My TEF Ballet Designs

Ephra's picture




December 20, 2009
Fixing little bugs. I hope this project's still going, because I still think it's a great idea. And we have so much creative talent here Smiling

August 12, 2009
Two antler designs in my sketchbook. I think I like putting stuff on people's heads. Sticking out tongue These designs could be altered to fit closer to the head. I might do others but I should probably work on actual costumes now.
Edit: Revenge of the pink text!! But I fixed it so it's ok now.

August 01, 2009
Welcome everybody! I've finally put this blog together to consolidate all of my ballet costume designs in one gallery. From now on this is where I'll be uploading those, so if you want to keep up with them just leave a comment and track this blog. Smiling Oh yeah, the lines beneath this are just placeholders for older update entries. I just love me some text gradients!




About this project
The TEF Ballet is a real performance that is currently in development and headed by our own Fahnette. Like the Forest itself, it is a collaborative and artistic endeavour driven by the community's involvement. The dances, settings, costumes and choice of music are subject to our influence. What I'm saying is, if you want to get involved with this project or even just contribute a design or two, I encourage you to do so! It would be appreciated so much. Smiling


If you want to keep track of the development of the ballet as a whole, check out this blog which is run by Fahnette.




My costume designs
Click thumbnails for the full image!







"Faunet"
Here is a costume for our petite danseuse Faunet. Smiling She will actually be dancing in the ballet, so I thought she ought to have a costume based on her own deer. I just put the baroque kind of patterning on the orange parts for texture, I'm sure the real thing wouldn't need something like that to look showy. This design also shows off one of the ideas I had for antlers for the dancers, since I imagine they'd need to be very lightweight and secure. I'm not sure if they're recognizable enough, I tried to make sure it wouldn't be confused for a crown or anything.
"Masquerade King and Queen"

A very snazzy costume for a pair of dancers. :)Based off the two mardi gras deer. The antlers are attached to a mask, so unless both are very lightweight this design may not work out so great. Hum, and I think most of the time the danseur is supposed to lift the ballerina but those antlers could get in the way. There may need to be some adjustments here, haha.
"Ephra"

I made this design very similar to my first, mainly because I wasn't sure which would be more feasible for the ballet's costuming. This was intended to be a fancier alternative if there was time and budget to have tutus made (and it seems there is.) Anyway here's ol' Ephra in her weird cape-type thing. There is a square spiral pattern on the bodice and deer tracks on the skirt part. I'm not sure about those hoofprints actually, perhaps it would look better with some other design.


"Young Ephra"

My first design is of course based off my own deer character. Smiling Actually I based it off a human version of her I had already created so you may recognize the familiar neckline flourishes and the double headband. The design is very simple but at least this time it was intentionally so!





My rough sketches



Ok the truth is I'll probably waste way more time trying to find music than I will doing something that's actually productive... Laughing out loud
Vira's picture

-pointless post to track-

-pointless post to track- |D
this seems like such a cool idea :3

*tracks* Oh man, those

*tracks*
Oh man, those antlers are great, I always imagined something sort of like the Olympic wreath, going around the back of the head and sticking up. Who cares of they're crown like, antlers are like the crown for the 'king of the forests' anyway Eye

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parrotsnpineapple's picture

O8! My goodness -watches

O8! My goodness
-watches thread-

Ephra's picture

Oh no, it's the font colour

Oh no, it's the font colour weirdness I ran into last time I tried doing something ambitious. xD I hope you all don't mind writing in pink until I figure out how to fix it.

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lol I don't mind, I think it

lol I don't mind, I think it matches the blog :B

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Ephra's picture

Oh, and I just fixed it too.

Oh, and I just fixed it too. Sticking out tongue

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Oh well FINE D: Me and Pink

Oh well FINE D: Me and Pink know when we're not wanted! *mock storms off*

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-tracking- u p d a t e s

-tracking-


Track'd! I admire your

Track'd! I admire your creativity and skills <3

-- Dannii <3
Kaoori's picture

You are so

You are so amazing.

