March Sketchbook

I've been trying to spend more time drawing and developing ideas these days so here are a few images from my Sketchbook over March, yes, beginning with a dirigible....Being obsessive is a key criteria to ruling the world....

This is just a littel sketch of Recon drawing on a wall, yeah, he's so street...

This is a draft of a maze puzzle that may be included in an Activity and Colouring In book I am currently working on.  I'm trying to make it look like pipes.  And don't ruin it by trying to solve it now! Bad Minions!

This is a ideas draft of what I'm thinking of sending to Seattle for the exhibition later in the year.  I like this, maybe I should move into toy accessories next?

Terrain Training Tuesday: Packing your Survival Kit

The final in our Survival Kit series looks at different terrains. Survival Kits for different operational areas should be dictated by the importance of items, for example if you are in the Desert your Survival Kit should reflect the priorities of water collection and navigation. In the Arctic items that produce warmth, shelter and maybe an extra fishing kit should be included.

We will go into these terrains in more detail later when we start on the actual locations but the important thing to remember is every time you embark on an activity or operation that may result in a survival situation, always take your kit with you. I take mine everywhere just in case... If you think you are going to be captured, try to conceal individual items about your body (yes, even there...we've all seen Border Security) and clothing, if you have anything incriminating hide it on someone else...as a HiiRagi minion you can never be too prepared...

Next week, get the insect repellent ready ‘cause we head into the jungles...

Made it Blog



Just a quick note to say that the lovely Bec from Made it came down to Hobart on a mission and discover HiiRagi (along with some other handmade crafts) at the Salamanca Market! Check it here.

Terrain Training Tuesday: Building your Survival Kit Part 3

Part 3 begins with one of my favourite items of all time, the Compass (so important it gets a capital). These come in all shapes and sizes, it’s up to you. I have a little button compass that fits onto my watch band, that way it will never get lost and neither will I.  It's a beautiful thing.

The kit gets a bit exciting here...with the introduction of wire. Not just any wire but a wire saw. A good quality wire saw can go through wood, bone, iron, almost anything but it must have at least 8 strands of wire to be effective. In addition to this get about 3 metres of brass wire so you can make snares (Snares! How cool is that?!)

To go with all this you are going to need to be able to cut stuff. A Rambo knife may seem impressive (and that’s because it is), but a Swiss army knife is better and has all the added extras.... sorry... maybe chuck some razor blades in to make yourself feel better, these have lots of uses including gutting fish and can be magnetised and used as an improvised Compass.

Yep, it's a difficult decision....

Now, like the farmer with his twine, the survival expert is never without his parachute cord and fishing tackle. Parachute cord is extremely strong, with a breaking strain of 250 kilo, the outer layer is braided over a stranded inner layer of thinner cord. A basic fishing tackle means line, hooks and swivels, and sinkers. A float can be improvised with a cork. Then this cork, when charred, can double up to provide face and hand camouflage – useful when hunting and totally Rambo for those who feel they were compromised by the knife choice.

credit

Yep, the man himself...headband is optional.

So that’s about it really...for those who want to go for the more premier Survival Kit I would recommend adding water purification tablets, flares and a mini survival medical kit. Actually you should have the mini medical kit regardless...well, at leaset some bandaids, nothing sucks more than cutting yourself and not having any bandaids... and you never know who or what will be attracted by the smell of your blood...

One amusing thing I found when looking into Survival Kits was on a US site (of course) that listed packing your medication as one of the most important things to remember. Hmmm, I think there’s something in that for all of us...

Next week, packing your kit for different terrains.

Time Wasting

I can really waste time.  Yep, for the past two hours I could have been drawing or making new little flyers to hand out at the market or even finishing those half made bunnies with no feet that stare at me but no, aimlessly I search the net for nothing in particular and finding only this to share with the world:

I swear that there is a seperate time zone you enter surfing the net. The image IS kinda cool though....I guess it reminds me of the Berserkers....or me on my way to my Salamanca Market stall first thing in the morning before my egg and bacon roll...

Terrain Training Tuesday: Building a Survival Kit Part 2

So after last week's exciting introduction we now look at what goes into our Survival Kits. Well, first should be matches, preferably waterproof or packed into a watertight container like a Gladbag. There actually are special matches that when lit will stay alight for 12 seconds, even underwater (how MacGuyver of them...) but they are a bit pricey so it’s up to you.

Secondly, you should probably get a flint and steel firelighter, a dependable source of fire (once all the matches have run out) in all types of weather.

The next item may seem a little weird but rumour has it that tampons provide the best tinder for lighting a fire. The idea is basic. By striking the steel against the flint, you can send sparks into a bed of tinder (in this case a tampon’s insides), which will hopefully ignite into flames. Ta Daaaaa. Fire.

Candles aren’t windproof but they can give you up to some light and if you want a dual purpose item get one made from 100% stearine (solidified edible animal fats) so that it can also be used for an emergency food source (I recommend only doing that if you’re about to die though despite the image below...).

