I think you can get some really cool results if you experiment with silicone. A great technique for getting really creepy movement in to a puppet is to cast something in silicone and then use a filler, which will make it move in a very life-like fashion. A lot of realistic make-up FX work is done that way (think fake beer bellies, and things like that).

Check out the Stan Winston School. They offer a free trial membership and think you could get some really good ideas from them.

Check out the Stan Winston School. They offer a free trial membership and think you could get some really good ideas from them.

That's an awesome website. If I had the time and money I'd go through their tutorials myself even though I'm not one bit inclined to get into monster making.

Wow, thanks for the link Andrew. The Stan Winston School is mind blowing!

Here's something else, although it's closer to me
Melb Uni has been doing workshops. Sounds like the guy who runs it would be in with the Creature Tech folk. Didn't take the time to see if there's more in the future, but it may be worth poking around if you're keen on coming this way.
http://umsu.unimelb.edu.au/ai1ec_event/scenicartpuppet/

EDIT: Arrgh... silly me. It didn't occur to me that it might be an in-house thing only and it might require attendance at the uni. Given they often do external things at Union House as far as I know, I just assumed it would be open to anyone. It certainly doesn't specify on the website but given the workshop is free it makes me think it would be closed to non-students.

I like the puppet, but I totally understand what you are saying here about wanting a move 'evil' look. It's hard with just foam and fleece to get that violent, gory appeal you seem to be seeking. Latex and silicone are both good options.

I've brushed latex on foam in the past with mascot characters. You can pre-mix in the color/paint too and then gloss or matte finish it to taste. Not really hard, and most art stores sell the jars of latex for a reasonable price.

If you want to go bigger than detail work though you really need to just consider sculpting and molding like you see on shows like FaceOff and Jim Henson's SyFy. There's a point where you kind of transition from puppet to creature and it seems like you're wanting to move out of the traditional puppet realm.

Lizzie - I am of a different school than the others I guess.  I love latex puppets and am not fond of silicon.  Silicon takes mixing and in my experience, if you don't get it darn near perfect, you are left with a sticky mess that is a dread to clean up.  The finish is very nice, but shiny.  I had to put a baby powder over the Sasquatch puppet of mine to tone it down.  To color it, you really have to color it when mixing it and deal with what-ever color you end up with.  Otherwise, you are painting over it and loosing all the benefits of the silicon.  Plus, you have to work in small amounts and keep mixing more as you go, since it dries so much faster.  Try getting that coloring an exact match 20 times in a row!!

Latex on the other hand, is ready to go and clean-up is as simple as rubbing your hands together until it peels off.  You can color the mix to begin, but once you are done, you can also mix small amounts of it to paint on top.  You get all the color, can shade and still have the latex as your skin.

As for breaking down, I have only been making them for three years.  However, my mentor who taught me, says he has had and used latex puppets for several years with no problem with them breaking down.  Plus, you can always go over them again if they need a touch up. 

I have not used latex for eyes, but I have for puppets as well as for casting teeth, horns, ears, tongues, full puppets and masks.  I'm currently using it to make head, hands and feet for my first marionette.  I love the medium.  I get my latex (clay, poly foam, foam rubber, etc) from http://www.monstermakers.com/. 

Also, I have a blog I haven't updated in a while.  But I started it right after my mentor showed me how to do latex.  There are step-by-step pictures and instructions here:

http://puppetsmitharts.blogspot.com/2012/09/i-had-pleasure-of-sitting-down-with.html
http://puppetsmitharts.blogspot.com/2012/09/daly-puppet-method-part-2-applying-latex.html
http://puppetsmitharts.blogspot.com/2012/09/daly-design-part-3-mouth-tongue-hair.html

Or you can find the pictures with captions here:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.275146125935892.63949.221752597941912&type=3

For other things in latex, here is where I fully cast and molded a latex hand puppet:
https://www.facebook.com/arthur.smith.399/media_set?set=a.10151443004613152.1073741827.542023151&type=3

The brain puppet I made for the Creature show audition
https://www.facebook.com/arthur.smith.399/media_set?set=a.10151606603288152.1073741831.542023151&type=3
You can skip the first 2:40 of this! 

Ahhhh!!!  I didn't know it would actually post the video!!

Arthur, that is an awesome video and audition, the brain came out really well and you should be very proud of yourself, you are a great role model for people with ADD!!

Thank you so much for your input. I have spent the last few days researching and watching endless youtube clips. I have decided that to really form an opinion, I need to experiment with all available mediums. I am starting with silicone as I watched pagestep007's tutorial and was really inspired - thanks for the heads up Jeezbo. I like the fact I have all the necessary gear in my workshop and after experimenting on a small sample of foam, was really surprised I managed to achieve the same effect as Phillip did! I admit Arthur that the continued mixing will be a challenge for me. I actually started a build to use this method yesterday and realised my issue was not so much the application of the silicone but the need to build the neck of the puppet from foam first. I have always made the neck from fabric and whilst I thought I had allowed for the neck appropriately in my design, I was way off the mark. He's been turfed and I've started a new build paying particular focus on the neck.

I think you're right Steve - I do aspire to transition to something more than what I know of puppets and perhaps in to that realm of creature builds. The fact is simple mistakes like I made today tell me I have a very long way to go before I can realistically aspire to such things. Plus, the whole animatronic component just blows my mind!

Arthur, thank you for the links. It's going to take me some time to get through them but I really appreciate you sharing.

Lizzie you have to cause complete chaos to get to where you want to be. That's inevitable. Things like the artsy TV shows don't show you the 1000000 failures these artists collectively had getting to their current point in the is lives and careers of being successful in their medium of choice.

There's also that line of hobby or profession. If the plan is profession at some point legitimate education is needed. If it's always just a hobby / side project then it's more a matter of just going for it no matter what the hell it is you want to do and just embrace the fact that 90% of ideas will fail until you hit your mark. That's why everyone suggests a small piece when learning; eye, finger, scale, whatever.. this way you get the process down at a reduced cost. As a hobby myself I've put in thousands on something I never attempted to monetize, a labor of love. That alone might help me always test small with things since it's always out of pocket

Post up pics of the progression would love to see your process!