Ed Eyth Interview Part 3

Ed Eyth has had an extensive and diverse artistic career. He has a Bachelor of Science degree from Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles and prior to that majored in Visual Communication at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. He has served as a production designer, a set and costume designer and a puppet designer for a variety of film and television productions. His film credits include Hook, The Rocketeer and Captain EO.

For nearly 10 years Eyth was Director of Creative Services for the Jim Henson Company. While at Henson, he designed characters for shows like Muppets Tonight, Mopatop's Shop and Animal Jam, as well as the video feature Kermit's Swamp Years. I asked him to share his thoughts on puppet design.



PJ: Do you have a favorite drawing implement?

EE: That would be a No. 2B graphite pencil. I was educated as an industrial designer, and as such I became comfortable and fluent with markers. I still default to markers when I need to render products or more hard-edged designs.

When I started working at Henson, I found myself gravitating to pencil more and more, since graphite far surpassed markers in its ability to convey organic forms, complex curves and softer materials (fur, felt, fleece, fabric, etc).