theBoneproject

The First Puppet Blueprint: These are life-size sketches of my first puppet. There is a comprehensive frontal sketch followed by a side sketch accompanied with a 3D rendition. Here are some real life (photoshop modified) photos of the little buddy. He is made from styrofoam, pipe cleaners, and pieces of nerf gun bullets. Here he is lounging on a series of plants and hanging out in a tree. 

Following the initial puppet creation, I drew a set of modifications to be used on a future puppet. The most notable adjustment includes the formation of a nose. There are also changes to be made to make the torso and hips appear more masculine. The feet are also reduced to form a more functional/directional shape. The next illustration is of my "sequel" wooden puppet. The puppet update replaced the cone-like torso and hip with a wooden egg-shape body. The head, arms and legs remain in the same realm of design as the original. The wooden puppet does not yet have the extreme features on the left, but the illustration on the left is accurate and to scale. 

The Recycled Puppet phase: Here is the first recycle/puppet hybrid of the trio. He is made out of a Bubblicious bubblegum container (head), detergent measure (body) and plastic utensils for limbs. What's notable about him is that his mouth is considerably more flexible and present than any of my previous puppets. I've inserted sponge and a spring in his mouth to further articulate this ability. 

The second puppet in the series is possibly my favorite thus far. He is inspired by samurai warrior origins and images. This concept was not in my original plan, but throughout the process my materials began to illustrate the possibility of a samurai theme. He is certainly the most detailed and complex out of the bunch. Adorned with a plastic knife sword and aluminum shield, he is more than battle ready. Check out my video to see the proof.

The next entry thus far is a partnership product of Emily Massaro and myself. We worked together to create the first animal puppet, a bird. It resembles a seagull in a sense that it is mainly white with yellow and orange legs. The animation of the bird is primarily based on the movement of its wings, which is a work in progress. This puppet also shared the spotlight in the other battle video which I encourage you to check out.

Since we are now focusing on animal puppetry, I decided to make my own lion puppet. This one took the longest amount of time and effort. He is comprised of a water jug body, his arms are made of Pringles cans, and the paws are macaroni and cheese containers. His head was more complex, consisting of a paper plate base, macaroni bowl face, a milk carton mouth and beef jerky can ears. The entire entity was then covered in cardboard to give it a more believable appearance where I then proceeded to pastel the colors to make the lion. Finally his hair was constructed of orange fuzzy yarn.  His features include mobile arms and a movable mouth to allow him to act as if he is biting/talking/roaring. Again, a video was taken to illustrate his animation and interaction with other puppets. 

As a newly assigned puppeteer/puppet designer, I worked on the next character in our "Lost in Time" show. Here is "Richard" the T-Rex. He is comprised of a water jug body, cleaning detergent head, plastic fruit container mouth, yogurt cup arms, juice carton legs, tin can feet, and a recyclable foam tail. His mouth is fully functional along with his legs and tail. I decided his arms were not of any importance so I did not string them up. Here is the final result. 

The final puppet of this project was the pterodactyl character Cutler. He was made in a day considering the time left to complete the show. I must say that he functions quite well for only having one method of animation. He is made up of a mouth wash bottle head, dish soap bottle body, plastic sheet wings, yogurt cup legs, and black netting. His wings move up and down with the lift of the marionette stick. Here is my last puppet!