For the last several weeks, I’ve been working hard on a new project that I developed with Thistledown writer and Mad Flamingo Media owner Alex Lucas. The book is now for sale and you can purchase your copy from us directly here. It’s only 99 cents, and the good news is you don’t even need a Kindle. If you have an Amazon account, you can go to the Kindle Store and download free Kindle software for your PC, Mac, iPhone, or Blackberry. There are over thirty illustrations in the ebook, and you’ll have to get your own copy to see them all! Update–The Mac app is not yet available in the Kindle Store. Sorry for this inconvenience, you Mac users out there. You can sign up on in the Kindle Store and you will be notified when it is available.

This project has been a bit of an experiment really, and it’s based on an idea that’s been floating around in my head for a long time. I have a love of illustration. Growing up I was fascinated with the work of N.C. Wyeth and Arthur Rackham. Actually, when I studied art in college, my original plan was to either end up as an animator or an illustrator, and by some weird twist of fate, I’m doing both but in a medium I never expected…puppets.

Back to my idea: I’ve always thought it would be cool to see elaborately staged puppets as illustrations in books. I’ve actually seen it done brilliantly by Chris Sickels who uses stop motion style puppets. My idea is to make illustrations using the moving mouth style of puppets that I build. Now, I realize that the intended purpose of a puppet is movement, but I appreciate puppets visually and artistically as well. I love the idea of looking at an illustration and knowing that I am looking at a real and tangible object (and also, hopefully, one that is pleasing to the eye).

Hence our illustrated Raven by Edgar Allan Poe. I like to imagine the images as film stills–carefully crafted and composed. Let’s add another layer to this whole idea. Alex and I are also tech-geeks, and we’ve been intrigued by the Amazon Kindle. As a lifelong lover of books this new technology initially rubbed me the wrong way, but my sci-fi spirit has won out, and I’ve embraced it wholeheartedly. The little Kindle screen is just begging for images as well as words. Who knows where this technology will end up, but right now it’s limited to 16 shades of grey. This doesn’t mean that the images need to be boring does it?

We chose the Raven because it is a timeless American classic…and let’s face it, it was hard to pass up the chance to build an Edgar Allan Poe puppet. My idea in crafting the illustrations was to capture the feel of the Raven. I used a black “burn” around the edges of the images both to add a slight ancient and Gothic feel, and to add emphasis to the image. The Kindle has an interesting feature when you “turn” the page. The image blinks for a second. We used this to our advantage when crafting the images, so you get to see the Raven’s eyes fade in and out when turning the page. Some of the images follow each other in succession which offers a slight touch of animation.

Look for more ebooks coming soon!

Sometimes even the puppets want to go out and play…

A quick shot of the third round of “Bull” puppets before they get packed away and shipped overseas.

When I’m as busy as I am right now, it’s great to get visitors to the workshop. My nephew came over a few days ago and got to play with the puppets. His favorite was the little Toby puppet from Puppet Heap.

This is Rascal. He’s the real reason that I love puppets so much. My brother had Harry, Rascal’s twin, and we would make up stories and dress these guys up in all sorts of funny costumes. I still remember the heartache as I watched a chunk torn from his leg after it got caught in my bicycle chain (I was trying to re-inact the Kermit scene from the Muppet Movie).
The twenty-five years since that wonderful Christmas morning are definitely showing, but he remains an inspiration.

This is a shot of Alfons the monkey during his building process. The eye mech made him so expressive.

Here’s a bird’s eye shot of one of the bells on the Jester’s hat taken during the costuming process.

The eyes of a puppet, like the eyes of a human, are the windows to it’s soul. They are important and should be carefully considered before construction begins because they will make or break a character. Given the right eyes, (and combined with skilled manipulation by the puppeteer) a puppet really comes to life.

This is Francis, the Pig. He is the third puppet that I ever built. I made him about eleven years ago (I can’t believe it)! He has always had the same personality. It’s funny, I can see all of my Thistledown characters very clearly in my mind before they are built. They have very real, distinct personalities before they are made. Francis definitely represents the goofy yet insecure part of myself. You can see him in action in some of my YouTube videos.

Unfortunately the years are beginning to show, inside and out. I’d like to tackle a rebuild sometime, but I’m not sure when. I know that inside (physically) he’ll be very different because I’ve learned a lot about puppet building in the eleven years, and I feel like I’m still just scraping the surface of the possibilities.