Date: 31 Jul 96 14:46:31 +0500
From: puppetco-AT-cais.cais.com (Christopher Piper)
Subject: Re: Hi!


>>     Hi! I'm Nancy Brown.  I just subbed onto puptcrit. I'm 13 
>years
>>
>>
>>  --- Hi Nancy.  I'm rather new to puptcrit myself, so hello to 
>you and all the others.  I've had a fair amount of experience 
>working with marionettes although I've never done a horse.  I did 
>carve a dog. The  body was solid basswood but the head was molded 
>by a process of clay sculpture followed by the making of a mold and 
>then lining that mold with plastic wood.  What comes out are two 
>pieces that have to be put together. I find that its better to have 
>a hollow head for marionettes for the most part. Especially for 
>people puppets, you want the weight to be at the bottom of the 
>puppet for good operation.  If it is still in print, a good book to 
>look for is Puppet Circus by Peter Fraser. There are some good 
>diagrams for building animal puppets. Good Luck  Jim J.

Jim, I work large so I only carve puppets when I want to get back to my
roots.  I will carve bare arms and legs out of wood, but most limbs end
up as sewn tubes stuffed with fiber fill.  When I do carve a head, I
laminate sections with the rough features already cut, in order to form
a "hollow" shell, which lessens the weight.

You're right about Puppet Circus, a good read, as well a great
reference.  Highly recommended.



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