Mini Mock-Up

Before translating a design into a puppet, it may be helpful to create a mini mock-up first. The mini mock-up allows you or the puppet builder to see the character in three dimensions before building begins. It can also be used to create patterns simply by scaling up the pieces from the small version. I built this tiny version of Bad B.A.R.K. before building the puppet.

Lineup

When designing a cast of puppet characters that vary in size, you may wish to create a character lineup. Draw each character on a grid so that you and your puppet builder will have a clear idea how large or small each puppet will be and their sizes in relation to each other. In this character lineup I did for Harry and the Tyrannosaurus Rex each square represents a foot.

Puppet Size

Very often the size of a character will determine what type of puppet it will be. Sometimes different versions of the same character will be designed and built, depending on the demands of the script.

For example, in The Magic Meadow, a short I wrote and directed, I needed a bear to interact with an ant. The bear was built as a large moving-mouth hand puppet. I designed two versions of the ant, one as a hand puppet and the other as a small rod puppet. The hand puppet was fully articulated and played mostly in close-up. The rod puppet was used when the two characters were in the same shot together. The rod puppet had limited movement but helped convey the ant's proper size.

I also designed and built a small rod puppet of the bear, but you'll have to watch the short to see why.

Inspirational Image

Sometimes before a new puppet-show script is written, I'll draw inspirational images to help get the creative juices flowing. These can be rough drawings of what I imagine the cast to be or scenes that could be in the show.

We knew our show Harry and the Tyrannosaurus Rex would be about a small prehistoric mammal who interacts with dinosaurs. I drew this sketch to imagine what that could look like. This drawing was done in ink and colored in Photoshop.

B.A.R.K. Color Variations

Here are some color variations I did for B.A.RK. The Robot Dog. We ended up going with a combination of 1 and 2. I'll let you guess what inspired the color styling of 6....

If you guessed an X Wing, then you are absolutely right!

Library

When I was working on character designs for our two new pet shows, I found some wonderful books about cats and dogs at the library. While the Internet is an unlimited resource of images, sometimes I prefer looking through a book. I enjoy leafing through the pages searching for inspiration.

Google Image Search

It's no secret you can find anything you need on Google. The Google image search is an excellent resource for reference images for new puppet designs. Of course, after doing your search you'll need to weed through all the irrelevant results that inevitably pop up. You may wish to drag the images you like to your computer desktop and combine them on one page that can be printed out.

Triangle Bird

Try designing a puppet character that is made entirely of circles, squares or triangles. Each shape will pose different challenges: What will the eyes look like on a character that is made up of triangles? By limiting yourself to one shape, you'll end up with a unique design that you may not have drawn otherwise.

Creating Variations

When designing a puppet for someone else, it can be challenging to come up with enough variations. Once you draw a character you like, lightly trace it several times on another sheet of paper. Use the light copies as a starting point to create different versions of the original sketch. Try changing the size of the eyes or the shape of the nose and experimenting with colors and textures. If you don't come up with a character you like, just retrace your original sketch and start the process over.

Here's a concept drawing I did of Boots for our new puppet show Rex and Boots Super Sleuths. The image on the left is my original sketch. The final drawing was done with illustration marker and color pencil.

Pen And Ink

Once you've cleaned up your rough sketch, you may wish to refine your lines even further. Use a pen or marker to trace your cleaned-up work on another sheet of paper. You may find that the rougher versions of your drawing illustrate your ideas better. That's why it's best not to draw directly on your original.

Clean Up

After you draw a rough design that you like, clean it up by tracing it on a new sheet of paper. It may be helpful to use tracing paper or a light table. While you clean up the drawing, feel free to make adjustments to the design, trace the lines you like and ignore the ones you don't.

Rough Sketch

When designing a puppet, don't worry about making your initial sketch perfect. Pick a drawing implement that you're comfortable with and rough your idea out on paper. Don't censor or critique your work -- this is just the first step.

Cultural Art

Different cultures have unique artistic aesthetics that can be applied to puppet design. By researching and studying the artwork of different cultures, you will notice the creative use of shapes and colors. Imagine the dynamic character that could be designed based on the totem poles of the Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest or the dragon renderings of the ancient Chinese.

Rough Sketch

If you look closely at this drawing, you'll see a light yellow pencil sketch under the darker, more refined lines. It's helpful to rough out a puppet design first with a light color before committing to a final dark line.

Variations

When designing a puppet character, especially one for someone else, it's important to develop several variations. These initial sketches can be simple and rough and should be seen as a starting point. The more drawings you do, the more options you will give the decisionmaker. Once a visual direction is decided on, you can draw more refined variations of the selected sketches.

