How To Make Oobi-Style Puppet Practice Eyes

[Buck-Beaver]

I've reposted one of the most popular tutorials on PuppetBuilding.com (before it was taken offline last year), How To Make Puppet Practice Eyes.

Just like the title suggests, this explains how to make a pair of "Oobi-style" puppet practice eyes. The tutorial was written by Andrew Moore.

Enjoy!

 

[rickly]

Not to rain on this tutorial's parade, especially as I don't know Andrew...

Here are some suggestions for improving this idea.

1 - Don't cut slots in your ping pong ball - cut small holes for the elastic to go through. Slots WILL crack and continue to get longer and the elastic will get loose, and it's easier to thread elastic through holes than slots.

2 - Don't just slip the elastic over your middle finger - make the elastic long enough to stretch around ALL of your fingers. It will be much more stable that way.

3 - From an aesthetic standpoint, logos on ping pong balls are a downer, and distracting. Use a fine grade sandpaper and sand them off, for Pete's sake!

4 - Note how the eyes in the tutorial look sort of shell-shocked? Try using pupils that are a little larger than what's shown, unless you want your eyes to look permanently surprised.

Cheers.

Rick

 

[Buck-Beaver]

Thanks so much for the suggestions Rick. They all make a lot of sense. I have to admit that I haven't done this tutorial myself...something I'd like to do is make the website so it's more like a Wiki and feedback and suggestions can be left directly on the page.

So much to do, so little time!

 

[Pork]

Sweet, I'm gonna make some of these. Thanks for the extra advice rickly.