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I'm a little wolf inside a girl.

Lightbringer-apprentice to Yorres
Verycrazygirl's picture

Stalking. _____ Meet

Stalking. Smiling

Wow..

Fahnette's picture

This is beautiful! I think

This is beautiful! I think this will really encourage others to get down and start drawing.

To those who wish to contribute ideas, go for it!

To fling my arms wide in the face of the sun, Dance! Whirl! Whirl! Til the quick day is done...
To fling my arms wide in the face of the sun, Dance! Whirl! Whirl! Til the quick day is done...


Shanol's picture

Hi, you saw today me, and

Hi, you saw today me, and other deer near me, in ruin?
You know her?
---
CLICK HERE

Mel in ore, verba lactis,
Fel in corde, fraus in factis.
Flyra's picture

I absolutely adore those.

I absolutely adore those. 8O
Good, good job, Ephra! I bet those will look amazing when they are real-made.

f l y r a b l o g avatar by tinkee, sig by Quamar

Wow ! They are all beautiful

Wow !
They are all beautiful !
Your art is so pretty !


-tracks-
Fahnette's picture

We're going to paint the

We're going to paint the designs onto leotards. Mum (my Director) has painted costumes before--she did a dress once that ended up looking like an Aztec design--so she's up for it.

We're probably going to sponge-paint on the Fawn costumes to give them baby-deer softness.

Now if I could just figure out how to rig Lie's antler design...

To fling my arms wide in the face of the sun, Dance! Whirl! Whirl! Til the quick day is done...
To fling my arms wide in the face of the sun, Dance! Whirl! Whirl! Til the quick day is done...


Ephra's picture

I wish I knew more about

I wish I knew more about actual costume making so I could help you out with that stuff. I really like those shoulder-antlers Lie came up with- for intricate stuff like that I can only think of using wire, but then you'd have to make sure it didn't get caught on stuff or bent out of shape, humm. Or maybe some long feathers (like from pheasants) would work, if you could get them to hold their shape.

edit: Did your sister get my email? I hope it didn't mess up when I sent it, I haven't heard back from her yet.

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Fahnette's picture

*nods* I'll have to show the

*nods*
I'll have to show the shoulder-antlers to Builder Dad. He'd probably get a rig set up in one day, he's good like that.
With the antlers that you did we can probably use stiffened fabric, maybe build them the way pointe shoe boxes are built. Layer of fabric-glue-fabric-glue-fabric, ad nauseum. Or just cut a bunch of antler forms out of thick cardboard and wrap them. Since the antlers sit so close to the face, they'd be easy to put on and take off. Making them stay is a different story. Laughing out loud

edit: She hasn't mentioned it to me, granted she's been running herself silly with her camp. I really hope it works out for you!

To fling my arms wide in the face of the sun, Dance! Whirl! Whirl! Til the quick day is done...
To fling my arms wide in the face of the sun, Dance! Whirl! Whirl! Til the quick day is done...


Emiva's picture

This is beautiful. I took

This is beautiful. I took ballet for a year, and I am obsessed with watching the ballet movies of Swan lake. It's simply gorgeous. But of course I had to cancel lessons with my failing memory. I'm going to force my daughter into ballet. lol. <3




EMIVA'S BIOGRAPHY
Ephra's picture

Looove Swan Lake. You're

Looove Swan Lake. Laughing out loud You're lucky you got to dance, I never did and I'm too old to start now, anyway. You should design some costumes too since I'm sure you've got a much better idea of how they should look and fit and all.

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Fahnette's picture

AHH!!! Headband Antlers!!

AHH!!! Headband Antlers!! Headcap Antlers!!

*does happy lovelovelove dance*

I'm such a doofus for not seeing those sooner.

To fling my arms wide in the face of the sun, Dance! Whirl! Whirl! Til the quick day is done...
To fling my arms wide in the face of the sun, Dance! Whirl! Whirl! Til the quick day is done...


