Hey All
So as some of you know, I'm working on some sheep puppets for a new show.
I took several in-process pics but won't post them till I'm completely done with everything. (I only have 2 more days to finish, GOTTA WORK!!) The bodies are nearly complete, needing only to be attached together and connect the head.

However, as I knew I would, I'm having a bit of trouble with the muzzle. I got the head shape I wanted (using the Punto from PP with some alterations) but I feel as if the muzzle looks pretty strange. I think in the front view it looks fine but it's pretty creepy-looking when profile. Here are some pictures to show what I mean.

I'm considering perhaps shortening the muzzle and making it rounder could improve the profile look. What do you think? Any suggestions? I'm having trouble getting the shape I want.

I pinned the muzzle, ears, eye shapes and fabric in place to make it easier to picture the sheep. PLEASE HELP! Thanks!

hmmmmm.... i agree, make the muzzle more shallow in its protrusion.  also i'm not sure if you were referring to blending it more from the 'face region' down to the tip of the mouth when you said make it rounder.  i think that'd work nicely.  that way it wouldn't be a sharp shape jutting out.

this may be too late in the game to try, but looking at the foam head, i'd be curious to try it on its side, with the mouth at what is now the top of the head... it'd be an elongated shape, lengthwise.

I actually meant to make the muzzle itself more rounded, kind of like a quarter circle shape, I thought that'd help smooth out the look more.

And that's actually a nice suggestion, I might not even need to make a muzzle if I do it like that. I'll try it and see if I like the look.

I think you might want to try turning the head sideways, elongating the head, cutting the mouth from the underside or do something like shorten the muzzle and soften the way it attaches to the face. Just a couple of quick ideas I came up with for you to think about. I've added a couple of drawings for you to consider. The horizontal one is similar to the one I will be using for my sheep.

Oh thanks for the sketches Sue, they definitely help me visualize these ideas better.
Based on the sketch, I think I will keep the head the way it is and follow your suggestion on shortening the muzzle. But how can I soften the way it'll attach to the face?
Also, how I could get a shape like that for the muzzle?

Thanks a lot for your help, I appreciate it!

Shorten the muzzle and attach the bottom jaw closer to the bottom of the head.  Redesign the top jaw so that it has a taller profile steeply tapering to the nose.  Make sure that the width of the muzzle where it attaches to the head is about the same as the head itself.  This should soften the angle and blend the muzzle into the head.

I see you have batting from your images.  Use it to soften the transition between the head and top jaw.  You could re-cut a new top jaw but I would use what you have as a base and then build up with the batting.  You can glue the batting to the head and upper jaw and then stuff some poly fill or more batting in it to get the shape and transition you want. You could also add another piece of foam to the the top jaw.  I am thinking a triangle "folded" length wise might be a start for the slope seen in jomama's drawing.

I agree with the other one who gave you advice. I was thinking how to say it in Englisch luckily the others did it for me..... In the front picture you can see the sheep shape from the site it is a sheep with an identity crisis He is wondering if he is a sheep or something else.
I like your fabrics your are going to use for the sheep
I hope you can finish your sheep the way you want him to become....

Having that head patterns from PP, why you just alter the mouth-face part to make it look like a muzzle (Like adding another dart to make it like Ms. Sue Sheet-head_2 sketch)

@Jon Thanks for the suggestion!

@Shawn Ah ok, that definitely sounds like it could work. But what do oyu mean by batting?

@Gompie Haha identity crisis.. oh man! Thank you though, I hope so as well!

@Miguel I actually made a regular Punto head and consider that but wasn't sure it'd be what I wanted.

But, hey everyone. I tried JLucci's suggestion today and was extremely surprised with the fact that... HEY! Turning it on it's side actually gives the head the look I was somewhat going for and already has a smoothened muzzle. It's not exactly what I want but good enough considering time. I snapped a quick picture of one of the heads so you could all see it. What do you think?





The only thing is I'm afraid of messing up once I cut open the mouth slit. I drew 2 lines and think the bottom one would work better, or maybe somewhere in betwee?