The Tumbles P. Bear Project

 
This tutorial originally came about because I frequently answer a lot of common puppet building questions, especially about how to pattern basic body and head shapes out of sheets of foam. The intent of this article is to show an example of what I call the "wedge method" of soft foam puppet construction.

I used the wedge method to build the Tumbles P. Bear puppet for the 2004 Bear Town web series. With the wedge method essentially what you are doing is using a series of wedges to make two hollow foam balls, one for the head and one for the body. By varying the shape of the balls and adding arms, legs, ears, etc. you can create almost any type of puppet you want.

It's important to remember there are lots of different ways to build puppets and this is just one approach that worked for this particular character. I'm by no means the definitive authority on puppet building so feel free to disregard anything here that doesn't work for you. It's kind of a cliché, but I usually encourage people to "think outside the box" and try new ways of doing things. Remember that while artists always build on what has come before, most of the true innovations in puppetry were either completely original ideas or inspired by something totally unrelated to puppetry. Don't be afraid to try something new! If it doesn't work just keep going and apply the lessons you've learned to your next project.

That's the best advice that I have for beginners. That and if you're building your own puppets to sell or use commercially please try - if you can help it - to avoid the "Muppet look." It's been done to death. Really.

Happy puppet building!

Click here to go to part one