Granny Fate

This sculpt was a fun change of pace to the others.  Because the movement of this character is so different from the other puppets I had more freedom in the sculpt because I didn't have to worry about blinking eyes or certain expressions.  The middle set of eyes on this character are the only set that will move.  The other two sets are there to add to her strange spidery-ness while tying into the mythology of the fates.   I also hope to get a very loose spongy feel to her mouth movement which the foam latex will allow.  This movement should suggest that see has little teeth or bone below her nose.

The Grandfather

The Grandfather was a fun sculpt for me.  I feel one of the hardest things to do on him, was to know how far to take the wrinkles and lines.  This head will actually be used for two characters in the film, one being the friendly grandfather to the boy and the other being a dark and slightly sinister character.  That's all I'll say you'll have to see the film to know more about this second character.

Sculpting the Boy

This is the sculpture for the Boy character.  The challenge of sculpting this character was to make him feel youthful while allowing for enough movement to be available through the foam.  I usually sculpt characters showing an expression, but for the puppets they need to sculpted in a neutral position.  This is so the expressions can be put into the faces via mechanics and puppeteers.   As you can see I had trouble reaching a full neutral face because I wanted him to look friendly.

Digby by Name, Digby by Nature

Digby was always a name I heard in my childhood.  My mother would call me Digby whenever I did something stupid, like when I bounced a ball through the house and broke several artifacts in its path.  Basically, it’s safe to say I may have heard it quite a bit.

So, when it came time to name the character that I feel provides some comic relief, Digby came to mind a little too quickly.

The character Digby will play in my short film Lessons Learned as the faithful servant to the Grandfather.    Though, his cleaning skills and tea making leave a lot to be desired, he does try, even when you ask him not to.

Here is the evolution of Digby:

My process started with sketches...

 I then sculpted the maquette

Then I was ready to sculpt the puppet.

Finally, here is the final Digby puppet ready for filming.

Intentions

My name is Toby Froud and I was Baby Toby from the Labyrinth.  While wearing Stripey Pajamas in one ingenious movie by Jim Henson doesn't define me or who I am now as an artist but it very much represents where I started and how I was raised.  I’m embracing it! 

My intentions for this blog are to share my current works, past pieces, and future projects with the online world. 

My parents Brian and Wendy Froud surrounded me by goblins and puppets from a baby through my teen years and now I surround myself as an adult and my son as a parent.    To give you a brief history of my work…

                I started as bear tumbling along the ground, turned into a devil riding upon a dragon, strode through the forest on the hooves of a Satyr, bounced my shirts a flying as a whimpled woman, danced til dawn with wings flapping above me, sculpted the beginning of the end in my studies, philosophized ridiculously on a fence, met a wondering man who found a curious box, brought up the rear as a tap dancing steer, danced light in front of a sea of faeries, made legs dance in time in front of an audience of many, captured moods of things not yet seen, and witnessed the zombie non-apocalypse at 10 inches tall.  (That's all I can remember for now.)

I’m currently working on a short film using live action puppets called Lessons Learned.  Lessons Learned is a story about a young boy who receives an interesting gift from his grandfather, a gift that will stay with him for his lifetime.   

In my next post I'll share with you the first completed puppet for Lessons Learning, Digby!