Rod Puppet!

I sculpted this guy out of cardboard, plaster bandages, paperclay, hot glue, steel wire, wood, and a balloon. He is a rod puppet with a moving head and arms. The controls are attached to a dowel hidden underneath his clothes. There are also two metal rods which attach to his fingers that allow the user to move his arms. He's about two feet tall and kind of heavy :/

I had a lot of trouble creating his arms, particularly the elbows. I was using steel wire to create the hinge and reinforce the clay so that the elbow only bent in one direction. It was a huge pain in the ass getting the wire to stay where I put it and not poke out through the clay. Plaster bandages helped cover it up in the end though, and I just put another layer of clay over them to smooth it out.

Overall I am happy with the result. I just want to go back and embroider his robes some more. Right now they are just a mass of solid black with some beadwork here and there, but I need to break up the space some more and make it a tad bit more interesting.

Next puppet will definitely be smaller!