The Making of My Rowlf Replica Puppet

[vic]

Hi Everybody!

I am in the beginning stages of making ROWLF and I thought I would document as I go along to get as much feedback and help as possible. There are some very talented folks out there that have already made him and came out awesome....yes Rgentry I am talking to you so I would appreciate as much input and help you could give me.

I will start with the beginning:

RESEARCH :

PRELIMNARY ROUGH SKETCHES:

ORDERED A SWATCH FOR MY ROWLF REPLICA MUPPET PUPPET :

I should be receving 3 Yards of this Chocolate Brown lambs wool sherpa on FRIDAY!!

STARTING WITH THE HEAD:

As you can see I grabed an 8' Styrofoam sphere and cut it a little after the ecuatorial area of the sphere (let's pretend it's a globe) this way the upper area is larger than the lower area, I think he is too round, rowlf seems to be a little more football like not much but not perfectly round so then:

I started experimenting with the lower shorter area and a half hemisphere instead and a paper cut out that I will later use for the real eyes and nose size and placement ... TOUGHTS??:

Here he is with the original upper sphere and the cut out

Wich one looks more accurate, or do I have it al wrong?
Let me know any ideas, tips thanks!!!

 

[Plaid Fraggle]

First of all, excellent work so far! I feel that this is going to turn out amazing. Jealousssssss

Well, I'd hesitantly say that the latter photo's top half looks more accurate to me. Even if it actually isn't, you can always cover more of the "hairline" with the great fur material that will be used for most of his body. I'd say it's better to have more to work with rather than too little!

I've never made a live-hand puppet before, and it sure looks like you're well on your way without any advice I could try to think up! Keep goin', I wanna see more!

 

[Bob Smith]

that looks perfect!!!!

 

[Animal31]

Personally, I like the first one better, not as round and just screams Rowlf to me...But either way, you are doing a fantastic job with these, and he's going to look awesome.

 

[rowlfy662]

that looks fantastic so far i can't wait for the finshed result

 

[Reevz1977]

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ROWLF??? It looks as though he's been in Saw 8!!

Seriously though, he looks absolutely brilliant!!! P.M. and send me your email address - I'll send through all my ref files I've used when illustrating Rowlf

 

[muppetlover123]

Amazing can't wait !

 

[vic]

Thank you so much for all your awesome comments and encouraging thoughts, it really gives me more confidence to make him, i will keep on documenting as I go along, Guys, Gals thanks again

First of all, excellent work so far! I feel that this is going to turn out amazing. Jealousssssss

Well, I'd hesitantly say that the latter photo's top half looks more accurate to me. Even if it actually isn't, you can always cover more of the "hairline" with the great fur material that will be used for most of his body. I'd say it's better to have more to work with rather than too little!

I've never made a live-hand puppet before, and it sure looks like you're well on your way without any advice I could try to think up! Keep goin', I wanna see more!

I like your point of having more to cover if needed while using the bigger half
Thanks!

Personally, I like the first one better, not as round and just screams Rowlf to me...But either way, you are doing a fantastic job with these, and he's going to look awesome.

I got to say i am leaning to this also. Plaid made an interesting point though, having more to cover is better if needed, the only flaw that I see with this is that is no matter how I cover it if I needed to have more of an oval face I would still end up with a bigger top head. It is a tuff call, sometimes ROWLF seems more rounded than others in photos.

Thanks for your feedback

 

[Bob Smith]

the orignal upper spehere is the best

 

[Animal31]

I got to say i am leaning to this also. Plaid made an interesting point though, having more to cover is better if needed, the only flaw that I see with this is that is no matter how I cover it if I needed to have more of an oval face I would still end up with a bigger top head. It is a tuff call, sometimes ROWLF seems more rounded than others in photos.

Thanks for your feedback

That's a great point, some ROWLF puppets probably were rounder than others, so much like a Kermit or Elmo, pick the one YOU like and go with it. It would be impossible to match him to every picture, so pick the one you think best represents Rowlf. One other thing, if you do choose the other head, maybe slightly enlarging the eyes and nose would make him look more like the top photo while still preserving the rounder shape?