I’ve recently been in contact with Ian Greeb, artist and fantastic sculptor of soft foam, and just had to share some of his work with everyone here on Puppet Buzz. Ian’s creations are entirely sculpted from blocks of soft foam and yet, as you can see, incredibly detailed. I’ve always been a fan of an exposed foam finish for puppets; Ian’s creations illustrate just how beautiful foam can be. Truly inspiring!

To the left is a sculpted foam fish puppet fabricated (from the client’s design) for a PSA. Notice the spider character in the background. Yet another fanciful foam creation from the mind of Ian Greeb.

If you’d like to see what else is creeping through Mr. Greeb’s imagination, check out his illustrations at www.candycartoon.com

One week left to vote! Head on over to PuppetContest.com to vote for your favorite space character in Puppet Contest 2008: A Space Odyssey. The voting will only be open through December 7, 2008!

Project Puppet’s third annual puppet contest has landed! This year’s contest is entitled – Puppet Contest 2008: A Space Odyssey.

Here’s a few details about the contest:

• All entries must be received by November 1, 2008.
• The Grand Prize Winner will receive a $200.00 USD cash prize from Project Puppet.
• The First Runner-Up will receive a $100.00 USD credit with Project Puppet.
• An awesome international panel of judges – Terry Angus, Jarrod Boutcher, Ed Christie, Phil Fletcher, and James Wojtal – to narrow down the entries to the Top Ten Finalists.
• And, of course, the contest wraps up with a public vote!

There is a brand new venue for the contest – PuppetContest.com! You can find out more about the contest there or visit Project Puppet to choose the Simple Series pattern right for your character.

I am putting this plug (which he knows nothing about) out for his online workshop that he is offering and to encourage others to go and see his newly posted online portfolio.  It is beautiful.

While you are there poke around and check out more of his stuff including this cool little puppet he built (among other things).

 In English that translates into “Wonderful Puppets!”  That is exactly what you’ll find from German puppet builder Norman Schneider (please note the website is in German so you may need to use an online translation tool to fully understand it). 

I had a chance to visit his website and I can say that I am an instant fan.  His characters are wonderful and he using a great combination of painting as well as standard puppet fabrication techniques in his building.

 I am personally interested in using more painting with my own puppet building.  Norman has given me some really great inspiration.  To see more of his work be sure to check out his company website called Figurenschneider (which I believe means “Figures by Schneider”).  They are beautiful!  He also has an awesome blog with tons more pictures here.  Check it out.

These are free!- If you feel guilty using them please feel free to make a donation to one of these: Center for Puppetry Arts, Muppetcast, or Camp Trillium.

All that I request is that you please give me credit if using them as a teaching tool, or for publishing purposes.

These are crude drawings, I apologize, they were never meant to be published in anyway to the public. Enjoy!

Ever since Philip Hatter came on the puppet scene this past year I have been a big fan.  I even bought a few of his puppets (what a pleasure to have hired him).  Well, Philip teamed up with fellow Puppet Buzz contributor and owner of Project Puppet, Pasha Romanowski, and redesigned his company’s whole image.  That is they have a new logo, website and even a new blog!

I think it looks spectacular and I highly recommend that people take the time to go and browse around.  Maybe buy a puppet or catch a show, but definately check it out.

Get yours today.

This little nugget of puppety goodness, though its been in circulation on the web for a while, recently resurfaced over at PuppetBuilding.com. The article was originally published in a 1969 issue of Women’s Day Magazine and includes a play, The Purple-Necked, Black Bearded Blatch, written by Jerry Juhl, and patterns and instructions for four puppets, the characters in the play. You can’t get much more “vintage Muppet” than this!

Here’s the article – Script, Pattern & Instructions

And, for your convenience, here’s the pattern pieces, full-size and ready to be printed – Full Size Pattern Print

Judging from the size of the pattern, it appears the puppets are just the right size for kids. Have fun!

Cross-posted from the Project Puppet Blog.