Monday, June 30, 2014

Damn… Missed the day!

I missed the day…
But I did write the film.  SO I promise by next year's "World Vitiligo Day" I'll have the short I cooked up done!

Here's a good read from CNN about Vitiligo though…  And usually I would;t recommend CNN!
Click HERE!

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Quigly Risley

 Quigly Risley
Mouth Puppet

For there upcoming Elmwood web-series "The Risley Brothers"
Quigly is intended to be the same character as Quigly Buckhood, but now older and using his real name.  When I started to remake him I thought it would be a good time to update the character also, freshen up the look, and give him a little age too.

Here's a couple pictures of the original (made in 2003)


Obviously he's a different color now, and I gave him bigger eyes.  I also toned down the puffy-ness of his hair, and the new hair is lighter and has some grey in it too.  Overall though I feel new Quig has the spirit of old Quig, and that's what counts.

I did attempt to do the re-make before, this is as far as I got:
The eyes were too close together, and I really wanted to play with the look a little bit.  So I took the eyes off this guy and made him into someone completely different!  I dug the old one out for reference. He's still looking good, but inside a mess, hahaha, well used for sure!

Here's a closer look...





Friday, June 27, 2014

Little music for a sunny Friday morning...

The "Schmutsy" Project Part 4

Nope…  This is not the big reveal!
This post is about his glasses!
 When I'm making a puppet of someone I try to find a way to incorporate the real person into it.  For example, Schmutsy!
His look and some of his behavior is based on my friend Pat.
And Pat was nice enough to offer up a pair of his old glasses for the puppet…  Awesome!

The next time we see Schumtsy he'll be done!

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Custom Puppets...

I've been getting a lot of questions on custom puppet making lately…
Hopefully this post will help out with some of them!

YES!  I do make custom puppets!
I can do portraits, animals, monsters, aliens, whatever!

The turnaround time is anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months depending on what you want!  The price is also based on what you want for your puppet.  These are one of a kind pieces of art when it is done, so it's not always cheap!  But I do my best to keep the puppets affordable and reasonable!

NO - I won't make you a Muppet.  Or Scooby-Doo, or Batman, or a PowerPuff Girl...
It's bad mojo/karma/whatever to make a copyrighted character!  Not to mention a grey area legally. 
But if you own the character I'll be happy to make a puppet of it!


If you want a puppet just email me - jon@elmwoodproductions.com - and put "puppet-making-custom" in the title of the email!

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Coffee Cup Doodles

 Over the weekend I got a coffee on my vacation…  And I drew all over it





















Monday, June 23, 2014

Wonderful

 35 Years ago yesterday
THE MUPPET MOVIE
was released!

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

What a difference a little time makes...

Five years ago right now I was working a day job that was so soul crushing that I thought I wanted to punch holes in walls and faces every morning I woke up.
My creative side was in despair and dis-repair, but still existed…

And then tonite.  NOW…

The day job is better than alright.  
And creatively….  
Creatively I'm on a high, in many ways I have been since I left the soul crushing job five years ago this coming September…
So in honor of what is going to be a great and creative summer I want to share a picture of creativity and the people who will be part of it with me over this summer…

These cats are awesome…   LET'S MAKE A MOVIE!
Although you can't see all their faces…
It's:
Jim Williams, Russ Bird, Sally Arlette-Garcia, Handsome Mike Finland, Rick Passmore, Nick Foreman, Ben Farley, Rowan Hawk McDonald, Gabe Finkenstein…
And missing from the picture and sorely missed - Manda Vasas!  And Keith Paul too!
I LOVE THESE PEOPLE
And we're making
HEAD


AND A SNEAK PREVIEW OF THE PUPPETS TOO!


Together Again!


I'm going!  Who is coming with me?!

Monday, June 16, 2014

Sunday, June 15, 2014

Pea...



Stumbled on this while in YouTube Hell…


Saturday, June 14, 2014

Hardware Store Clerk 2

Hardware Store Clerk 2
Mouth Puppet

Here's another sneak peak into Elmwood's new feature film -
HEAD 
 



Thursday, June 12, 2014

This weekend - GET REVENGE!!!

June 13 and 14 at The Desultory Theatre Club:

The Desultory Theatre Club presents...


A special staged reading of David Mamet's



The REVENGE of the SPACE PANDAS!!


Directed by Keith Paul

Puppets, Mayhem and Madness abound in this crazy tale of Inter-planet travel, Two speed clocks, and a sheep named Bob!

