Date: Tue, 14 Aug 2007 18:49:36 -0700 To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org From: The Independent Eye <eye-AT-independenteye.org> Subject: [Puptcrit] Speaking of Eyes... Friends- There may have been dozens of posts on this particular method over the history of Puptcrit, but being a newcomer I'll share this for what it's worth. We've often used small glass globs (I don't know what else they're called), which I can still find at hobby stores - I think people use them as decorative additions to ashtrays and what-all. Some are colored, but some are plain glass. They're slightly oval. I use mostly the size that's roughly 3/4" (there are larger, also smaller). One side is flat, the other has a slight curvature. With acrylic, I paint a pupil, then an iris, then white-of-eye on the flat backside, with the curved surface as the front of the puppet's eye. When the exact size and placement of pupil & iris are what I want, I epoxy the eye in place. The advantages are: * The curvature catches a highlight, as a real eye would, and the thickness of the glass, with the iris behind about 1/8" of glass, gives a feeling of life, the diffraction giving a slight degree of "movement" to the eye. (Course if you don't want that, don't do it.) * You can experiment with the placement of the pupils until you've got it exactly right; if it's wrong, just scrape off the paint and start over. So you can get a very direct stare, a kind of "defocused" effect, etc. Can be naturalistic or very stylized. * They're very cheap. I usually start designing these as I'm sculpting the head in plasticene, painting and fitting the eyes in place temporarily as I sculpt. So the eyes become much more organic and central to the face as it evolves. I think we sometimes assume that the eyes, being smaller, are less important than the larger planes & profiles of the face. But my belief is that evolution has programmed us to be incredibly sensitive to eye focus: you can tell immediately if someone across the street is actually focused on you or not - we get the instant message if we're a target of being killed or eaten, and this passes over into puppet shows. We don't have really good renditions that illustrate this on our website - will try to do some better close-ups at some point. But you can scan the photos from MARVELS at http://www.independenteye.org/plays/marvels.html or MACBETH at http://www.independenteye.org/plays/macbeth.html (we used four heads for MACBETH, progressively aging him, and the eye focus changed radically, from the Ollie North war hero to the distracted politician to the nightmare-ridden killer to the burnt-out cinder. Oh, also the bottom-most photo from INANNA at http://www.independenteye.org/plays/inanna.html. For what it's worth. Peace & joy- Conrad The Independent Eye, Ltd. -- **************************************************************** Our radio series HITCHHIKING OFF THE MAP is available free on streaming audio through The Independent Eye's website at <http://www.independenteye.org>, where you can also find our broadcast schedule. And- The Hitchhikers Audio Library of unforgettable CDs: NATIVITY - Women's journeys of pregnancy, birth, shadow & sun. THE DESCENT OF INANNA - The Sumerian myth of descent & resurrection. FAMILY SNAPSHOTS - When you were too frazzled to grab the camera. LIFE JOURNEYS - Five true-life stories of crossroads, choice & change. MIGRATION ROUTES - Stories of immigrants to America. WALT, PATTY & THE GANG - Wit & wisdom from the belly of the beast. _______________________________________________ List address: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org Admin interface: http://lists.puptcrit.org/mailman/listinfo/puptcrit Archives: http://www.driftline.org
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