[Rylorien]

Thank you all so much for the wonderful tips to help get me started. I *have* watched videos but they only help so much; I’m one of those people that learns by doing so it’s just a matter of breaking down and doing it! The positive encouragement is just what I need to get over that mental hurdle.

I truly do appreciate the comments on variation in painting styles! It gives me ideas of what to try for myself. Additionally, I hadn’t even thought of using a lazy susan…might need to jury-rig something similar but at least I can think it through first.

Hannah–thank you for the shopping list. I’m sure I could go in and browse for HOURS (I can’t help it…I like looking!) but it will definitely help to have a _set list of specific things_ to take with me for comparison.

As for –further questions–
I was wondering about metallic sheens?
I have a color scheme in mind for a piece, and it requires certain parts of the beastie having a golden glimmer over the parts. Should the gold be mixed into the base color, or is that something that needs to be applied in layers over the top? Or is mixing in the metallic just going to disrupt the main color too much? Silly question, I know, but I’m kind of a silly person.

Also, if I try my hand at antiquing and am using two different colors to antique different areas, should I apply a clear coat between the layers to protect the different antiques? Or is letting one antique dry enough of a barrier?

And yes, Ela_Hara. I love my avatar too; I’ve used it for years (as I have this name, although my full avatar name RylorienLuna is rarely used). XD

[Rylorien]

Well, that helps clear up some of my questions.

It would be pretty neat to see a LP run of what I’d call “washed out” versions of the jewel tone palettes. Moss, for example, being a washed out emerald; water sprite a washed out peacock/blue; and fire berry a washed red. Sand…would be a washed out brown, I guess?

And I do agree that the violet flame scheme is a bit BRIGHT, but that’s my personal opinion plus as an artist I think it’s a beautiful color palette. I don’t think I’d ever buy any of the violet flame pieces thought, as it’s just not my style.

Anyway…this wasn’t meant to be a squeak post, so I’ll shush on that. Thanks Melody for taking time to answer my questions!

[Rylorien]

I didn’t see anyone make a squeak for it, so here I go.

I absolutely looooved the earthen fey young dragon paint scheme from two weeks ago or so. From the blue rings on the bottom of the wings to the pale snake-like underbelly…it was gorgeous! I would love to see a LP run of these young dragons. I would squeak for an emperor or male dragon but young dragons seem more manageable while I feel you’d lose a lot of the color detail on the smaller dragons.

>squeak<

[Rylorien]

Limpy, Gimpy, and Plod!
(a la Wynken, Blynken, and Nod)

I am a consummate pun-artist, always in good fun, so please don’t be offended with my silliness! 😀

That said, hope ya’ll feel better/get well soon. A sprained foot is no joking matter, so take care of yourself!

[Rylorien]

I’m of a differing mind about those wings. The wings *are* cute and the figure looks nice as is, but I’m more of a mindset that the cougar would have looked a lot better without them. She has such a gorgeous grey-blue body phasing to tan, then white, on the points. To me, it feels like the wings are just an extra unnecessary detail that clutters the beauty of her coat.

[Rylorien]

Yes, that Black Rainbow is gorgeous. I think my favorite part is the inner wing fold, as the color phasing is just so spectacular!

I can’t even imagine griffins or kirins in the color scheme, but I bet they’d be equally as wondrous!

[Rylorien]

Yay for shamelessly bringing life back to old threads! Weeeee!

Your favorite colors (up to 5):
–indigo
–violet/lavender
–silver
–steel/charcoal gray
–cobalt blue

Your favorite animals (up to 5):
–hyena
–snow leopard/clouded leopard (probably safe to say I love a lot of the big cat species)
–sand cat
–sharks! (and I liked them *before* they were cool); I can’t really pick a favorite because they’re ridiculously diverse (example: compare a Caribbean roughshark to a Japanese wobbegong to a crested bullhead shark to a basking shark to a whale shark…just too much awesome)
–wolf

Your favorite mythical creatures(up to 5):
–griffin
–werewolf (or similar man-beast shapeshifters)
–kitsune & nekomata (Japanese mythology has a lot of fun creatures)
–demons, especially dream demons (succubi/incubi, nightmares)
–sphinx

(Don’t get me wrong, I love dragons, unicorns, and pegasi too–I grew up with My Little Pony as my favorite show for goodness sake!–but my loves have just evolved since then to include other lovelies…)

Favorite food (that can be mailed)(up to 5):
–uh…truffles? I think those can be mailed

To be honest, there’s lots of foods that I like; I’m just not entirely sure what’s shippable or not. If it’s chocolate, or not super spicy, or something yummy and savory (i.e. Hickory Farms smoked meats with mustards), I’m pretty content to eat it.