Know The Character

Before you start drawing, try to familiarize yourself with the character you're going to design. Make a list of all the puppet's personality traits. Will he or she be nice, mean, grumpy or goofy? Is the character young or old? Does he or she like kittens or dragons? What's the character's favorite activity -- sewing, soccer or sleeping? Write down as many descriptive terms as you can and use them to inform your design.

Antlers And Horns

When designing a puppet with antlers or horns, it's important to keep size and weight in mind. A puppet with extra things on its head will be more challenging to operate. Notice how much smaller Reggie The Reindeer's antlers are than those of a real reindeer. If a puppet must have large antlers or horns, keep in mind that you will need to build proper support into the head.

Scribbles

Here's a great trick I learned from my friend Sam Hale, a talented puppet designer and builder. If you're trying to develop an idea for a fun puppet design, start by scribbling on a piece of paper. Look at the scribble from different angles until you begin to see a form take shape. Use the initial scribble as a starting point and draw in the details.

Spindly Arms

I love to design puppets with long, spindly arms. These arms will give any puppet a wide range of motion. Bonnie Bunny and Jeffery The Fox, from our holiday show Polly Polar Bear and the Prince of the Sea, are two of my favorite puppets with long, spindly arms.

Secondary Movement

Puppeteers are responsible for bringing puppets to life, but puppet designers are there to help them out. When designing a character, try adding an element that will provide secondary movement, like floppy ears, feathery hair or bouncy antennae. Secondary movement helps sustain the illusion of life even when a puppet is motionless.

Red Fraggle, from Jim Henson's Fraggle Rock, exemplifies this technique.

Asymmetrical Design

Not every puppet design has to be perfectly symmetrical. When designing a character, see what happens when you draw one eye bigger than the other or make the nose crooked.

Opposites Attract

When designing two puppet characters who will perform together as a team, try drawing them as visual opposites of each other. This will give the puppets a unique look and help the audience distinguish between the two characters.

Finish The One You Hate

Sometimes about halfway through a drawing, I'll realize that the sketch I'm working on is completely inappropriate for the character I'm designing. Rather than abandon the unfinished design and start over, I try to finish the drawing. By working through a "bad" design, I sometimes land on an idea that wouldn't have occurred to me otherwise.

Take Away Features

When designing a puppet, feel free to add or remove any features. Some of the most interesting Muppet characters are missing eyes, ears and noses, but they don't seem to mind. Frankly, the puppets would look wrong if they had their missing components, as illustrated here.

2-D vs. 3-D

A character with huge ears, a three-foot-long neck and tiny arms may look great on paper, but it might be challenging to build in the real world. When designing your puppet, consider how it will look in three dimensions. It might be helpful to build a small mockup before you commit to a particularly challenging design.

Draw From Nature 3

You can find inspiration for your puppet in the natural world around you. Gather a collection of sticks, rocks, flowers and pine cones and examine them from different angles. Look for unusual shapes and textures that you can incorporate in your puppet design. To design a robotic character, gather various manmade materials, like nuts, bolts and busted bits of hardware.

Draw From Nature 2

When designing a puppet that is an imaginary creature, like a monster or an alien, start by studying -- you guessed it -- real animals. In nature you will find ideas that are more inventive and bizarre than anything you could think up. Try combining three or four animals to make one completely new creature.

Draw From Nature 1

When designing a puppet based on a specific animal, start by studying that animal. Even if your final design is going to be abstract, it's important to understand which basic shapes and forms make up that animal. I usually draw a few sketches from nature books or images I've found online before I start my actual design.

Opposite Hand

If you find your puppet designs just aren't turning out right, try drawing with your opposite hand. This will guarantee your designs won't turn out right, but it will also guarantee you'll draw some interesting shapes that could be developed into dynamic puppet designs. Rumor has it that members of the design team for Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas were encouraged to draw with their opposite hands.

Fun With Color

When designing puppets, try to explore all the different color possibilities. Ed Eyth, a talented illustrator and artist, uses color in very creative ways. Here are some of his character designs for Jim Henson's Animal Jam. Just because it's a panda or a koala doesn't mean it has to be black and white or gray.

Colored Paper

I love drawing on colored paper because it feels like half the drawing is already done. All I have to do is add the highlights and shadows.

50 Monsters

One way to get the creative wheels turning is to set an unrealistic goal. For example, try drawing 50 monsters. If you get stuck, look at what your previous designs had in common and draw something completely different. Here, I noticed that monsters 1 through 6 had very boxy faces, so I drew monster 7 with a long face.

Draw Bad Designs

When it's time to design a new puppet, the first thing I do is push the bad designs out of the way. Bad designs tend to back up in my pencil, and if I don't get rid of them, they bog me down. The best way to get rid of a bad design is to put it on paper. I usually discard the first few pages of designs, like these right here.