So to get the ball rolling I figured an introduction/observational tale was in order. I apologize if it’s lengthy. Haha Feel free to skip and just say “hi”!

Howdy~! Always good to start with a greeting (for those taking notes)

I am 26 years old and I enjoy writing, drawing, and puppets (of course). Jim Henson’s The Storyteller was and still is one of my favorite things EVER. The combination of storytelling and physical creatures just spoke to me on many levels. One of my biggest goals as a builder is to be able to tell my future children stories I have written with actual creatures I have built to make them think it’s all real. Keepin’ Imagination alive!

I somehow managed to marry someone who willingly took the roll as bread winner so that I can stay at home and follow my dreams. Whether I make money off of it or not she thinks it’s cool and is happy to see me happy. All in all not a bad arrangement and I consider myself extremely lucky.

Now to be honest I “started” building puppets several years ago and by several years ago I mean I bought a glorified sock puppet pattern from Project Puppet, made a few completely lacking any real customizations, sold said few, vowed that this was the life for me and then procrastinated for about 3ish years.

In truth I count my puppet building “career” as beginning the day the Jim Henson Creature Shop Challenge show aired. Not to toot my own horn but I have blown myself away with what I have accomplished thus far in comparison to where I started.
 
And so begins the observational tale.

Looking back I realize I was pattern stuck. Everywhere I looked, everything I googled when I first wanted to start was people looking for patterns, people selling patterns, patterns this patterns that. So the obvious thought was “Ok…I need patterns.” My brain just cut out anything that wasn’t a pattern. To hell with creativity and originality I need someone to tell me what to do and what to use. So I make glorified sock puppets until I’m sick of looking at them and if I have to sew one more I’ll go out and get a “real” job. Giving the stay at home option mentioned above I naturally opted to procrastinate instead.

So when this TV show aired I watched the first episode and my mind was blown. Now I had planned to learn as much from this show as I could but what I didn’t expect is that I technically in some shape or form already knew it. I’ve watched every episode and slapped myself each and every one for wasting so much time doing nothing. I have fabric. I have foam. I have tools. You’re telling me I can use the tools on the foam and attach fabrics to said foams and build stuff!?! I don’t need a pattern!?! I googled away 3 years locking in on the wrong information!!

Needless to say I felt sheepish. It was in reality a cage of my own doing. Episode one I vowed that I would build something to fit into the challenge. I may not have the mechanical stuff or enough materials to do full body creatures but I was going to build something that kinda sorta fit into the challenge. Then they threw the Skeksis at  me but I stuck to it and though it’s still in progress I have a skeksis esk build in the works that I am very proud of. (Granted it looks nothing like a Skeksis at this point but with materials at hand it was easier to go original character).

I was so stuck on patterns (and I only ever bought the one!!) that I didn’t even know how to use the materials. I only knew to use fabric and foam where the pattern told me to use them. I never thought about what they were used for, what their jobs were in correlation with the final product. Patterns are a great tool if used as a tool. I didn’t use it as a tool. I clung to it like I was drowning and it was the only thing floating. Extreme but it gets the point across.

But that’s me and a rather lengthy observation I have made about myself over the past several weeks. Hope I didn’t bore anyone to death. I promise I’m not normally this wordy. Figured I’d go big for my first post and all.

Welcome! :D  Procrastination, I know that word well.  We are still best of buds on many things.  I like your take on breaking the pattern mold with the show.  I am still clinging to the patterns for the puppets, but am having fun creating things to use with the puppets.  Any chance you could share some pics of your work?

I'm in the process of organizing my photos. Sometimes I take too many and sometimes not enough. As soon as I make heads or tales of my mess I'll be sure to share.

To stick to my story.

The Undersea challenge had me stumped because my brain isn't very creative with underwater things. My wife said "I want an angler fish" so I thought...ok I can work with that.