Binky Rudich, his friend Viv, and his almost human sheep Bob tinker with a two-speed clock with the idea that, as Binky says, "Time on Earth moves at the same speed all the time, but there is another speed, a slower speed, and if we could find it, everything would stand still on Earth and we would spin off." And they do! To Crestview, Fourth World in the Goolagong System, ruled by George Topax and guarded by the Great Space Pandas. The excitement really begins when the Supreme Ruler commands that Bob be brought to him, never again to leave Goolagong, and he steals the two-speed clock just to make sure!

Starring: Dan Willey, Kelly Rybczyk, Jon Bristol, Cole Sutton, Thomas Dietner, Abel Mercado, Lana Peck, Kurt Boucher, Nick Foreman, J Timothy Quirk, and Keith Paul.

Join us as humans and puppets team up to tell you this crazy story for an All Ages evening of fun!

Two performances!! June 13 & 14!!

Tickets - $12.00 at the door.

Doors open at 7:30 - Show begins at 8

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

One of those days...

One of those good days..

Coffee, puppet making, and great music on…



And later I get to play with more puppets!

Who is Edwin Farpis?



Tuesday, June 10, 2014

BREAKING NEWS! A Sheep Is In "The Revenge Of The Space Pandas"!



More Info

Winning?

Winning doesn't mean you're right.  
And being right doesn't mean you've won.  
Winning is peace of mind.  
Winning isn't being first in line.  
Winning is being satisfied with what you have.  
Winning isn't a prize, or a trophy.  
But those things are nice acknowledgments of accomplishments. 
Winning is comfort in your own skin.  
Winning is being proud of what you have accomplished.
Winning is being good.  
Even when being good may not land you on top.  

Monday, June 9, 2014

Kermit -2014 - The Collection

Kermit the Frog
Hand Puppet 2014

So over the past three years I've pretty much stopped collecting toy puppets.
I still love them, but I just haven't found one that has grabbed me and screamed 
"BUY ME!"
I did get another "Whatnot", but this time the Toy R Us version.  I 'll post it later…

Then this guy…
With "Muppet Most Wanted" coming out in March some new Muppet toys hit the stores.  And I saw this guy at Toys R Us…  And wow.  What a good likeness!  Had to have it to add to the collection.
So I got him home and put him next to the Kermit I got as a kid in the 1970's.
I then decided to get back into puppet collecting.
But only Kermit puppets
I love Kermit.  He's the reason I fell in love with puppetry…
I have three different Kermit at this point (not counting finger puppets)…  Let the hunt begin!

Sunday, June 8, 2014

JUNE 13 and 14 - BE THERE!!!


The Desultory Theatre Club presents...

A special staged reading of David Mamet's

The REVENGE of the SPACE PANDAS!!

Directed by Keith Paul

Puppets, Mayhem and Madness abound in this crazy tale of Inter-planet travel, Two speed clocks, and a sheep named Bob!

Binky Rudich, his friend Viv, and his almost human sheep Bob tinker with a two-speed clock with the idea that, as Binky says, "Time on Earth moves at the same speed all the time, but there is another speed, a slower speed, and if we could find it, everything would stand still on Earth and we would spin off." And they do! To Crestview, Fourth World in the Goolagong System, ruled by George Topax and guarded by the Great Space Pandas. The excitement really begins when the Supreme Ruler commands that Bob be brought to him, never again to leave Goolagong, and he steals the two-speed clock just to make sure!

Starring: Dan Willey, Kelly Rybczyk, Jon Bristol, Cole Sutton, Thomas Dietner, Abel Mercado, Lana Peck, Kurt Boucher, Nick Foreman, J Timothy Quirk, and Keith Paul.

Join us as humans and puppets team up to tell you this crazy story for an All Ages evening of fun!

Two performances!! June 13 & 14!!

Tickets - $12.00 at the door.

Doors open at 7:30 - Show begins at 8

Saturday, June 7, 2014

Frank


Frank
Mouth Puppet

Frank is for Elmwood's upcoming horror film "HEAD"
This is going to be a bit of a departure for us, as it's a horror film.  I'm really excited about this movie.  We've been talking about doing a horror flick since 2007, and it just kept falling apart.  And a couple years ago we decided to dust off a script I wrote and do it, finally.  Then this spring we decided to do it with puppets as opposed as actors.  As soon as we made that decision all the piece fell into place.
One of the fun things about my blog here is that I get to show off characters before they hit the screen…  I'm not going to give away all the "Head" characters though, just a few to tease ya!