It's David. Sorry I haven't been faster with the posts. I'm in rehearsal for a show right now at school, so I've been short on time.
I wanted to you show a couple of Dr. Cortex's features, so here goes...
I've never carved foam before, nor do I have blocks of foam to carve, but I really wanted a specific shape for the nose. I decided that the easiest way to accomplish the carved look, would be to actually carve some foam (who would have thunk it?) so I made my own block. I just took some really old scrap foam I've been keeping in a bag for who knows how long, contact cemented about 6 half inch pieces together, and gave it a shot. Above is what came out of the attempt.
I haven't really explored ear building much at all. Usually I have time for two very basic flat pieces, but this time I wanted to try for a more 3D look. They looked ok in foam form, but once I covered them, I lost a lot of the definition that was intended. (You'll see that soon.) I'll keep trying though. I know I can get a cleaner look in the foam in the future, but it's actually the fabric I'm more concerned with figuring out for the next attempt.
I love making hands! I'm not a fan of covering them, but I really enjoy this stage of the build process. As you may be able to tell from the picture, I opted for wire armature. Time permitting, we really try to make sure all of our designs incorporate this. While it adds to the cost, I think it's so important to add expression wherever you can.It's no secret that puppets have a harder time showing emotion. Subtle differences like this though, help bring real life to your puppets. We as humans store emotion in our hands that we release constantly as we speak (at least those of us born with some Italian blood...). Why not transfer this to puppet building?
Just like Kyle mentioned... We would love to hear what brings you to the blog and what keeps you coming back. Let us know what you enjoy and what you'd like to see more of. We can't wait to read your responses!
