Visual Language- Study Task 2 - Captain Character- Making a Puppet

Character Puppet

To test out other ways to make out characters, we tried puppets. These were made of wood and were held together with wire so it could stand and be bent at the joints. This is another way to make a character other than using wire as it is harder and can be built on faster. You can then cover it like a character or use it for poses, or even just to build your characters clothes on so they can be the correct size before breaking the easily made puppet so the clothes are the completely right shape and can then be built onto your other models.

This was after i had fully built my model as i had a basic human shape to cut out which made the process very easy to complete. I have experience working with wood so i knew how to use the machines and get the correct shapes so i did this all completely independently. I do think if i had more than a day to complete this puppet i would have done it in 3D, this would have involved carving and sculpting my character, which would have been very hard and advanced but would have been interesting to try out.

The wood we were using was prone to splitting so when drilling, it split. This happened easily when i was drilling the hands and other small features on this model but even on the legs and arms, i found it started cracking in half, to fix this i added glue and then held it together with masking tape so it glued tight. I used quite a good amount of glue as this type of wood tends to soak it up so this means it is now reinforced and stronger.

As i had extra time at the end the tutor said i could do a round base, this was done on one of the new machines i had not come across that slowly cut the wood while you turned it in a circle so it didn't split and made a nice clean sharp cut. This machine also made sure the wood stayed completely centred so the circle was exactly round and in the same place.

This is my character fully on the board so she is standing and can spin and move her limbs. Overall though, i would improve this design as she is such a basic shape that it doesn't look very good overall. Next time i will defiantly make sure to do her 3D with her body built up and her legs thick and all making her look like the character i designed, not just a basic human form.

Even though i knew how to use the drills, machines and sanders, i had never attempted to make a puppet so this was a good learning experience as i had never made something so small out of wood as i'm used to making desks and much larger designs so this is why i struggled so much. Next time if i'm chiseling i think it will be hard to think of the design so you dont chisel off too much but it will make a much more realistic finished design. I will make these changes next time to get a better result i can be more proud of.