Favorite flowers (up to 5):
–iris
–orchids (Disa atricapilla; Dendrobium williamsianum; Dendrobium victoria-reginae; and so many more)
–hyacinth
–violets
–lily of the valley

Favorite gift (up to 5):
–Amazon gift card (new books are so expensive!)
–back massages
–I guess I can put Windstone gift certificate here now 😉

Favorite collections (up to 5):
–what remains of my Enchantica collection
–old My Little Pony + Rainbow Brite toys (I still have a few somewhere, safely stored away)
–Windstone figures (obviously)
–my small collection of anime/video game PVC figures

[Rylorien]

Thank you for the warm welcome everyone! 😀

And yes, Kim, we’re fairly close in age (I was born in ’82). I still have the adorable little Siamese flap cat which was my first Windstone (my second piece was a littermate for her, a black flapper) sitting in the one cabinet I have in my room.

I’m glad I’m not the only looney toony here who’s crazy about grab bags. I already dread just how badly the addiction is gonna bite me in the behind! Meep! Looking back at all of the class photos, it’s daunting just to see how diverse the pieces are…I’m really excited and can’t wait!

If I had to pick *one* piece I most wanted that’s currently available…
(the silly side of me of course wants to jump up and down like a child and say ALL OF THEM!!!)
…that would MOST likely be the red panda flap cat. I absolutely love the blue morpho dragons too (I’d lean toward the lap dragon or maybe coiled mother since I don’t have any of the “new” dragon sculpts). However, I had a physical, visceral reaction to the red panda flapper (the morphos are more of an ‘omg so beautiful! squeeeeee!’ moment). With the flapper, it was an immediate craving (I daresay lust) that bit into my gut. And I keep himming and hawing between to-get-it-or-not. I’m…somewhat extremely…susceptible to impulse buying so I keep a tight leash on myself, and that baby is gnawing at the restraints. >_<

(I had a similar reaction to the african wild dog grand unicorn test paint; then I saw that it WAS a test paint one-of-a-kind item and went outside and howled my dismay…)

Siiiiigh.

[Rylorien]

Warned, and then some!

Even back in my early collecting days, it was sooooo difficult to draw the line…and now there are grab bags? Oy! I’m doomed? >_<

Though, comparatively, I personally believe it's a much 'safer' alternative as an addiction than other things…

[Rylorien]

I am *ahem* a bit late to the party, considering my birthday is September 18…but at least you have it for next year now. 😉

[Rylorien]

Squick squeakem squirk squeak squeaky squirk squick. (See: The Emperor’s New Groove to be fluent in squirrel-talk.)

As for my actual squeaks:

Additional mythological creature types. Perhaps a manticore? Rather than using a human face, just use a lion’s head and torso. Depending on the mythology, manticores had a tail from either a scorpion *or* a dragon; occasionally mentioned as having bat-wings. Chimeras and Nekomatas (split-tail or two-tailed cats) would also be fun to see as a base sculpture, or maybe even wolpertingers (head/torso of a rabbit, body of a squirrel, antlers, and wings of a pheasant)! Yes, I love animal hybrids…in case you couldn’t tell…

Another dragon variation, maybe? Hydra or a wyvern?

More realistically, I’d love to see more variants of the griffins and flap-cats in bird-themed color schemes up for limited edition/production. Cedar waxwings (one of my favorite birds along with blue jays) have lovely natural but subtle color phasing; I also think doing a male+female Northern cardinal color scheme on a pair of griffins would be amaaaaazing, especially if you phased the male from the red bird into the torso and hindquarters of a black panther-esque cat. Or how about a quetzal, Mandarin duck, or hoopoe? (Mmmm, Mandarin duck. So pretty.) Really, just keep those unique color and pattern combinations coming. I love seeing tiger stripes on dragons and ocelot griffins! I just wish they were more readily available as limited production and/or editions. The occasional one-of-a-kind is fantastic, if you’re lucky enough to snag one. 🙁

Since you have a copper patina color scheme for the dragons…why not a rust-red-on-iron one for a steel/dark gray series of dragons? Or a green-tarnish-on-silver/gold?

I’m not as head-over-heels for a Halloween-themed grab bag as some people are (I do agree that the Lady Cat would be the way to go for it), though it does have its merits. Personally I’d like to see something similar but more in the veins of a witchcraft spell-splash theme, wherein the cats boast color spells ‘splashing’ onto them and altering their colors from that point on. Could tie in glowing orb and wand icons aside from spellfire and fireballs, etc. Another similar halloween-esque thought would be gargoyles…

And speaking of grab bags (while looking ahead!), I’d love to see a winter-themed grab bag. Candycane stripes on a pebble animal or flap cat, or mistletoe and ivy painted around a baby unicorn, silver tinsel everywhere!

Bwa ha ha!

9/24 edit: New random idea (not my best idea and completely unfeasible but certainly an INTERESTING one). An annual “once in a lifetime” raffle. I’m not sure on the parameters (one entry per person? limited sales of X entries per person? possibly–if selling tickets–for a charity? forum people only? etc.) but it would literally be a once-in-a-lifetime raffle (i.e. once a person wins they can’t ever enter again). And the purpose of the raffle? To get a custom-painted commission from one of the Windstone artists! Yes, I know, I’m weaving dreams…but how amazing would that be to have a piece specially produced (within limitations, obviously not something on par with an artist’s edition) based on a creature/color pattern of your choosing? Woo!

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