This Harlequin figure is 18" tall and made from wood and styrofoam. The body being wood block and dowel construction with carved wood hands and feet. The head is shaped styrofoam ( 5" ball base) with wool felt glued and stretched over it. The head is then given several coats of artist's Gesso and sanded. A dowel is inserted for the neck and heavy wire punched through from ear to ear and looped to receive the head strings attachment.
The Controller is cut from plywood with strong leather hanging strap and a dangling leg bar, also firmly attached with strong leather thong. The head strings are attached on either side of the oval shaped controller with hands on a continuous running string through two screw eyes near the front of the controller. The two leg strings attach to the ends of the leg bar, with a back string attached at the rear of the controller. 6 strings in all which offer a wide range of movement with just a turn of the wrist and simple plucking of the hand, leg and back strings when needed. We developed this design during our touring days to keep the controls simple to handle and also make them tangle-free during transport between show dates.
The head construction technique was something I developed in creating THE BILLY -CLUB PUPPETS seen in an earlier posting. It is an inexpensive and fairly quick method for creating lightweight yet very durable puppet heads for both hand puppets and marionettes.
Harlequin's costume was hand colored with Sharpie's, then ironed to set the color from running. This puppet was made for BOB ABDOU, also known as MR. PUPPET, a traveling showman based in Austin, Texas. I have made several puppets for him over the past decade or so.
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