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bvanhorn β Puppet C'thulhu Rises from the sea
Published: 2012-07-19 17:30:18 +0000 UTC; Views: 2368; Favourites: 54; Downloads: 13
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Description
He is finally awake! Run for your lives mortals! He hungers!Finally got the marionette strung. I am insanely happy with this puppet.
I used monofilament for the tentacles. They are on a mobile like apparatus, so any movement causes them to randomly whip around. I aboid touching the monofilament because it cuts the fingers.
I used .5 mm satin string for the rest of the puppet. It feels good on the fingers.
It is carved from basswood with the exception of the skinny parts, which are poplar (for strength). The torso and head are hollow, the head holds the battery for the LED eyes.
He glows in the dark. He was painted with artist's acrylics with my airbrush.
The wings are pigskin. They flap. I'm stoked. 'nuff said.
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Comments: 64
Very good man. You're very talented. That head had to be pretty complicated to pull off!Β
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Thank you kind sir!.
The head was fun to build and manipulate. Β I think wiring the glowing eyes was the most difficult because it was a tight fit through the access panel on the back.
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i need this! or make one for myself. i need this!
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Wasn't easy to build, but it was so worth it. Β I still haven't found a way to take pictures of the glow in the dark stuff, which REALLY makes it creepy.
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i used to customize and sculpt action figures and cthulu was on my to do list but all my material and works were stolen! this really inspires me to start again.
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Glad to inspire! Β Really want to see a picture.
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This is one of my favorites.
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Mine too, i admire lovecraft maybe the next could be dagon
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I'm staying away from scales for awhile. Β The last scaly thing I carved took 30,000 scales and I'm a bit burnt out. Β Love the idea though.
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Oh that is magnificent... What colour are his eyes?
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Thanks.
I used high intensity red LED's. They really stand out in lower light settings/indoors.
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Thanks.
And thank you for adding it to your faves.
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No prob. You're a very talented Puppet Master, lol.
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Not really a Puppet Master, just an old creepy guy who is slowly filling his house with twisted little puppets. Which twitch and move when no one is looking....
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lol, well, I consider anyone who makes puppets a puppet mater. And yah, I'm pretty much fillin my room full of puppets, lol. They do seem to be in different positions when I got to get them. Odd. But still, always fun to make puppets with character.
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There aren't that many people making puppets now. I think I've run into less than 10 on dA. So as far as I'm concerned, the more people who create the better.
I decided that I wanted to do Victorian style wood carved marionettes that are slightly odd. Don't know why, as I had never carved before.
Most of the puppet makers I've seen are using cloth, clay or paper mache. Nothing wrong with that. Most of the puppet making information available uses those materials. I like seeing their creations.
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Your carving skills are very good from what I have seen, especially if you've never carved before. I use cloth for my puppets, but I sorta have to use rags and old shirts, lol, cause I can't go out and buy new fabric very often. I also use waterbottles covered in fabric and stich them together to make bigger, more complex puppets. Right now I'm making a life-sized puppet to surprise my teacher for the play, lol. I gave him one of the puppets yesterday that I completed, and he likes it. Once I make more with different shapes and sizes, I'll have to get a pic of em all before they get locked in the prop room at school, lol.
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I've "recycled" quite a few old shirts, wife's pajamas, etc. while costuming my marionettes. Much cheaper than buying material. Plus, it has a "lived in" look from the small scuffs and stains.
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lol, totally agree. Used fabric works well for old tattered looks. My mom is friends with a woman who owns an antique store and she's given me some old fabrics which are pretty sweet. Great for a circus puppet set I want to make.
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Oh that is amaizing. Such a great idea and and nice work. Really scary face
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Thanks. He was fun to carve and create.
Thanks for adding it to your faves!
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Didn't HPL describe Cthulhu as "a mountain that walked or stumbled about"?