Now, that’s all the fire stuff dealt with, next we move onto condoms. The condom is a highly valuable survival item, mainly as a water carrier. When fully extended (!) to the length of 30cm condoms have a water capacity of 1.5 litres. Note that it has to be filled, you can’t just dip it into the water and support the weight using a sock or a shirt sleeve. Garbage bags are also great for collecting water and they can be used as a raincoat or as a waterproof shelter.

Another multi faceted survival kit item is the humble sewing needle. Not just for stitching, it can also be magnetised and improvised as a compass pointer (more on that later). The best needles are larger in size about two inches long and robust enough to sew heavy materials such as animal skins or other such materials. I personally like to make myself a Survival Headdress, it adds to the drama and others subconciously look to you as their King/Queen without even realising it! And it looks awesome (see below)!

And for those wishing to exert their dominance over a group, a mighty Codpiece (ala ‘Blackadder’) is recommended.

Nothing says 'I Rule' like a giant codpiece.  As you can see in the image above, it is most effective and size DOES matter.  Watch as others quiver with excitement as you strut around the survival area.  Caution: being the alpha leader means others will want to potentially mate with or challenge you, you must be on your guard at all times.
 
Next week, more Survival items but I leave with a HiiRagi Discussion Topic: Headdress or codpiece? Which do you think is more effective in asserting dominance?

Commando

From here

HiiRagi invades Seattle!

It is with just a little bit of excitement that I tell you HiiRagi has been selected to be part of the Plush You! 2011 exhibition in Seattle!  65 artists have been chosen from all over the globe to participate and I am totally stoked to be included! It is also a fantastic blog for those into plush toys so check it out!

Terrain Training Tuesday: Building a Survival Kit Part 1

Welcome to Terrain Training Tuesday.  This segment is purely for minion training.  It has come to my attention that some of you are not as prepared for our inevitable world domination campaign and as such, like any good leader, I have taken it upon myself to train you all.  It will be hard at times and you will whinge and moan but as time goes on you will be prepared and worthy of being a HiiRagi minion.

First up, Survival Kits:

Survival Kits are just that, your own personal means of surviving in this world when things go wrong. A by-product of investigating the world and its inhabitants has revealed a complete lack of survival instincts in the average person. This will not be tolerated in the HiiRagi Army. As a HiiRagi minion your personal Survival Kit is important and should be easily accessible at all times. When combined with the survival skills you will be learning as a member of the HiiRagi Army it will stand you in good stead when faced with an unexpected situation or when things turn nasty. All items need to be considered before making a choice, weighing usefulness and adaptability against bulk and weight. Every item must earn its place, increasing your chances of survival and, if you have the misfortune of being captured, your escape. Your kit should fit into a small waterproof container that leaves room for your other essential items. Please remember, this is a guide only, each minion should personalise their kit and include only what they think they will need or can use.


The goal when assembling and packing your Survival Kit is to make it as small as possible, if you run out of room and think items are overlapping in use such as a knife and razor blades, ditch the razor blades. Personally I have a number of kits for different occasions:

I have a smaller everyday kit (the red one) for daily challenges (like going to the supermarket) through to a larger expedition survival kit for when I am more isolated and survival will be more difficult but as previously stated minions must decide for themselves.  You can generally use any kind of container (preferably watertight), such as:

• A metal tobacco-type tin

• A waterproof plastic box

• A snap seal plastic container

• A screw top metal cylindrical container and so on....

Survival Kit DIY Project

For the crafty minion, feel free to decorate your Survival Kit as you see fit. Below you can see I have glued on an inspiring image and words to help me through the long dark lonesome nights of survival, where, yes, even a cute puppy may have ulterior motives. If you like, send though any images of your own Survival Kit, I would love to see them.

Get it ready for next week when we start looking at items to put into your Survival Kit.

Military Books and Dirigibles

One of my favourite places is the Sorell Market, it's a total bric-a-brac market where you can find nothing and the next week find everything.  Last weekend was a everything day.  Military stuff was everywhere!  As you can imagine I became very excited, which I cleverly concealed behind a disinterested facade so as to not blow my haggling power.  Here are some of the great finds:

Isn't this great?!  Bazooka Kids!  How crazy!  I love Commando comics, action, excitement and adventure without any of that romance business!!!

Yep, a big book on tanks.  Isn't that a cool photo on the cover?  Every army needs a tank.

And this is fantastic picture book with lots of military arsenal to draw inspiration from, including one of my favourites: the Dirigible:

 Now, the term dirigible does not come from the word “rigid” but from the French verb “diriger” (to steer), and a dirigible is simply any lighter-than-air craft which is able to to be steered (as opposed to a balloon, which floats with the wind).  They just seem to have a beautiful 1920's feel about them and have been quite a presence in movies and propaganda as can be seen below:

One word: Awesome.