Great tutorial!!! Thx fot sharing it with us.
Like the puppet. Is realy something to use in the classroom. Maybe I'll try it to... I'm sure my kids will love it too.

Jon says: Billy, Junebugs are beetles.  Part of the Scarab family actually.  Though they are not dung beetles like the famous scarabs from egypt.  Junebugs are more notorious for eating fruit that farmers would rather they left alone.

Will you be applying a undershell to his body as well............ I'm not sure what anatomy of a beetle is  but as long as I'm learning here ........ thought I would ask and I did not know what they were related to or called. This is a very educational tutorial.

Billy D.

I'm not sure what you mean by an undershell, but I think I can answer your question.  I have put all the shell in place that I plan to.  There are some details to the shell (stitching to outline the segments on the underside of the abdomin, and ridges on the wings) that I am still trying to decide if I want to do but the major elements are in place.

I am considering whether or not I ought to add some fur to Joshua's chest.  Most varieties of june bugs have fur on the underside of the thorax.  If you have any thoughts on that line help me out.

Before creating this puppet I'd never paid much attention to june bugs.  I didn't know that there are several varieties of bettles that we call june bugs, that they had some weird antenna's or anything else for that matter.  To me they were just fat little bugs.  Needless to say, I've learn a lot.

I'm not sure what you mean by an undershell, but I think I can answer your question.  I have put all the shell in place that I plan to.  There are some details to the shell (stitching to outline the segments on the underside of the abdomin, and ridges on the wings) that I am still trying to decide if I want to do but the major elements are in place.

I am considering whether or not I ought to add some fur to Joshua's chest.  Most varieties of june bugs have fur on the underside of the thorax.  If you have any thoughts on that line help me out.

Before creating this puppet I'd never paid much attention to june bugs.  I didn't know that there are several varieties of bettles that we call june bugs, that they had some weird antenna's or anything else for that matter.  To me they were just fat little bugs.  Needless to say, I've learn a lot.

When I was refering to the underside (which would be the stomach area or the front of your puppet) or exoskeletal part of a beetle. My reason for asking was because of your concerns that he was looking like a turtle. I thought by adding parts to the underside as you did on the back it would give it more a uniform shape. Although I don't think it really matters.

However you decide to finish him I think he looks great........... I'm assuming it is a him. Can't wait to see it finished.

Billy D.

I painted the eyes       Talk about coming alive.

As far as I concerned the two most important parts of a puppet to get are the eyes and the mouth.  the eyes give the puppet focus and life, and the mouth draws the attention as the puppet speaks.

For the eye pattern I went on the paint program on my computer and laid out the pupil and the iris for one eye.  When the lay out way what I thought might work I printed the eye and cut it out.  Would you believe it, it was perfect size and everything.  I got lucky with that one.  If they had been too big or too small I would have saved the image and then open it up in publisher.  Its easier to resize pictures in Publisher than it is in paint.

I printed and cut out a second eye and played around with positioning with until I was happy with their focus.  I use a couple different tests:  Does the puppet feel like its looking at me when I'm level with his eyes?  Does it look like its looking at it self when held up to a mirror?

Now I traced the eye with a sharp pencil, then I cut out the pupil and traced it onto the eye.  the for fun I colored the eye in with some sharpies.  After I knew that I was completely satisifed with the size and lacement of the iris and pupils I raided my daughters art set and painted the eyes in with acrylic paint.  All thats left it to clear coat the entire eye with clear fingernail polish.  The polish will give the eye a shiny wet look.

Looking good! You have definitely put a lot of thought  into this puppet.

I've got to tell you, I'm really impressed by the quality of so many of the puppets posted in the gallery and I don't want my Joshua to be embarassed because he doesn't look as good as the others.

Truthfully, Joshua is the title character for some children's stories I have written and am going to work up into a puppet show.  So I felt that I really needed to get him right since he would probably appear in most if not all the stories.

I've got to tell you, I'm really impressed by the quality of so many of the puppets posted in the gallery and I don't want my Joshua to be embarassed because he doesn't look as good as the others.

You have no worries there!  He is looking wonderfull! You might want to paint a white highlight into the iris of the eye.  Make the highlight cross the green and black.  It can be a very small upside down triangle or simply a small "slash" of white.  He is very alive now but a highlight can give that extra spark of life.  Place both at about 11:00 or 2:00 oclock for the best result.

Thanks for the advise, Shawn.  One of my reasons for posting is so that you more experienced puppeteers can advise me along the way. 

I've added highlights at eleven o'clock and they look great.  When I post my progress latter I'll include pictures of the eyes for comparison.  What I'm noticing is that the impact of the highlight is more dramatic at a distance rather than close up.  The highlights help to extend the range of focus across a room in a way that the eyes didn't before I painted the highlights on.

Highlights = Good!

I tried them in my hair once but they didn't seem to have the same impact.