Hey guys, I would like to introduce you to my latest build…. the inspiration and the beginnings of this puppet started as a children's fake fur jacket that I bought from a store for two dollars….



I thought that the fur would suit a raccoon, so I started this build a couple of months ago and he had a very slow start, the foam skull sat around for several weeks while I had other things to do.  And then the motivation hit me and good chunks of the next 3 or 4 weekends were spent building this guy.  Towards the end of the build I decided that I was going to give him to my Mum as a Mothers day present as she has being hinting at wanting one of my puppets for a while.

I have never built to any sort of deadline before, I think I am a really slow builder, especially when I read how quick some of the other creative people on this forum can produce amazing puppets.  Anyhow, I had him complete except for the eyes with one day left before I was going to see my Mum.  What do you know, I couldn't get the eyes right!?!  I made around 6 or 7 different eyes for him and was really feeling the pressure of not being able to just walk away and have a fresh look at him the following weekend.  I finally decided on the eyes and finished the puppet, I am not happy with them, and whilst there are several things that I am not happy with, I am still proud of him.

I let my mum have the honour of naming him, she named him Ricky.

He looks awesome~!

I hate deadlines. I can be pretty fast in my builds at times but you put me under a timeline and my feet drag, I get frustrated, and it ultimately stops being fun.

Overall I think he looks great. But I get it. I can always spot so many errors or things I could have done better. Somehow my wife never notices and treats it like I outdid Henson himself. A long time friend of mine got into blacksmithing and whenever we visit each other we show off our latest projects and point out all the flaws. As outsiders to the fields I never notice what he's kicking himself for and he never notices what I'm kicking myself for. The curse of knowing how something is done is the ability to see how well it truly was done.

Love Ricky!  That coat was a great fine. Makes him really unique and cool looking. Yep you are a professional. We never like our own work.

oooohhh...going to start trolling Goodwills now :D  He looks great!  Love the pattern in the fur.

I think you did a beautiful job.  The eye look like they are focusing just fine. Good job. You will get faster the more you build.

Julie

Another awesome addition Krafty! I love Ricky and I think the eyes are perfect It's nice to learn others work like me too. I often have no idea what to build until I stumble across some fabric then the ideas character just starts to build itself! What was your mum's reaction like?

Ricy is so sweet, and so are you for making that for your mom.

Thanks heaps for all of your comments. After completing a build, I really look forward to posting pictures here. My mum was stoked with him as a gift.

I think your puppet came out great - and the eyes look fine to me. Your mum is lucky to get that as a gift!