not that I would mind how wrong-size-to-fit marbles would give me an excuse to keep a bunch of pretty stones around (gem shows get me every time), but it seems a shame if you have to “waste” a portion of your stock.  Which I’m assuming is better spent if it serves the budget purpose of making profit.

                …And I have to admit, I’m daydreaming of a playing-cat sculpture, using those gorgeous stones, and wondering if the chaos-that-is-cats would make for a sculpt with flexibility to allow all sorts of stones shapes for the toy – small, large, marble, leaf-shape…

                Continuing the family tradition of being obsessed with shiny things.

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