{"product_id":"260530-intro-to-puppet-making-for-stop-motion-animation-may-30-31","title":"260530 Intro to Puppet-Making for Stop Motion Animation May 30th - 31st","description":"\u003cp\u003eTaught by \u003cstrong\u003eErin Pollock\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYou’ll leave this intensive 2‑day workshop with a fully pose-able stop‑motion puppet and a toolkit of creative problem‑solving strategies to carry into future projects. Your character will be ready to animate on your own or in a workshop later this fall where we focus on stop motion animation techniques. Creative makers of all stripes are welcome to join us in the Puppet Laboratory - No experience required. Just bring your curiosity and an eagerness to explore new materials\/processes. Our focus isn’t perfect puppets—it’s creative risk, material fluency, and playful experimentation. That said, your finished puppet will have articulated joints, expressive features, fleshy silicone head and hands, punched hair, custom-tailored clothing, and foot tie-downs to facilitate fluid animation. Hands-on demos will guide you through techniques like simple mold‑making and casting, multiple strategies for building an articulated anatomical armature, and silicone hair‑punching (embedding individual hairs for tactile realism, used in professional character fabrication and prosthetic studios). Most materials will be provided, there is a short list of items students will need to provide (things you most likely already own or could scavenge\/borrow). \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eEach day goes from 12-6pm.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBEFORE CLASS: Participants should print the provided character design template and make a simple drawing of their character concept (proportions are key; polish isn’t necessary). Whether hand-drawn or digital (e.g. Procreate), be sure to bring an 8.5″×11″ printed copy to class.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDAY 1 (Saturday, May 30th, 2026)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e● Construct an armature based on your character design (with articulated joints, square tubing for removable head and hands, tie-downs for the feet) ● Sculpt your character’s head and hands in clay ● Make molds of the head and hands \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDAY 2 (Sunday, May 30th, 2026)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e● Cast your character’s head and hands in silicone ● Build up the body mass with foam, wood, etc ● Paint the body with a silicone skin ● Construct clothing and footwear ● Punch hair\/fur ● Attach head and hands ● Puppet photoshoot!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMaterials Included in Kit\/Provided by Instructor: \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNon-sulfurous, meltable plasticine clay ● Polymer Clay ● Liquid Latex ● Crock Pots for melting clay ● Silicone for Mold-making ● Silicone and silicone pigment for casting head and hands ● Mold release ● Epoxy Clay and putty ● Armature wire (aluminum) ● Thin craft wire ● Hardware for armature joints ● Brass Tubing (square) ● Wooden dowels ● Soft wood for carving ● Aluminum sheeting for animating fabric ● Thermoplastic ● Mixing tools and containers ● Carving tools ● Various adhesives ● Soft wood and\/or carvable foam ● Batting, sponges, and pre-wrap foam rolls ● Rare Earth magnets and hardware for foot tie-downs ● Acrylic paint and mediums ● Hair punching tool ● Spheres for making moveable eyeballs ● Foam core ● Nitrile gloves ● Wood base ● Metal files and sandpaper\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMaterials to be acquired by students:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSketchbook, pencil with eraser, and 2 fine tip sharpies (one black, one red) ● Scissors ● X-acto knife (and extra blades) ● Self-healing cutting mat (or stack of clean cardboard \u0026gt;8x10”) ● Cuticle clipper ● Tweezers ● Small sewing kit (with needles of multiple sizes) ● Roll of aluminum foil ● Small paint brushes (cheap ones you won’t mind throwing out afterward) ● Pliers\/Wire cutters ● Phillips head screwdriver ● Glue gun (and extra sticks) ● A variety of fabric to build your character’s costume (think about how patterns\/textures would translate to an 8” puppet) ● Optional: ○ Hair (doll, human, bristle, synthetic…) ○ Acrylic paint ○ Embellishments: buttons, trims, felt, etc ○ Other found objects you want to incorporate into the anatomy or costuming of your character\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ehttp:\/\/Erinpollock.com\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"TCS Classes","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51184673718587,"sku":null,"price":590.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0780\/7539\/6411\/files\/May2026WorkshopFlyer.pdf_1.png?v=1776719887","url":"https:\/\/shop.sculpt.com\/products\/260530-intro-to-puppet-making-for-stop-motion-animation-may-30-31","provider":"The Compleat Sculptor, Inc","version":"1.0","type":"link"}