My Puppets

[Gonzo's Hobbit]

I've been wanting to do this for a while and I finally found an old photobucket account I have. So, this is a thread for the puppets I make. I'm hoping that it'd be a good way to see what you guys think and improve my puppet-making skills with each new project.
So here's the first one I made and currently the only one that's finished right now. His name is Mitch and he's just a basic arm-rod puppet
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g205/photo_hobbit/Puppets/Mitch002.jpg
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g205/photo_hobbit/Puppets/Mitch003.jpg

I really like how he turned out. The only problem I'm having is that his glasses keep falling off (which is pretty easy to fix) and his head bops when I use him because I'm having trouble moving his lower jaw as opposed to the upper part of his head. But that's more of a manipulation thing that I need to work on.

Anyway, I'd love to know what you guys think. Thanks

 

[Adam Kreutinger]

He looks good. I really like having the squinted eyes under the glasses. That's a great idea.
I think he best was to learn is through repetition. You are off to a good start. Just keep looking at other peoples puppets and watching tutorials. And keep making puppets. Each time you make one you will find something on it that you will want to improve your next one. You discover something new each build.

~Adam

 

[Puppetainer]

Good work! I agree that experience is a great teacher and there's a lot to be learned reading and chatting with folks here at the forum. I've also found it's important for me to keep a sort of puppet building journal for myself. It can sometimes be weeks or even months between puppet builds for me and it's too easy to forget some of the lessons that I've learned along the way.

As Adam mentioned you're constantly learning with each new puppet build. When I wasn't writing things down I would sometimes have to "relearn" things as I began a new puppet. Of course as I progress and reinforce what I've learned I'll need my notebook less and less, but it's good to have it handy. I look at my puppet building as a sort of internet college course or apprenticeship so taking notes seems like a good way to go. I hope you continue to enjoy your education!

 

[Gonzo's Hobbit]

Thanks guys Glad you liked him. I'll post more when I make more.
Thanks for the advice. I totally agree with you on the experience aspect. That's one thing I like about working on puppets, just the fun of seeing what can work differently and what works best. I hadn't ever thought of the jouranal thing though Puppetainer, thanks for that.

 

[ilovemusic]

Yay! Cute! I like him most with his glasses off!

 

[Gonzo's Hobbit]

So here's my next one. I had hoped to spend longer time and more indepth techniques on this one but found myself in a time crunch and didn't. Looking back I'm kinda glad I didn't because this was a gift and I highly doupt the person I gave it to is gonna do much with it. But I did have some fun playing around with it still.
I experimented with trying to do a longer head for this one which I think came out alright in the end. One thing I found about puppet making in general doing this is that it's not a good idea to jump to conclusions too ealry on some times. I almost redid it because the head looked too long. But after I added facial features it looked right. I also played around with fur on this one for the hair. Now I at least know what to expect next time I work with fur. I found myslef having to cut and scrap various peices togeterh to get the hair to look right.
The arms are just for show, there isn't anything posable or moveable about them because again, I don't think the person who recieved it is gonna do too much with arm bars and the arms bars might have gotten in the way by then.
So, again, I'd love to hear what you guys think if you want to say anything about it.
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g205/photo_hobbit/Puppets/Howard.jpg

PS, the next project I'm thinking of doing is a human arm puppet and I had a question if anyone's willing. I've heard of two different ways to do human arm puppets. One is just making the puppet with arms and wearing them like sleeves when you do it. The other one is making the top part of the arm and then inserting the hand at the elbow or wrist. Does anyone know how much it matters?

 

[Gonzo's Hobbit]

Ashley (I think)

So here's my most recently finished puppet. This one was fun because I got to play with different eye material and a new way of doing hair (for me at least)
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g205/photo_hobbit/Ashley_0003.jpg
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g205/photo_hobbit/Ashley_0002.jpg
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g205/photo_hobbit/Ashley_0001.jpg
This puppet originally started out as another character. I finished the basic structure and then decided to make that character into a human arm puppet. I then found out that a mission group at my church needed a puppet for a mission trip to Nicaragua and volunteered to make it. I decided to use this figure to do it. It actually worked out really well because the puppet that this was originally supposed to be was for the Nicaragua group just in a different capacity, so I'm thinking of saying that the two puppets are nephew and neice.
The sctructure of the puppet is the same basic one that Mitch is. The whole body is just cut out of fabric and there is a squared of foam in the head to give it shape.
I was looking around at other ways to make eyes than just round balls. I had heard about how people make eyes with spoons so I thought I'd givie it a try. I was really unsure about it at first because they looked so big compared to the head. But once I drew the pupil and stuff and attached the eylids it looks a whole lot better and I love how they came out. I also played around more with the hair. I tried to do a layered effect with feathered trim. I ened up running a length of a boa on the font to cover up the edges which turned out pretty well. Although I think I'm gonna stick to boas because the bits of feather don't seem to come out as easily.
Also, this was the first puppet that I made posable hands for which was a nice eperience. I found during that proces that even if I don't make posable hands I like attaching the arm rods directly in the hand as opposed to on the wrist as it gives me more control over the puppet. I did something that Project Puppet suggested which was attach wooden dowels to them and wrap those in electrical tape. This works if I just want to control one hand. But I don't know how well it works for the two handed method. Granted, I'm not really good at that method in general but it is harder to whole the rods in that X-shape with dowels on the end.
As always, I'd love to know what you guys think. I try to take all the advice you give me to heart.

 

[LinkiePie<3]

Such an amazing job, Gonzo's Hobbit! This is great! You have talent! ^.^

 

[Gonzo's Hobbit]

Aww, thanks LinkiePie. Glad you like her.

 

[ilovemusic]

Awesomeness!