Lazy Eye

[staceyrebecca]

Thanks guys....The iris is actually the same size. I saw that it looks like that as well, but when the eyes are off and in my hand they're the same. I wonder if its the glare that's doing that.

As far as the heat-gun/hair dryer....I've been using a heat gun a lot on this project and have come *close* to burning the fabric...but this fabric, more than burning, seems to want to melt. I hadn't used a hair dryer yet.

After all this agonizing and stressing out, I've decided I'm going to leave it. The last thing I want to do with the project is to mess something up this late in the game. I want it to be perfect (or in the least--not wonky) for my own portfolio, but I'd hate for them to be *worse* for the client. So...I'll just be proud that I got them done.

(I actually think the person who's portrait it is has a lazy eye....I could be wrong--is that awful?)

 

[Beauregard]

Might I suggest a trendy eye-patch such as your own?

 

[Melonpool]

One thing I always do before I permanently position the pupils is to use the puppet in a mirror. I learned this trick in cartooning a long time ago. For some reason, when viewed through a mirror, any lack of symmetry becomes painfully obvious. It doesn't really fix things in this case, but it might be a good tip in the future.

 

[ravagefrackle]

might i suggest , taking your time with the eye focus, it is normally the last thing we do when building a puppet , but it is really the most important step.

use some doubel stick tape, pins to line up the focus , then glue the eyes on, its those little things that make all the efort worth while.

 

[staceyrebecca]

Thanks guys. The mirror trick is probably exactly what happened with the photograph. Good tip! I was using a mirror for the hair, but not for the eyes!

I always do the eyes last...and I always take a lot of time. I pinned things in place (as best as you can pin glass eyes..) did the tape, etc. This was a new material for me and obviously a new method (even just having the pupil already *there*) It was difficult to gauge how the polyfoam backing would react with the glue. That was the first of the 3 puppets I used that type of eye on. It's just hard (for me anyway) to get the hot glue to adhere to polyfoam & fabric in the exact mirrored way each time...bah. But yeah, it's done. Learning experience? I think with this type of eye (if I use it again) its just going to take practice in learning how the materials will react with eachother.

Like I said, (or maybe I didn't say it here?)....Eye focus is such a huge pet peeve of mine, so having it not perfect (not that I usually do...) is really eating away at me. That being said, I can't let it lead me to drinking...so I'm chalking it up to a learning experience and moving on.

But hey, now I know what to do with my little Ikea Mirror!

 

[The Shoe Fairy]

That would be my suggestion too. If the hair dryer doesn't work, I've had success with heat guns in this situation before BUT you have to be insanely careful with a heat gun. They will burn fabric and they can set your house on fire if you're not careful.

Mmm. I practically set my hand on fire with a heat gun once; they are NOT fun to get wrong, what ever one is doing.

 

[muppetperson]

One final option would be to paint the eyes over in white paint and repaint or stick fabric pupils on.

 

[Kevin the Frog]

It looks like if you could just heat up the glue underneath her right eye, and rotate it a bit to the right (not changing the position) it would help a lot. nice puppet though.

 

[mike short]

Remember way back when I guessed that these were puppets of the cast of The View? Just sayin'.

 

[staceyrebecca]

Are you an avid watcher of The View, Mike?