Sketch Of The Week

Here is a rough design I drew of the Glass Monster from our puppet show Ricky Raccoon and the Recycling Ray. Knowing that Ricky Raccoon was going to feature our largest puppet cast, I designed this character to be a small rod puppet. In the show he's like a small dog: bold, threatening and very transportable.

B.A.R.K. Color Variations

Here are some color variations I did for B.A.RK. The Robot Dog. We ended up going with a combination of 1 and 2. I'll let you guess what inspired the color styling of 6....

If you guessed an X Wing, then you are absolutely right!

Rex Variations

Here are a few different Rex design ideas I had for our new puppet show Rex & Boots, Super Sleuths. I looked through a dog book and drew pictures of breeds that caught my eye. At one point I thought it would be interesting if Rex and Boots were both black and white.

Library

When I was working on character designs for our two new pet shows, I found some wonderful books about cats and dogs at the library. While the Internet is an unlimited resource of images, sometimes I prefer looking through a book. I enjoy leafing through the pages searching for inspiration.

Google Image Search

It's no secret you can find anything you need on Google. The Google image search is an excellent resource for reference images for new puppet designs. Of course, after doing your search you'll need to weed through all the irrelevant results that inevitably pop up. You may wish to drag the images you like to your computer desktop and combine them on one page that can be printed out.

Earth Day

Do something good for the planet today.

Analogous

An analogous color scheme is made up of any three colors that are next to each other on the color wheel and share a common hue. For example, yellow-green, yellow and yellow-orange all contain yellow. In an analogous color scheme it's common for one of the three colors to predominate. Notice that Wembly Fraggle is mostly yellow-green, but the yellow and yellow-orange in his hair help create a harmonious color scheme.

Complementary

Complementary colors are any two colors that are directly opposite one another on the color wheel. When combined, complementary colors will enhance each other and create a striking visual contrast. With his blue-green face and red-orange hair, Boober Fraggle exemplifies good use of complementary colors.

Monochromatic

A monochromatic color scheme is one of the most simple combinations. It's made up of different values (tints, tones and shades) of the same color. While monochromatic color schemes are visually appealing, they don't contain a lot of contrast. Junior Gorg from Fraggle Rock has a nice monochromatic color scheme: His fur, hair, shirt and shoes are all different values of brown.

Color Schemes

Developing an appealing color scheme for a puppet can be a difficult task because there are endless numbers of color combinations. While there is no right way to combine different hues, understanding the layout of the color wheel will provide you some tools for developing interesting color schemes. Monochromatic, complementary and analogous colors are just a few of the color schemes that have been used by artists for generations.

Happy Easter!

Sketch Of The Week

Here is a wacky drawing of Boots I did for our new show Rex & Boots, Super Sleuths. This character design was inspired by some cute Japanese cartoon characters.

Write On!

Here are some character designs I did for an educational handwriting DVD for kids. You can see a photo of the finished puppets by visiting www.writeon.com.

Interview With Ed Eyth

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.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11
Part 12
Part 13
Part 14

Ed Eyth Interview Part 14

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: Designers and illustrators like Stephen Silver and Drew Struzan have published books featuring their work. Will we ever see a bound collection of your illustrations and drawings?

EE: I've been asked that before but never by a publisher, and I'd be delusional to think that my work would begin to have the mass appeal that Drew Struzan's does, so I doubt it will happen soon.

But thank you for ending this interview with such generous flattery. Tell you what: Come over to the house, we'll grab a few boxes of sketches and run down to Kinko's, and I'll publish a quick book for you. I'll autograph it too.

Ed Eyth Interview Part 13

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:  What suggestions would you give young artists interested in designing characters and puppets?

EE: I don't think there have ever been more opportunities for character design, especially for the computer gaming industry and for computer-generated films. And those are the best assignments, because just about anything goes with CG characters and you're not restricted by many of the performance limitations imposed when you're designing a puppet.

My suggestions? Go for it, go wild and draw -- constantly. The best designers I've ever encountered just love to draw. When you can communicate ideas visually, you have a valuable, marketable skill. When you can come up with original, creative solutions for design projects, people will be lining up to work with you.

And don't forget to take advantage of all the great resources on the Internet. Sites like this one, where people like Patrick and Sean graciously provide crucial how-to information that's easily accessible and inspiring!

Sketch Of The Week

OK, so it's not a sketch. This is a photo of Rex, one of the puppets I built for our new show Rex & Boots, Super Sleuths. I'm very happy with the shape of his muzzle and the placement of his eyes.

I added maroon eyelids to the puppet that weren't in the original design to separate Rex's eyes from his gray face. The touch of maroon goes well with the stripes on his hat.

I'll post the last two installments of my interview with Ed Eyth next week.

Ed Eyth Interview Part 12

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: What is your next creative project?

EE: I've spent my entire design career repressing the urge to do fine art, specifically figurative sculpture. I left my full-time position with the Henson Company recently to do just that. I still do design work as a consultant occasionally, but I'm pursuing my real passion now.

Ed Eyth Interview Part 11

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: Describe how you developed the look for the adolescent Kermit in Kermit's Swamp Years.

EE: Shrunk his body, enlarged his head and eyes proportionally and added more polyester fill for a puffy "baby fat" kind of look. Seemed simple enough, but it actually got time-consuming and complicated.

If you shrink his body shape, it becomes a camera challenge, since it's easier for a performer's arm to show up in-frame if the body's too short. So if you stretch that body form to accommodate performance, he suddenly gets gangly and thin, losing the juvenile proportions.

A lot of bodies were sculpted. The first few just looked like a small adult Kermit. It took weeks of experimentation, drawing and sculpting to work it out.

Ed Eyth Interview Part 10

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: You've designed characters for some projects that never made it to the screen. Do you have any favorites that were never seen by audiences?

EE: Hundreds. Often I'll get attached to one particular character that I think is perfect for a role, and he won't make it. I'll actually find myself sharing the tragic disappointment of this earnest little pencil sketch, since it's taken on a life of its own with me already. Weird, huh?

And sometimes the director, producer or creative executive will select one of the designs I felt was substandard. It's all part of the collaborative process, dealing with people who are really senseless or unable to grasp the genius of my perspective. Wait, did I say that out loud? Don't use that last sentence. Seriously.

Ed Eyth Interview Part 9

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 any tricks or techniques for getting the creative juices flowing?

EE: When I run out of ideas, I just start looking around the room for shapes. "Hmm, if I soften the edges of that lampshade, it would make an interesting body shape," or "The little plastic thing at the end of the pull string on the window blinds would make a cool head shape."

Or I look through a magazine for some random objects that might suggest a silhouette or form I hadn't considered. It's kind of a visual free association that can liberate your thinking, and sometimes something magic or exceptional turns up.