After that I was all confident and happy with my vow and then they went and said "Hey...build a Skeksis". So naturally I panic because I just found my groove to this whole process and they want to test my vow that way? Ok fine. I built the head. Originally based of a Skeksis design but halfway through I knew it wasn't going to shape up to be a skeksis so I just followed it where it wanted to go so I have the makings of an original character in the Skeksis like design. It was going well so i decided to slow down and take my time on the rest of the build so right now it's on the back burner so I can make sure to get the arms and body/costume right. I'm still kinda new at this so better off slow.

Then the junk episode. This one is a bit of a stretch but lets face it I don't have access to a quality junk yard like that or the budget to acquire the goods. So I Have Garbage Rat. A basic rat on a rod so he can pop out of the trash can. Simple but I like the way his head turned out.
 

I've tried to keep up on others throughout the process of meeting the challenges. I have to say pushing myself in this fashion has really done wonders for my work ethic.

Those turned out nice    I like the trash rat!

Looking back I realize I was pattern stuck. Everywhere I looked, everything I googled when I first wanted to start was people looking for patterns, people selling patterns, patterns this patterns that. So the obvious thought was “Ok…I need patterns.” My brain just cut out anything that wasn’t a pattern. To hell with creativity and originality I need someone to tell me what to do and what to use. So I make glorified sock puppets until I’m sick of looking at them and if I have to sew one more I’ll go out and get a “real” job. Giving the stay at home option mentioned above I naturally opted to procrastinate instead.

Two things:

1. It's easy to make money via patterns with lower overhead costs. You can spend the same amount of time you do making a custom puppet, but instead get paid infinity times. Eventually you earn back what you spent on initial outlay, and start making profit. There is a rather large market for patterns from students and teachers. So it's not really about puppeteers doing it by pattern as much as puppeteers needing money and going where the market is.

2. People have difficulty imagining how a puppet works so they don't know where to begin. Patterns are good for beginners because they 'teach you the ropes' - once you get past that you should be experimenting. I don't believe any pattern seller would say "this is the be all and end all of knowing how to make puppets". The majority of pattern-buyers will not just be people like yourself, but teachers or parents who want things for their children - in which case having a paint-by-numbers approach is more suitable to the skill level.

If you want "The Foam Book" is a better option. It teaches you how to make your own puppets without being pattern-based, so it's far more about learning what the materials do and how to achieve certain looks.

In fact most books are less pattern heavy and are far more detailed at explaining options rather than dictating direction. David Currell's books are something I always recommend, even if you're only interested in one or two types of puppets - it gives a great overview of different materials, puppet types, set designs, lighting, sound, etc.
http://www.amazon.com/Puppets-Puppet-Theatre-David-Currell/dp/1861261357/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1397628937&sr=8-1&keywords=david+currell
It's really good as a reference book or something for ideas.

Really love the angler fish!

Welcome to PandS! Your personal story is great! Hope everyone reads it through.

"Patterns are a great tool if used as a tool."  Love this line! I think that a pattern can be a great way to get started, but at some point you have to move beyond that. I think that is one reason that PP has the contest each year. They want to encourage users of there patterns to push beyond just the basic pattern shape. You mentioned that you draw. In cartoon they teach that your figure out the underlying shape of the face and put that on the paper then build up from three. Think of the PP patterns as being those basic shapes for puppet making.

You mentioned that you draw. In cartoon they teach that your figure out the underlying shape of the face and put that on the paper then build up from three. Think of the PP patterns as being those basic shapes for puppet making.

Yes! For some reason when I started out I completely overlooked this. Once my brain clicked everything I've done has been to that exact sort of set up and it has made a world of difference.

I loved your observational tale - glad you decided to join us. I really dig your style and am looking forward to seeing more pics. Welcome!

Welcome. Yes, I find the Jim Henson show very inspiring as well. For several years I suffered from the same pattern mental block. My problem was I didn't want to ruin any supplies to figure out new designs, but that is the best way to learn.

With each new build challenge yourself to fine tune the details and learn a new technique. Keep up the good work.

Julie