A number of delays set me back from doing this, including internet, weather, injury, new job stuff, and spouse.
It's basically 2 sets of old bike shorts/capri pants/leggings, that I cut up into segments, and reassembled them.
The fins are 2 SCUBA fins/flippers and an old vintage skirt over top.
My sewing machine broke several times, then I had to disassemble, fix, then reassemble multiple times.
The photo shoot outside was delayed several times due to job interviews, leg injury and hospital visit (me). I got so fed up, that I just went late in the mourning, not ideal lighting, and just shot some stuff w/my crutches.
There were also random storms on my free time days, and basically, "shit happens".
Whatevz...
Here's the video footage I shot on my iPhone:
If you want the songs/music you can download them for free from my SoundCloud or NewGrounds. The songs are totally FREE, and are licensed as Creative Commons. So have fun!Donwload 'em, share 'em, use 'em, keep, 'em. Whatever u want.
Here's my gallery on PicsArt so go follow me on the app.
On virtually all of my public social media profiles I'm Always "BlackUniGryphon" unless I say otherwise... No, sluts please. Keep ur junk in ur pants, n keep it to urself. Nobody wants to see that.
This was a makeshift mermaid tail I threw together due to the constant pestering of my daughter, since springtime, about wanting a mermaid tail. there was NO END to the begging, pleading, pestering, blubbering, sniveling, and whining!
She must've begged me to get a tail from "Fin Fun Mermaid" three thousand times! Then, she showed me uptteen-ba-jillian DIY videos, blogs, instagrams, and so on, of all kinds of dumb yuppies making complete fools of themselves & their money on junk, when they probably could've just bought one from "Fin fun mermaid" to support a small business... but, whatever....
Anyways, I'm broke as dirt!
So, what did I do?????
I got 2 old pairs of tights/pants/leggings/bike-shorts or not-quite-capri-pants from Old NAVY that were gonna become rags, or trash anyways.... my kid is also going through a sudden growth spurt, so there's no friggin' way I'm buying a mermaid tail, tailored to her June-sized-body, when she's already outgrow her swimsuit, n had to get a new one on clearance!
I cut up the pants into segments.
Then, I sewed them together w/my sewing machine using honeycomb stitch.
I kept the extra pants' elastic, to tie up the fins part later...
It took forever, because my machine kept falling apart, malfunctioning, or breaking, so I would have to disassemble my machine, and reassemble it multiple times. Also, in the middle of it, we had a major heat wave, humidity finally arrived, then power surges & thunder storms... oh, and I had a job interview.... That, and trying to juggle fixing the situation w/our food stamps, and getting them reinstated... financial conferences, and I sprained my ankle, and had to go to the E.R.
The fins are 2 main components: * Flippers (S.C.U.B.A. Fins) * and an old 2002 Boho scarf skirt overtop of the S.C.U.B.A. Fins. That's it!
I sewed the segments, made sure it looked right, then, she puts on the flippers and the skirt over top, then you tie with the leftover elastic.
A video posted by Kandice Zimblemam-Wang 任思麒 (@blackunigryphon) on
Here's a preview of her getting ready to swim in the pool. I expect to have a lot more photos of my daughter, Heidi, in her mermaid tail.... but, I have to start training at my new job tomorrow....
I swear, there's some kinda major psychic ESP bond happening between my daughter and myself,, and often spills over onto my spouse. Weirder still is the amount of synchronicities that just up and happen so frequently to be just random. Underwater stuff, and mermaids seem to just jump out at me, everywhere online. It really freaks us out. And, all month it's been like that!
But, then other things I liked, such as music, and other themes, such as a Colossus theme also kept popping up, and what seemed like it was sometimes random would actually become something, and afterwords I didn't even realize it until after I put things together, or did something... it really freaks me out.
So, I have quite a thing happening with my sketches, as I've already written about... and, the stuff just keeps on coming in despite the fact that I just keep getting sick, and i'm sick again. Had to wait until today just to see the doctor. It sucked. Been miserable...
But, I was sketching quite a lot.
As for the Diva Nixie Melusine character I have, I'm not QUITE there yet with her, but so much progress has occurred with her! I knew kinda what I wanted, but she also seemed to want to be something.... I kept seeing her in my mind as dressing like a Colossus. (i.e. Statue of Lady Liberty, Colossus of Rhodes, and even the Russian one, which was usually called "The Colossus of Russia" when I was a kid, but apparently is called "Mother Russia") many of these would somehow pop up in my browser, as well as many many Hellenistic works (one of my top favorites in all of art history of the entire world) and I even saw this gorgeous statue at the Harvard Museum last weekend.
