It has been a real frustrating road to just try to build my own puppet here on Norfolk Island, but I am persevering with it and will continue on

I have been trying to find educational information DVD's and stuff to learn to build puppets and appealing to those whom are close at hand (Australia or New Zealand) who could post some links to supplies and pointers.

I have so far found some foam and starting to stockpile, and have ordered some more from Australia. I have found some old Polar fleece clothing that I have cut up ready for use for covering a puppet. I have bought a book on Puppetry and would now like to get a copy or DVD that shows building techniques. I certainly can not afford to travel off island to attend a workshop or pay for some one to conduct one here.

I would love that one day an avid Puppeteer will visit Norfolk Island and run a workshop or leave behind some pointers to get us going???

It is somewhat frustrating that something that started out as something that should be so simple to do has become a very big challenge. Once I over come all these challenges I intend to get other on Norfolk Island involved, but until then I appeal to you in Aust or New Zealand for your help  

Hello, if you are looking into DVDs that can teach some of the basics (and some more intermediate stuff too) and if you already haven't come across these, then you could buy 'the foam book DVD' or any of puppetsoups DVDS, the first 2 are amazing and the 3rd teaches some really great ideas on moving eyelids, eyebrows, etc.. or David Pannabecker's DVDs and patterns on his site (armslength I think) and also if you haven't come across projectpuppet, then Pasha Romanowski has some great patterns and information on his site. There are probably loads more DVDs that could be mentioned, but the ones I have told you about are amazing and you will learn so much from them, and they are more than just beginners videos, so you will have lots to get your teeth into!! you could also check out the stan Winston school of creature arts, there are some brilliant tutorials on there to do with all manner of things that could be adapted to puppet making, plus a few videos on making puppets.
hope this helps a little, but don't forget that there are many people on here that have made tutorials on put them on youtube, people like Pagestep007, Daryl, etc.. all of which are brilliant and worth checking out for free!!
Ben.

Check out ' the creature works' on youtube. Toms tutorials are what got me started along with the roly pattern from project puppet. 

Jezebo.... Do you mean playsoup?

Daryl, here on P&S has a lot of tutorials on YouTube, where he starts from scratch building a puppet. These were tutorials he did live, and then saved on YouTube. Go here for his videos. They are really quite good. Keep on plugging, and best of luck!

I have stuff on aus puppetry on schoolofpuppetry.com - just follow the info on how to access the articles. I dont have the URLs at hand at the moment, but there are lists for supplies, companies and books in aus. For the latter i recommend amazon, or any of the youtube/dvd/pattern downloads on the net.

By far - even in melb - info and resources for adult puppeteers in oz is non existent so the best way to learn is by getting some books rather than relying on actual workshops. Plus the people here. As for supplies its very much whatever you can grab from wherever you look. Riot art and spotlight are my favs, with clark rubber reserved for foam.

I understand the frustration - its why i started making a list of this stuff in the first place. If you can afford a trip over to the mainland save it for when there is a puppet conference or festival as thats when all the adult workshops are on.

I know its tough, but rest assured theres nothing you cant learn from books etc that you can learn in RL. Dont be afraid to experiment, show your progress or mix and match techniques. I have discovered that most everyone learns in this manner here with so few resources on a formal learning basis.

If it helps, you could do some live workshops over the net too. There are a number of people who do it but the one that comes to mind is the puppet centre in atlanta, usa. They have advertised here before and i believe theres a small fee but it may be worth it for some virtual advice. Plus others may be willing just to do live video chat just for fun.

- mostly self taught here so i know how it is. I learned to make muppet-types via the Foam Book at home, the rest was experimentation.

Check out our feed over at YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/puppetsandstuff  Some of the playlist will show you the YT videos out there on making puppets.

Thank you all for your assistance and encouragement.    

I will check out the books and DVD's. The internet here can be really expensive, but not ruled out, as it has been the best information so far. I have seen some of the YouTube videos and am very impressed and part of the reason for perusing this here on Norfolk Island.

Looks like I have a bit of browsing to do and thank you all again for the pointers and links.



This is the very first attempt at making a puppet and is not finished yet and not too worried about the appearance. I am using it as a learning piece only and so far have picked up a lot of issues and problems that I need to sort out with it.

Most of the blemished will be hidden and will be for the kids to play with only.

I think you have made a great start! Your first puppet is much more then what most folks try at first.  You are right the more you do it the better you get at the finishing details. In time you're seams become less visible and you start to get a feel for how your fabrics are going to lay and stretch so you have less wrinkles and seams.  You'll start to automatically put seams where you know you can cover them with hair or other features.

Looking Good!

Artistically, you are light-years ahead of me. That really looks cool. As Shawn said, you are off to a great start.