Shanol's picture

Hi! Would you like to join

Hi! Would you like to join TEF comics?
If youinterested, just click link in my signature ^^
~~~
CLICK HERE
Join the TEF comics!
Mel in ore, verba lactis,
Fel in corde, fraus in factis.
Ephra's picture

I'm too busy right now,

I'm too busy right now, sorry. Sad

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Emiva's picture

Maybe they're antlers could

Maybe they're antlers could be larger... but smaller width-wise. Like, thin little pieces of metal curved and bent to form the shape of antlers, so they are lightweight and might even look elegant.

You do not know how excited I am about this... it's not even my idea and suddenly I feel like apart of me has been found out. Did you know when I was little I used to, when alone, put on Prokofiev's "Montagues And Capulets" from Romeo and Juliet and turn up the volume super high, and just... transform.
I wish I had continued on with ballet. I wish so very much. I used to feel as if I had become one with the music when I danced. I know how cliche' that sounds. But it's true.

Is this actually legit? Being made real? Like... real life real? People actually dancing in deer-like leotards and costumes that resemble deer? I would do anything to have a costume that I could dance in while I deerdance. (Yes... I still do it. xD)

Gosh this is making me excited... So many ideas. xD I would absolutely love to help out with anything you need some extra help on. I'm here.





Ephra's picture

Thank you for the much-needed

Thank you for the much-needed bump! I'm itching to draw some more dancers after looking this old blog over. I had the same idea about the 'antlers', I was thinking either metal or wire would be lightweight and flexible enough to stay put on a dancer's head. Even something like a laurel wreath.

As far as I know, yes these are being adapted into real costumes, for a real ballet! The project is headed by Fahnette, who I believe is a dance teacher. I haven't really heard anything about the ballet for the last few months though, I hope it hasn't been abandoned. But feel free to design your own costumes, set designs, suggest music, etc. Or if you have ideas you want me to try to draw, that's fine too.

I'm kind of sad I never got the opportunity to take ballet lessons myself! I'm probably too old and too clumsy to start at this point. Sticking out tongue But over the past couple years I've come to really appreciate the power and the beauty of dance, even if I'm really unknowledgeable about it. And of course I love the costumes hehe

(By the way I love Prokofiev's score for Romeo and Juliet. A fantastic composer Laughing out loud)
Fahnette's picture

Don't worry, it hasn't been

Don't worry, it hasn't been abandoned. We got caught up in a lot of craziness over the first part of our season (wedding, Nutcracker) and we're just now able to focus on our own plans. And holy cats, have we got plans! I can't go into details just yet, we're keeping everything under wraps because of the situation we were sucked into before the Holidays... suffice it to say our little Ballet has become something even more special than I imagined... an old story is taking on a new life, is all I will say for now.
To fling my arms wide in the face of the sun, Dance! Whirl! Whirl! Til the quick day is done...


Calypta's picture

Whoa awesome idea!&These

Whoa awesome idea!&These designs are amazingly beautiful!!<3 I'll see if I can come up with an idea for a design -Track'n-
Ephra's picture

Very excited to hear that,

Very excited to hear that, Fahnette! Laughing out loud I don't know how much I'll be able to contribute since school's just starting up again, but I hope to put out a few more things and maybe encourage some others to create designs too.

Tracks because this is

Tracks because this is awesome. Smiling
Fahnette's picture

Do what you can, dearest...

Do what you can, dearest... we're taking your stuff and punching it up, making it really sparkly. Since it's going to be a Nutcracker, the Endless Forest will take the place of the Land of Sweets so we want everything to be very mystical and fun.

Mum got these lovely little glittery flowers at Michael's, so just for fun I took one of my dancers and put her hair into two high buns (which has been dubbed Fawn-style now by my students) and stuck some flowers in her hair across the top, like the Fawns in the Forest. It looked VERY cool.
To fling my arms wide in the face of the sun, Dance! Whirl! Whirl! Til the quick day is done...


gloryofdeerforever's picture

These are so gorgeous. (:

These are so gorgeous. (: