Tie

Hopefully, posting this now, will show how much I will have improved in 12 months time. If I don't, I'm gonna give up. You can probably tell I'm not over-the-moon with this short. I had about 4 hours to shoot, compile and edit in time for the deadline, so I'm sticking to that as a reason why it's not very good.

Animateclay.com June challenge entry. Theme was 'Tie'.

Some progress shots: (click to enlarge).

Limp stills.

A couple of stills showing the puppet and partial set of my animateclay.com monthly challenge entry for May. The challenge theme was 'Limp'. I've had a few problems editing the final film, and as it's now middle of June, this short might never be seen. I just  thought I owe it to the poor doll to post her picture.

Extra lighting for photo purposes. The actual film is darker than this.

The doll was a nightmare to animate. Too tall, no tie-downs.

Spare Parts.

Unlucky old Rough Puppet had to be stripped down to make new puppets this week. I extracted his eyes and nuts (tie-down nuts!), leaving him in a sorry state. Goblin did his best to console the poor fellow.

Puppet Preview.

I was hoping to get this puppet finished for the weekend and post it in full, but that's unlikely to happen. I have college work, baking work, a family christening and other social functions which take precedence over the next few days. 24 hours in a day?! Come-on!! They should be 3 times that long!

So, here's what I've done so far (cos I can't stand not updating any longer). I have to detach the latex face from the skull and put the eyes in. Then maybe add some eyebrows - I haven't decided yet. I'm holding the fur in place for photo's sake. Hopefully, I can complete it within the week, depending on how much sleep I require.

Mobile phone pic.

New Goblin

I wasn't happy with the lack of control over detail in the previous attempts so I decided on a different technique. I sculpted a face in plasticine, made an open plaster mould and slush cast a thin latex mask. After dipping the upholstery foam head in latex, I grafted the mask on while the head was still wet. I don't think I have a career in plastic surgery, but it worked ok.

Slightly disturbing!

Mask, mould, sculpt.

Still a bit rough but getting nearer to what I envisaged.

I have to thank Jon for the photo backdrop technique. Cheers, pal :)

Puppet FAIL.

I wasn't going to post this, but I haven't updated in a while. Below you can see the latest failed attempt at a goblin. Before I dipped in latex, the puppet was spot-on. The proportions were all nice and it was feather light due to it being made from upholstery foam, then wrapped in bandages. For some reason I didn't take any photos of the pre-dipped phase.

Then it all went tits.

The latex soaked into the bandages too much (perhaps I should have foreseen this), resulting in a very heavy body and I couldn't achieve the 'smooth' finish I was hoping for. The right arm became detached from the wooden chest block - probably because I used metal epoxy, which set rock-hard but didn't bond to the wood. The right leg came loose from its wooden block too - same reason. Overall, it just didn't look the way I wanted it to. Back to the drawing board. Oh, and the latex dried much darker than I had anticipated, despite adding gallons of white pigment. After I finish the puppet I'm doing now, I think I'll get back to the Dragonskin silicone. I'm losing faith in liquid latex.

Quite a big puppet. About 13 inches.

I don't like the face. It's too generic.

Rough Puppet

So, I've had some old liquid latex hanging around for a few years and haven't used it for much - I wasn't overly pleased with my early tests. I thought I'd give it another go and made a basic wire armature, glued bits of foam on and snipped it to shape. I experimented with different wire shapes to make the head able to have moving eyes and mouth. I don't think I have suitable wire for expressive eyebrows and cheeks. I'm fairly happy with how the latex works (esp after about 3 years in storage!!), so I'm leaving this puppet unfinished and starting on a proper one.

Add caption

I used a ping pong ball and a piece of wire hooped 4 times - the middle 2 forming the upper and lower lips and the bottom being the chin.

The foam from an ironing board cover works well. I tried polystyrene too (ears). The latex doesn't stick too well to it.

Dipped in latex a few times, then placed some eyes on. Dipped a couple times more. Then slit horizontally across the eyes to create eyelids.

Trousers made from an old black T-shirt but I didn't like em. Off they came.

Jumper made from an old sock. Pose!

I had to trim the ears to half their original size cos they wouldn't fit in the jar I had the latex in. Next time I'll use a wider jar!

I attempted to make hands a few times but they never came out right. I need some thinner wire. I want to avoid the 'giant hands' syndrome.

After a few days the latex had become a bit too stiff, so I may apply less layers next time. The lips and eyebags were coloured with left over latex mixed with a little red pigment and painted on.

Making a fallen tree stump.

Old faithful. Toilet roll tube.

Added polystyrene branch and covered with foil.

Tissue and PVA for the texture and shape.

Painted, with sprouting fledgling branches.

Snowwwww!!

I took time out from everything (plus college was closed due to 'adverse' weather conditions) to build a snowperson and a snowcat. Got some funny looks from passers-by.

A small update.

I've been working on the Flora and Fauna of the goblin world and made this little fella (left pic). A chicken/pigeon/duck. He's 2.5" tall without his feet, so probably 3" complete. The wire armature will run through the body and come out as his lower leg/feet. Tie-downs might be a problem... And also made and painted various size eyes (right pic) from epoxy putty and acrylic paint. Yet to be varnished.