But, stars, starfish, sand dollars, all popping up everywhere I browse.
Seems like it wouldn't fit together????
It does.
I want my Diva Melusine Nixie to be BRONZE skinned, and I want the metallic them on her tail, but I also want her tails to change colors, and maybe glow. So, golden, silver, bronze, copper, all good, and then change and even glow in the dark in different colors like jellyfish.
She will be very large, like a Colossus, but also very voluptuous, and full figured, with very big hair, full of curls. I want her headdress to be full of starfish, pearls, and a sunburst, like the Titan, Helios, or a typical Colossus.
And, I want her draped with armfalls of cowrie shells (ancient money) perhaps pearls, and also on the belt as well.
Here's a progression of the sketches, as she was developing... These are the first 3: ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
She's getting closer.... But, not quite there yet. I have gotten some support for my work on this on twitter, DeviantArt, FaceBook, Instagram, and also privately.
Here was the Horizontal sketch, but it's also not quite there yet, but getting closer: ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Also, styles of music that I like, that I'm wanting to have composed for this character just also seem to be just arriving out of nowhere from sources of folks I'd NEVER have thought ever would!
I very much want a fusion of sorts, but I want so much for the base musical compositions to be Synth Pop genre-like. I especially LOVE the work by Vince Clark.
There is just SOMETHING about a VERY SPECIAL album by Vince Clark's band "Erasure" called "I Say I Say I Say" (I'm guessing he's a Paul McCartny fan) that has this very special feeling to it, like water. Even the first track "Take Me Back" is about a flowing river of memories, and evokes images in the mind like ripples, flowing water, water drips & drops, or bubbling things just by virtue of the way it sounds. And, I just LOVE the one of a kind vocal talents of Andy Bell.
Most of my beat artistic works of my entire life happened while listening to this album. I first got my CD for my 12th or 13th birthday, which I just HAD TO HAVE!
And, ever since I've been listening to Synth Pop this month, the genre has been popping up EVERYWHERE. I mean it! Just today, not only did grav3yardgirl get her own radio station produced on Slacker Radio and it has loads of Synth Pop on it, but I also stumbled upon Comic Book Girl 19's list which is almost entirely Synth Pop! That, and I keep running into music by GRIMES since last month!
Anyways....
I want a fusion blend somewhere in the direction. I know that right now everyone likes the 2-step beats of "dub step" which I also enjoy, but I just really like the old 4-4 beats of techno & Synth Pop, or even 8/8s. I really like Tribal Fusion as well.
A major influence in the direction I'm wanting to go is
inspired someway by the sound tracks of "Macross Plus" (Yoko Kanno)
except, I want to go in my own direction.
As for the voice, I want her vocal sound, STILL, to be similar to Alison Moyet. I think that's pretty much what I want. (Again with another connection to Vince Clark's work.)
I want my Diva to have at least one main song, but I think she will need more songs, probably up to 3 AT LEAST. But, I think I shouldn't go over 5. I want other pieces in the performance to be pretty much JUST INSTRUMENTAL with dance performances, or scenes set to music with a narrative theme, and/or symbolisms.
I have a "black and white" concept that I'm just chomping at the bit to play with, but I think it will wait for now... I won't say anything about it yet....
But, my opening number I have a few things in mind. Altho' I DO like the opening scene to Disney's 'The Little Mermaid" I DO NOT WANT MINE TO LOOK ANYTHING LIKE IT AT ALL WHATSOEVER!
But, I do want a lead-in sequence, underwater, with ship wreck stuffs, and old broken piers or docks underwater... however, I don't want any underwater cities... I would like somehow my nixies to sort of converge to like a concert, or a rave, or festival event.... but, I don't want it to be anything like anything that anyone else has ever done.
So, that is kinda where my underwater sketch to the side here is kind of about....
That is pretty close along the lines of how I want things to go, which is why I haven't sketched anymore.... but, the colors used in the pencils do not depict the actual colors in my mind. I just like to use different colors for the line art.
Speaking of which, THIS just showed up in my inbox by "dirtwire":
Lots of these coincidences just keep on happening!
Here's a few other bits of stuff that's been inspiring me lately, including glam shots of Sarah Brightman, and various ancient goddess idols, or statues:
Even tho' this is a blond, it's very good. I wish I knew who did this mermaid! I would link you to the artist, but I found it on Pinterest which linked to DeviantArt, however, once I klicked the link the artwork wasn't there.
it's really nice, I like the gold-fish look, the fins, the background, the motion, the mood, everything. Very nice!
And, other bits of inspiring stuff is Art Deco & Art Nouveau.. too much to show here.
