This is Wren!!! I started him November 2022 and finished him around April 2023, after a lot of blood, sweat and tears lol...
I made him for a portfolio application, thinking that another felted puppet would be nice after my thesis guys. His design is pretty simple, but he was a nightmare to make due to felt build-up and structure.
Here are some of his glamour shots!!!!!
Ramble + more photos below the cut, as usual!
I don't really like making puppets for myself without them being pre-existing characters, so, considering I'd just made Wren a couple months earlier in March (sketches and basic schematic ideas below!), I knew immediately who'd fit the bill for a felted puppet.
His hands were living hell to do but I wanted them to look like a little stylized, so the effort I ended up putting into them really paid off, I think. The same went for the tapering on his arms and legs.
In-set eyes for felt were interesting to do, because the eyeball itself needs to be significantly bigger than its socket in order for it to be held in, so I kept having to make and re-make eyes in different sizes to test lol....BUT eventually I found the right size and I love how they turned out!!! And yes, you can move them around super easily! I would have liked to do removable eyelids out of felt, but due to time constraints and, frankly, exhaustion I ended up just doing set eyelids, which still fit him well.
I knew from the start that I'd have to do two photoshoots for him (one before felting on his cape, and one after felting on his cape), but I was NOT ready for his back to snap in in the middle of the first session LOL. Luckily, attaching his cape added support because it touches the ground, so things still worked out.
Pics of him before the cape:
Now that I have access to better material and equipment I'd love to solder him a nice back piece that will last longer than his current spinal fusion, but that'll be wayyy down the line. Anyways, I love him to bits.
