A marionette should be as individual as a human being, both in its appearance and in its character. Before you make your marionette, you must have clearly in mind the character you wish to portray. You should aim to make its appearance indicate its character. