Look, the blog! It lives! A new member of the Discord (join the Discord!) asked a very simple question that I realized I had never actually answered, and that flowered into this post. The question was:
How do I even get started in learning puppet building?
An excellent question, particularly now that, thanks to AI slop, search engines have become largely useless. So let’s answer it!
There’s no single discipline that goes into puppet building, it’s a cross section of different fabrication processes and techniques. My first advice is not to just stick to “puppet building” tutorials, but look to things like sewing and prop making for related arts. Learning the core processes is far more important than following a linear instruction list.
That said, you probably want to jump in and make something. That’s great, and you absolutely should. I know for myself I felt a bit overwhelmed when I started, not seeing any obvious first step. That’s because there isn’t one. The best way to learn to make things is to make things! Maybe what you make will be great or maybe it won’t, but never forget that everyone who is good at something only got that way by being bad at it. You only learn by practice, and there is no “finish line”. Even after doing it for years I’m still learning new things, trying new techniques, and making mistakes.
The difference between a pro and an amateur isn’t that a pro doesn’t make mistakes — we do, all the time! It’s just that pros have had the experience to know how to handle the mistakes, and that’s something that only comes with time and practice.
The place almost everyone today got their start is Adam Kreutinger’s YouTube channel. Adam has done a wonderful job making puppet building accessible and available to thousands of people, and we all owe him a huge debt. His Puppet Building 101 playlist is the best single thing you’ll find to a real on-ramp:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1F3305D1FDE99B01
It’s important to remember that everyone is different. As you develop and learn more you will invariably find some things that work for some people may not work for you. You should allow yourself to find your own path, but of course in order to do that you must walk the path that others before you have.
I found a real watershed moment came when I went through BJ Guyer’s courses on the Stan Winston school. BJ is a legendary builder and performer and wonderful teacher. By the time I came to these courses I already knew most of the basic mechanical techniques that BJ shows, but watching a seasoned pro work through challenges and issues was a real light bulb moment. A “teach them how to fish” experience for sure.
https://www.stanwinstonschool.com/artists/bj-guyer
And last it would probably be remiss of me to point out my own efforts. Most of what I’ve produced aren’t formal tutorials, but instead live streams where I’m working on… whatever. But there are a couple that may help give you some guidance.
Most new builders start by becoming borderline obsessed with getting patterns. I always caution against this. Patterns are useful and necessary, but they’re not nearly as important as you think. There’s no pattern that will magically turn you into a great puppet builder. Patterns are convenient references and nothing more.
The best thing to do with patterns is make your own! Adam K shows a great technique for clay modeling, but that can be a little more involved than beginners want to try. I have an extremely simple technique I showed for designing and building a basic puppet from absolute scratch, using nothing more than some paper, a pencil, a ruler and a compass. I have a playlist of live stream VoDs showing the process largely from beginning to end:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDHrVsDtxCRpToUbdCk_GxrHDk-x19Z92
And lastly I know a lot of people, myself included, have questions about the specific materials we use in puppet building, so I went over that and provided some alternatives in this two part playlist:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDHrVsDtxCRrT7Uo2Pjf9F7YdwSSiphIB&si=w16tiWWc6lQS8IPe
As always I’m happy to answer questions and there are also many wonderful builders on the Operation: Puppet Discord server.
Happy building!