Troll Puppet (as promised)

This is my first tutorial post! (although it's more of a guide than a tutorial).

For the Billy Goats Gruff project I wanted the troll to have a movable mouth (for more differentiation between the photographs). So I made this puppet (in spite of my tight deadline), spending more time on him than the three goats combined.

In the end, I didn't use his mouth controls during the shoot, because I didn't have enough hands. But I'm glad I made him anyway. I may use him for something in the future. You never know.

He's partly inspired by King K. Rool (Donkey Kong villain) but mostly looks like a very scary, gothic, drag queen (which isn't what I intended, but I love it when projects take on a life of their own).

I've drawn a quick cross-section of my troll puppet, to show you how it works. I was going to take photos, but this drawing is probably easier to understand.

I'm just realizing how creepy this drawing is... eergh... nightmares anyone? It looks like a torture device from Saw, or something.

As you can see, the puppet is pretty simple. The head is made of clay (Super Sculpey), with a hole in the bottom for the stick. Another whole goes straight through the head, for the string. There's a bead tied to the string to keep it attached to the lower jaw. A piece of paper acts as a hinge (painted black to match the inside of the mouth). The mouth is operated by pulling and releasing the string. There's a groove in the back of his head (the part that sticks out) to help prevent the string from moving around. The hands are attached with floral wire covered with green fabric.

He's pretty straight forward, but probably the best puppet I've ever made on my own... and I've made MANY in my lifetime. It'd be great to make more puppets using this method; maybe larger than the troll.

I'd like to experiment with marionette puppets too. I've always been scared to attempt them. Something tells me a project like that requires crazy planning... balancing the pieces on the strings; making the joints work right; fashioning the contraption you hold onto... there's a lot to string puppets. Gonna need more sketches!

I hope this post inspires you to make a puppet of your own! They make great bookshelf ornaments!