need idea and/or pattern for an ant puppet. was thinking could make puppet from poof foam balls or Styrofoam balls. thank you for any help.
jg puppet11

Here's a pciture of an ant puppet I made several months ago.  If you go to a thread in the forum intitled Adam Ant there is some description of the build process.

Ant know need to search any further..... I think Jon has just the right pattern for you.

Billy D.

That is a best puppet ant I ever seen (Without putting any other work down)

A great sample to follow!

Jon,, thank you, that is a beautiful looking ant. and Billy, I agree, no need to look further, except I'm not sure I'm capable of building a puppet like this.
jgpuppet11

basically the puppet is a head and two eggs made from half inch foam and covered with black fleece.  O yeah there is the mechanism but that's not really very difficult either and there are even simpler variations. 
In short I think you could do it.  I mean I've only been building puppets for a year.  At the building of the ant is was only about 6 months. 

Just take your time and build it one step at a time.  That's all it is, one step at a time.

Jon,, thank you, that is a beautiful looking ant. and Billy, I agree, no need to look further, except I'm not sure I'm capable of building a puppet like this.
jgpuppet11

I had a Art Teacher one time that said quote: ( Can't never could do nothing until you try the first time. ) unquote

So jump right in there and if you get to a point that you don't understand Jon or any of us will be here to help. I have full confidence that you can do it.

Billy D.

Give it a try, we are glad to help you out when you need it.

Daryl H

thanks. I will give it a try. BUT where do I start?
jgpuppet11

Start by making a drawing of what you want the puppet to look like.  It can be a simple line drawing (thats all I use) or it can be more detailed.  The idea is to clearly define what you are trying to build.

Then decide how big you want it to be.  Size was a big factor for me.  I need  the ant to be small in relationship to other puppets I have made and this meant that the head was too small to accomodate a hand. So I built a mechanism to opperate the mouth.

After this I made a full size paper mock up of the head.  i like to use paper because I don't feel bad throwing the whole thing away and starting over if I don't like how its going.  Once the paper head is down I carefull take it apart and use it for the pattern for the head.

I could add more of the steps I have used but I think this may be able to get you started.

Have fun!!!!

Jon