Puppetry Class

The Naked Marionette

The Marionette March

Walking

Walking

My last entry was just before marionette class. Great training but very steep learning curve in the beginning. The had control developed by the professor here is specialized and uses your bottom three fingers to hold the grip while your thumb and index finger operate the center pinned cross bar which raises and lowers the marionette’s legs. The difficulty is that we humans do not normally use just the three bottom fingers on the had to grip something. This problem is further compounded by attempting to perform another operation with the thumb and index finger of the same hand. I have been assured by all parties here at the school that your hand becomes after a few weeks of working with the control. The students pictured above and in the video are first year, first semester students. Amazing control already!

I have also been attending puppet construction classes specializing in construction using liquid latex. These classes are being taught by puppetry artist Mr. Timothy Velraeds of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Thus far I have completed two heads constructed of latex. The process begins with sculpting the head in clay and then building up the head using a form of paper and latex built up on the clay form. The second method I have learned uses clay sculpting and then making a mould from the clay master followed by a casting made from the mould.