My project for course: Introduction to Puppet Making for Stop Motion

My puppet was inspired by a photo of my grandmother Evelyn as a young woman taken in Switzerland in the 1930s. I’ve always loved the photo (and how graceful and stylish she looks in it) and thought it would be fun to make a character based on her. I LOVED making the puppet but it wasn’t without its challenges - the wire in my armature snapped in several places very quickly - so I had to repair it and change course. Because of the problems with the wire, the final puppet is not as poseable as I wanted it to be, so it really ended up as an ‘art doll’ rather than a stop-frame puppet. But I have lots of ideas to improve my designs and make them more robust for future projects…one day I would love to make a puppet that is suitable for stop frame animation. I’ve made quite a few full-size garments in the past, but didn’t appreciate how time-consuming making miniature versions would be! It took 3 attempts to get the dress right! The shoes were made from Sculpey clay and faux leather, they’re not nearly as elegant as my grandmother’s original ones, but they sort of work. The hat was made from old roller blind fabric samples that were being chucked out at the shop where I work. I used thick wool for her hair (I dyed it brown using food colouring). I’m kicking myself for not spending more time refining the shape of the hands, and not putting the seam on the back of the arms….next time! Maybe one day I will make her a rucksack and a pair of binoculars…Thank you Adeena for your amazing course, I got SO much out of it and my head is bursting with ideas for future puppets and dolls!