We’re using Blender for this tutorial, which is an amazing and totally free 3d software. The only barrier to entry is having a computer to run the software on.

A balloon dog might seem like an odd choice for a beginner project, but it really is a perfect place to start! 

You'll learn:

• Modeling - Creating the body of the balloon dog
• Modifiers - Additional modeling effects, such as smoothing
• Shading - Making the balloon dog look like a colorful rubber
• Lighting - Adding lights to illuminate our scene
• Rendering - Positioning a 3d camera and generating a picture of our balloon dog

At the end, we’ll have a cute balloon dog to render to our heart’s content. It’s also a model that can be easily altered into a different animal just by adjusting some proportions or adding a new piece!

Our class project will have you take all of the techniques you learned making the balloon dog, and apply them to make another animal of your choice. You can keep the shape simple and abstract like the balloon dog, or you can go all out and make a balloon masterpiece! Post your balloon animal to the gallery to show off your hard work and imagination to myself and all the other students!