THAT APE SHOW

Designing and Creating a Puppet in Clay

Have you ever wanted to make a simple puppet to tell a tale but didn't know where to begin? If that's the case, this is the book for you! You can have your own puppet in no time if you follow these easy instructions.

What You'll Need

01.

Choosing the Right Clay

To begin, you'll need to select the proper clay for your puppet's body. There are several various types of clay to choose from, so think about what sort would be simplest to work with. Working with modeling clay, for example, maybe a good idea if you want to add a lot of features and details to your puppet's face.

Put the base color clay you want to modify in the top pot and bring water to a boil in a double boiler. When the clay has completely melted, add different colors of tiny bits of clay to the pot to alter the base color. Continue mixing until the clay is smooth and fluid, then tinker with the tones as needed. After that,

Next, take your time and form the clay into the puppet you want. You can use any type of mold or shape you want to create your puppet. Once you have the basic shape of your puppet, start adding details like eyes, a nose, a mouth, etc. Be as creative as you want with this part! You can

02.

Sculpting Tools for Puppet Sculpting

The single most essential component for sculpting your oil-based clay characters is the tool. And, surprise, it's your fingers. Your fingertips can squish, smooth, pinch, flatten, and poke clay better than any tool. Metal, plastic, and wooden tools are also crucial. These tools are utilized when fine detail is too small in combination with a 35mm film can, the paintbrush is one instrument that you wouldn't think of for sculpting oil-based clay. When I went to visit John Ashlee's studio, he showed me how to make use of a film can by stuffing a wadded-up paper towel inside and filling it with mineral oil "now we keep pouring until the paper is saturated enough to where you can rub your finger over it and get a nice thin layer of oil on it, and then simply dip your finger in it and use your oily finger to smooth out your sculptures. You may also utilize the soft but firm bristle paintbrush to reach delicate locations with the same technique.

03.

Making Clay Puppet Accessories

Accessories on clay figures are made of materials other than oil-based clay. They involve producing components from hardening clay, plastic, metal, or any other hard substance. Plastic beads for eyes, teeth created from hardening clay that has been colored, and there are several more examples. For the majority of individuals, hardening clay is used to make fakes ties, pencils, rulers, calculators, swords, guns, bowling balls, and baseball bats. External things such as eyeglasses may be created from standard craft wire. An alien's amusing antenna are also made of ordinary craft wire. There are no restrictions when it comes to clay characters.

04.

Basic Clay Animation Tips

Now that you've completed the art and text, it's time to move on to animation. Timing, acting, lip-sync, and gags are some of the foundations. How to animate mouths in clay is something that isn't covered in any animation book I've seen, so I'll attempt to describe how to make a mouth in clay. Step one is to sketch out the features of your characters' heads. The next step is to hollow out a large hole where the mouth will be located. If you're making a white-teeth character on a green background, for example, the whitened clay around his teeth will gradually turn green from his lips outward. So, make your protagonist.

One method is to take the color of your characters' facial clay and mix it with a darker hue and put it in their back molars before adding lips to your hollowed-out face. It looks more natural, and the lips stand out a little more as a result. Finally, apply lipstick over the teeth.

When you move the lip, a common technique is to make a wedge-shaped chunk of clay out of the top lip and close the gap by raising the lip edge. Because you don't have to re-sculpt the lip edge for each movement, this prevents the lips from flashing (Strobing effect). Add clay to the lip's outer edge when you form the mouth in the shape of an "O." You carefully cut off the outstretched lips after changing form back to a normal mouth position so you may reuse them for the next "O" shaped lips in your animation sequence.

Just as real people do, add a few more attributes to make your animated jaw look more natural. To accomplish this, cut a line straight back from the center of the lips all the way down to just beneath the ears and pull down your jaw. Then smother over both cheek slits with a small layer of clay that has been smoothed out.