You talk about needing a lot more practice....but this is a lumbering bohemoth that has for untold millenia, perhaps clumsiness is to be expected. It's not my art though, it's yours, I hope that I do not speak out of place here.
Awesome work.
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Yes he did, but there's lumbering and then there is lumbering.
I think that the biggest challenge is coordinating the movements so that they don't appear seperately. I want the arms to move, while walking and the wings flapping slightly. I can consistently hit two out of three and I'm getting closer to being able to do all three together. Trying to make the movements "organic" I guess. REALLY hard to explain.
Thanks.
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Β‘FantΓ‘stico trabajo! Lo hemos destacado dentro de la carpeta "Featured nΒΊ 4 o Destacados nΒΊ 4" en Special-Groups. (Es la carpeta donde se exhiben los mejores trabajos del grupo).
Fantastic work! Featured in Special-Groups in folder Featured nΒΊ 4. (Best works of the group).
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Wow. Thank you for including this marionette into this collection. It was a joy to create it.
Wow. Gracias por incluir esta marioneta en esta colecciΓ³n. Fue una alegrΓa para crearlo.
(I cheated and used Google Translate, as my Spanish SUCKS and my son is at school)
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Omg. OMG! So cool. Have you done any test footage of him? Would love to see him in motion.
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Here is a link to C'thulhu stumbling around drunkenly, waving his tentacles at passerbys and generally wishing that the person (me) who operated him did a better job.
He has only been around a few days and I REALLY need to practice more.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-LOHtpBjHI
Hope you enjoy.
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Nice! The tentacle action is really great. With some practice you should get the actions down. Marionettes are an odd thing, aren't they? I had a simple one years ago--just body, two legs, and a head--and even managing that was frustrating. You've got a lot more to work with here!
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The basic manips such as legs and arms aren't that hard. The tentacles move randomly when I rock the control rig. It is coordinating all of that with the wings. It is kicking my butt currently.
I suppose it is a good thing that I won't be using him for awhile. The other marionettes for the show that I'm putting together resemble large planks of wood right now. 
This gives me plenty of time to practice.
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Do you think that you could make a video showing the movements of this one? :3 I would love to see the movements of his tentacles like you mentioned. I would also love to see the wings flapping, too. ^^
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I'm practicing manipulating it. As soon as I'm happy with the manipulations, I'll post a video.
LOTS of people want to see him move. Trust me, I'm working on it.
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As Kermit would say, oh good! ^^ Let me know when the video is uploaded!
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I just did a REALLY rough sample.
It is here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-LOHtpBjHI
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Very nice! :3 Can't wait to see when you get a little more used to the controls. It looks very complicated. o.o
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Yeah, the rig is rather complex. 20 or so strings. 8 or so control bars. I sort of combine one or two motions at a time. It is pretty fun.
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It does sound fun, but hard. But I suppose that's what the fun part would be, huh? XD I'm still learning how to puppeteer simple marionettes. I'm not very good at it, however. Do you think maybe you could give me some pointers? o.o
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I really don't have too many pointers.
1) Practice. I can make a human style marionette walk really well, bow, gesture, nod, etc. It took a bunch of practice. As I do things strangely or add different controls for other appendages, the complexity increases, so the basics need to be there.
2) Have a decent marionette. Loose joints that move easily are the most important thing you can have. If you notice, I don't paint the joints and there is a 1/32" gap in all hinge joints so that they bend easily.
3) Find a style of controller you like and stick with it. I have tried different controllers and I am sticking with the one I like. The C'thulhu marionette has the basic controller that I like plus additional controls for the extra stuff. It helps with the learning curve.
Hope that helps.
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I see. ^^ Thank you very much, that helped a lot. :3
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I've been practicing manipulating him. His rig is a bit complex and I'm trying to smooth out the movements.
I can make him walk and talk fairly decently. Dance not so much and the arms and wings are taking some getting used to.
Will post a video as soon as I'm happy with his movements.
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good good luck
he looks great
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Thanks. He was fun to carve.
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