make

National Puppetry Summit: Ward 13

Posted by hil

ward13

(photo by Glenn Watson)

I really laughed my way through Peter Cornwall’s Ward 13, one of a number of terrific Australian animations screened at the summit. It’s a stop-motion animation – action/horror/comedy – about a guy who has a road accident and wakes up in the hospital from hell, complete with bizarre medicines, a green tentacled blob, experimental puppy surgery, and a doctor and nurse who menace with huge dirty knives, cleavers, shears and sticks. You can download the trailer to get a taste of it, and check out how it was made.

Links updated 2015

Robot family

Posted by hil

Robot2

Mimi has added three new robots to her robot family. Some are more like pillows, while others, like this guy, are fully articulated, but they are all really cool.

Pink shoes

Posted by hil

Pink shoes

Some large pink snake-skin shoes I made recently for Jigsaw Theatre Company’s production Little Brother Big Sister, design by Imogen Keen. I had fun with the curly thing at the back.

Mechanized animal structures

Posted by hil

Fish3Vladimir Gvozdariki is a Russian artist who makes whimsical figures, animations and images. Some are pleasing in their simplicity, but I particularly like his complicated drawings of mechanized animal structures. They are in numerous places in his galleries, like here, here and here and here. I also like how some, like this fish, have made the transition from drawing to sculpture. I could imagine them being used theatrically, and some aspects -the whimsy and the technical details – remind me of some of Shaun Tan‘s creatures in The Lost Thing.

I also like Gvozdariki’s interest in snails and miniature worlds. How would you like to live here?

(via the wonderful BibliOdessy)

Deep sea lobster soft toy

Posted by hil

Tastydorsal

I’m impressed with mediatinker‘s kiwa hirsuta lobster soft toy, made very soon after the discovery of the deep sea species. The detailed pattern and instructions are released on a creative commons license.

(via whip up)

Leafcutter ant

Posted by hil

Leafcutter ant marquette

I’m getting quite fond of this little leafcutter ant I made recently. (It’s only about 15 cm long). I might get to make some big ones later this year.

Plasticine model

Posted by hil

Fruitbat

 

Sally was interested in the plasticine model I made of the fruitbat, so I have added this photo to the set. You can click to see it enlarged in different sizes. The yellow pins mark the performer’s eyes, and the black spot on the leg, their feet.

Meanwhile, Amy has given me Best Flying Rodent in an Insupportable Role – lol! Thanks, Amy.

Fruit Batman

Posted by hil

Wingsspread

Making this huge Fruit Batman character for The Fool Factory has been the thing keeping me so busy last month. The wingspan is 6-7 metres, and it is a stilt-walking character. The wings are articulated, and it has animatronic eyes and ears, but it was my brief to build the creature around those supplied elements. He is now in Adelaide, doing some performances in the streets during the Fringe Festival.

I’ve made a set of photos that show some of the making process. And there are some more stills and a couple of quicktimes on the Fool Factory’s new site. I was particularly happy with the head:

Finishedhead


Oona Tikkaoja’s sculptures

Posted by hil

oona

I love the look of the sculptures that the Finnish visual artist Oona Tikkaoja makes, in particular her wolf creature (fourth pic along) and lizard robot killer. They are soft sculpture.

I also think her wooden horses are spectacular. They are beautifully jointed, and immediately conjure up thoughts of the mythical Trojan Horse. Take a look at the photo showing the construction, with all the clamps!

(via Extreme Craft)

Updated links 2015