A study in blue

[Puppetfur]

Hi,
We've recently finished designing this gal:

We designed and made her costume using a wonderful vintage print. You can read more on our puppet blog on our website below.

Thanks for looking!

 

[D'Snowth]

Wow, she looks amazing, I love all of the little details you incorporated into her design, such as the subtle little creases in her face and ears.

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

Wow, she looks fantastic! I love her hair and all the little details you put in her face. A lot of the time when puppets have too many details and look more realistic they end up looking really creepy, but you managed to really pull it off.

One question though, her mouth seems a little small, is her mouth hard to move at all?

 

[Puppetfur]

Thanks for both of your comments! The mouth is very expressive and hinged in the correct ways, so moves with ease.

 

[D'Snowth]

That's what's important, is making sure the mouth is hinged well enough; I've often found that with puppets, the way the mouth is hinged can make or break the entire thing (Don Sahlin wasn't kidding when he said the mouthplate is essentially the foundation for the whole puppet), and improperly hinged mouths can sometimes result in the skull naturally flopping back more than it should - even if you try your hardest to keep the skull still with your four fingers. Same problem could be said for mouths that are too small or too tight; I had an experience eleven years ago when I was given a puppet to perform that must have been designed for child's play, because my hand barely fit into the thing, and the mouth was only big enough to fit the tips of my fingers and thumb into - not my best manipulation work, but at least the kids got a big kick out of the character, which is what really mattered.

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

That's what's important, is making sure the mouth is hinged well enough; I've often found that with puppets, the way the mouth is hinged can make or break the entire thing (Don Sahlin wasn't kidding when he said the mouthplate is essentially the foundation for the whole puppet), and improperly hinged mouths can sometimes result in the skull naturally flopping back more than it should - even if you try your hardest to keep the skull still with your four fingers. Same problem could be said for mouths that are too small or too tight; I had an experience eleven years ago when I was given a puppet to perform that must have been designed for child's play, because my hand barely fit into the thing, and the mouth was only big enough to fit the tips of my fingers and thumb into - not my best manipulation work, but at least the kids got a big kick out of the character, which is what really mattered.

I'm actually building a puppet right now, so thank you for this useful info.