Moose IV

I'm still around. I've been incredibly busy on things that aren't very exciting. Check out finished Miss Moose. YAY!

Crocus are blooming, chickens are getting frisky and I'm getting the bug to do some gardening. Check out Sharon's blog. Independence days are back up and rolling for the season. I just kind of petered out last year along with the growing plants. Stay tuned for ID2010... coming soon!

Moose III

She's almost done! My portion is anyway. Matt is going to have to do some detail work but first many layers of latex need to be built up and dry on the shoes.



I helped work out fit issues mostly today. Of course we're hoping the average girl guide is taller than me! Another six inches and things look much better proportioned!



So shoes, belt and shading work on her fur and Miss Moose will be ready for her international debut.

Moose II

Well, Moose is growing nicely. I arrived to this gorgeous head already built and ready for some fine tuning, and yes, I believe that is a moose with a nose ring.

The usual working conditions were in place her at Matt's. Decapitated heads, brains and weird squishy things watching you work.



I built hooves....

Over all, she's coming together nicely. Lots of pieces to put together tomorrow. I'll be sure to take pics when we put it on me to check the fit.

Moose

I'm in Ottawa for a mascot build this week (and, well a specialist apt for my leg but that's another story.) More importantly I am here to assist in the building of THIS...



Girl Guides Canada is getting a new moose for their international camp this summer. She doesn't have a name, the contest is still going on to decide that.

I'll post pics when I get a break and get to sit.

Revival "The Making Of"

Before Christmas I spent a bit of time helping out my friend Matt with his latest Creepy Puppet Project. He bases many of his zombies on a 1/4 scale molded skeleton. Conveniently, in school I learned to draft most of my flat patterns using 1/4 scale slopers and still have them. So, making zombie clothes is just like making real people clothes only using less yardage. Excuse the bad photos of these, they were meant more as a visual communication between Matt and I as we live 6 hours apart.







I'm sure Matt worked his butt off for weeks in the interim but when Jenn, Paul and I arrived at his place he got us to give him a hand doing some green screen dancing skeleton work. This is a screen grab of what we were up to. For three non puppeteers that's a lot of limbs to get moving in coordination.




Ultimately, this is what things ended up looking like.



Please, take a minute to go and subscribe to Matt's channel on Youtube. He's working hard to expand the CPP and those numbers help.

Workin' Workin' Workin'

I swear, there is tonnes of interesting stuff to write about. I really just don't have the time to sit and compose anything intelligent. KEEP SEWING!! I have the major fittings all Sunday.

Go and check out my friend Matt's interview at Horror Reanimated. They are always up to cool stuff. Thanks so much for the shout out Matt!

Puppet Stuff

Hey all... you'll be happy to know that oatmeal cookies are safe to eat again, they weren't the culprit. I ended up with a nasty run of the flu. I'm back on the mend though and while recovering with lots of couch time I've been checking things out online.

My friend Matt Ficner has been up to some fun stuff. He recently was featured on a podcast called Muppet Cast. You can find it here for a listen.

I was pulling up Matt's youtube page to link to his stuff on this post and found a video someone put up in December of Matt explaining his puppet build process. Check it out, it's interesting. I've got to say though, the studio is never that clean when I'm around!

Wait For It.....

Ummmm.. Yeah, they are

Zombies are fun...

Unbelievable

Dusty Zombies has made it past 10 000 hits. Freakin' awesome!

Check it out if you haven't seen it.

Creepy Puppet Project

Hey everyone. Look at what's up! Watch for Tubbs, he's the best.

Hi Honey, I'm Home...

Coolio. I'm home after days and days of fun builds and lots of hard work, not to mention a bit of sushi. Apparently ol' Lappy enjoys fresh northern air as well cuz I convinced her to download some pictures for our viewing pleasure.

I teased you a bit with the horror wonder whom is Fat Boy. This is completely Matt's magic at work, I just get to play at the edges of it some days!

To give you an idea of the process, this is Fat Boy's bust, no colour at this point.


On from that, the next shot is him assembled. He has a foam body over a plastic core, wrapped in fabric and then painted and sculped in latex. Notice the swav new clothes he's sporting at this point. It has to look good, to look bad later.



Then, after Matt waves a magic wand over him and I work for a while on his clothing, he looks like this.



Is that cool or what?!? A close up for those of you not squeamish. Keep in mind that this is a 1/4 scale puppet.



This is the only completely finished puppet after my 10 days at the studio. Lots of starts happened on a LOT of puppets though. I'll keep everyone up to date.

Oops, a test maggot got in there....

Yep, it was zombie day. It's really too bad I can't post pics right now cuz... fat boy is the coolest. I did lots of clothes tailoring and distressing.

Be good, have fun, there will be pictures soon!

Technical Issues

Oops.. I seem to be having technical issues. Lappy may have to visit the tech support lab.

In the mean time, the trees are pretty close to finished. They have been tucked away in the grove for a bit to mature while other things step to the top of the to do list.

Today I
-built a old lady puppet body (which got reworked but was way fun to do)
-tailored her the ugliest dress ever (pic to follow)
-tailored a gown for a skelton
-made various little things like dyed shirt, bow ties and opera scarves\

Over all it was fun build day. Pictures to follow when I get onto my own computer.

Is This Battle Fatigue?

Seriously, how can I possibly be this tired?! I don't feel I did that much today but I'm just wiped.

We did beat the weather, it was forcast clear for the morning and I used every last dry minute to finish things up. I think that is what is so tiring, finishing. This isn't the sexy part of building something. No big impact, more quality control. Make sure the edges are all solid, build finishing bits, glue seams. This all takes so much time but when you stand back, very little has changed visually but this work is what makes sure these trees will survive a very busy touring schedule.

Hopefully tomorrow things will be dry and there will be a grande finale shot of the tree(s). Then, clean up, a bit of down time and on to the next build - two birds to interact with Mr. Tree. Maybe look at a bit of zombie tailoring for fun while mechs are being built.

What a Difference a Day Makes

It really is amazing. What progress today! It was beautiful and warm and we worked in the garden all day. The trees are SO... close to being finished. The canopy is essentially done for one and not much left on the second one, there will be finishing work on the bases and a little bit of tweaking and then on to the birds.

Day II

I'm all for a snazzy title aren't I? It was a long day. The pics are a bit off, I started working before the first one, and I had to take the last one before it was completely dark, so there was more after that. Also, the bases are pretty much covered as well, sorry, no pic there.


Ummm.. so yeah, lots of work done equals a boring blog post I guess. I'm going to drag my tired self to watch some tv and have a glass of wine (whine?)

On to New Things

I finished up my day job on Friday. Things ended up kind of garbled in the end as to my status, between jobs, union arguments and near miss on a strike it was kind of crazy. So - I took two weeks off to make some puppets in Ottawa with my friend Matt. I'm going to try and post everyday to show the process and our progress making these guys.

The basic premise is a giant talking tree. He has to be puppeteered by the performer,on stage quite simply. There will also be a bird, with giant wings that unfurl. The trees need to be able to come apart for transport. Everything is being made in duplicate so one set can be performing while the other is stuck and moved. So.. this is what was ready to go when I got here today.







I'm including a picture of the mech for those of you who are interested (Hi Paul!).

By the end of the day, after my glue, foam and a small mech rebuild we have this.



I'm pretty pleased. There is also a small amount of foam work done on the bases but frankly I was so cold and miserable after working outside this afternoon I just wanted to get it packed up and done for the day.

More tomorrow......