I just finished up some revisions to Cousin Loomis this morning. I added a new carved foam and then plastidipped nose and new larger eyes iwth eyelids. but i think the nose is too big and i think i liked the smaller eyes more. i made them bigger because in puppeting him i tend to lean him back alot. and it just seemed like you didn't see his eyes enough so i made them bigger ones. I think i am gonna go back to the old ones with no eyelids. it seems like he was more expressive have a more neutral expression rather than the kinda permanent sad look.
i also had to completly replace his mouth plate since his straps broke and i went ahead and redid his foam skull too.

but aaaaanyway i took him out this afternoon and i ran into a guy i used to know who was then down on his luck but still a brilliantly articulate street poet. he told me he didn't write any of his poems down cause when he was in the military someone stole some personal poems. so he just has everything memorized.
but he had some words of wisdom and was so so excited to interact with the puppet and even when we weren't filming he kept encouraging not me to talk to him but Loomis. I made an appointment to meet him next week to film some more. he is so so excited. he kept saying he needed a costume and wanted to talk to the kids about not drinking and doing drugs. he has lots of things he wants to talk about. i really want to build a simple puppet to give to him cause i got to see the childlike wonder of an almost 50 year old man picking up a puppet and having a conversation with himself.
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https://youtu.be/4wZmut7ezNM
i can't wait till the next installment of the werewolf and the street poet.

hope you all like my shenanigains.
i have another video from today i will add later after i get it uploaded.

That is incredible!  You have found a gem of a human being. While this taping did not really "go" anywhere you could see a realness in this person that was refreshing. As you say he is very articulate and I think that together Loomis and he could produce some astounding footage.

I personally love Loomis's new look and makeover.  It think you should keep the changes.

I can't wait to see the next installment of your conversations with this person! 

thanks shawn!
yes once again it wasn't really going anywhere just some silly improv. but i think through public practice. trial by fire so to speak i am slowly getting better. this video clip had the best focus of the day. he still kinda seems like he has a bit of a dead eye stare. i think it is cause i gave him bigger eyes but used the same small pupils. he looks kinda intense with them lol.
and yes as you might have notice he still needs another hand lol.

spookdaddy, I think you're right about the eyes.  The problem is not the size of the eyes it the pupils.  Try and paint the pupils so that they are more realistic.  Give them the iris, pupil and highlights.  This will give the eye more focus and the illusion of more life.

good suggestion jon i'll give that a shot.
i actually based Cousin Loomis off of Uncle Loomis, a huge plush i made from an old faux fur coat and some fleece.


Cousin Loomis has slowly moved away from looking like Uncle Loomis. MOstly the new changes giving him biggere eyes and nose made him have less of a snout.
but i have been thinking about giving him mismatched color eyes too.
i think that adds alot of character to him.
wearwoof chamm my friends wearwoof chamm

spookdaddy once in a while a person can be down on there luck but with a simple smile or a hello it can make them fill like a human and not like a piece of dirt.

it seems that he has a lot to say and needs a new way of putting it a cross and your thing with the puppet would be great.

I love the puppet as he is.  I think that you need to bend your wrist more so the he is looking more into the camera and not up in the air.  This will come more natural when you practice more.  I like the pupils as they are I think "real" looking eyes will take away from him and make him look harsh and scary.  IMHO

This is one special person and hopefully you can both get a focus topic and "improv" yourselves through it.  He has a "real" person feel to him and is very honest with where he has been without wanting any pity. 

Keep them coming......

Daryl H