Cheshire Cat Marionette

In this case the head of the marionette will be a mixture of materials, however the base will be Papier-mâché, to keep weight down since the final puppet will be layered in fur, I have enjoyed it also, many original Marionettes from the 19th century were made this way, resulting in even more excitement

The eyes and teeth have now been placed.

Grinning like a Cheshire Cat

Hello, I thought I would post up some pictures of a marionette I am currently working on, but before I do that, Here is a pencil drawing I did a while back and also the inspiration for the piece.

I wanted to stay with the Alice in Wonderland theme and after making the White Rabbit and Humpty Dumpty (I will put Pictures of the Finished Humpty Model up soon!) I decided that the Cheshire cat could make for an interesting project. I really liked the drawing for one reason, The sheer size of the Cheshire Cats grin was totally ridiculous, and so I set about making him come to life.

So I began making a template on paper based on the drawing. For this model I didn't want to paint the eyes, feeling his eyes should be a stand out feature of the puppet I went for these glass Lynx eyes, combined with some acrylic Human teeth.

Tea Time!

Notebook

Hello, Just thought I would post some sketches from a little Notebook I made myself!, a little rough and stiff but I look forward to making more and more!!

Somewhere to rest

At this point I started thinking about the internal look of the Box, Humpty would need somewhere to sleep!

I wanted to recreate the feel of an old Victorian box, the red velvet lined type of box you might find some delicate tools or instruments in, I also decided to go with a studded finish as I felt it would have an elegance you would often see on beautiful chairs from that period.

Here, you can see the sides of the box being assembled, which also made me begin to think of a Matryoshka Doll, or Russian Doll as they are more commonly known. "Why?" I hear you ask, well upon seeing Humtpys box for the first time, after gazing across the painted type, you will undoubtedly feel the need to open it and see what lies inside, Humpty lies waiting for you to pick him up and invites you to delve deeper into his story by removing part of his head (shell) and therefore discovering a third layer of mystery.

Here you can see Humpty being measured for his new home!

EYE AYE!

I knew I wanted a painted eye on either side of the central portrait, and the plan was to surround each one with a small ornate frame, however, unlike the frame in the middle, I wanted these smaller ones to be painted, so I began by sketching some eyes out on paper first....

I liked this one, it has a shocked look, as if seeing something terrifying.

Here is a close up of one of the Painted sides, this one mirrors the sketch seen above, and represents the birth of Humtpy Dumpty and his consciousness awakening.

On the opposite side I plan to paint a closed eye, an eye at peace, one that has slipped from this world to a place somewhat more heavenly.