I was recently commissioned to build a custom portrait puppet for Bill Young, the owner of Arkham Comix, a comic book shop in Rocky Mount, NC. I was in the area one day and dropped by the store to see if I could leave some of my business cards and Bill asked me to build a puppet for him, of him. I ordered some fleece and while I was waiting for that to come in I started on the foam under-structure.
Portrait Puppets Are A Challenge
Building a custom puppet takes a lot of attention to detail. I like to sketch out the puppets I am building so I can get an idea of the shape of the head and how the features are laid out. Once the foam work is done I cover it in fleece, I use different types of faux fur and materials for the beard or hair of the puppets. It can be a very time consuming job, from sculpting, pattern making, vacuum forming, painting, bending wire, sewing by hand and by machine. On this puppet I spent almost two hours just hand sewing the beard to the face. I take pride in a job well done and when you get to deliver the puppet to the client in person and you see their reaction, it makes it all the more satisfying! The puppet will be used in future TV spots for the store. You can see what Bill had to say about his very own custom puppet over on the testimonials page.
Need a custom puppet of your own? Send me an email to discuss how puppetry can tell your company’s story.
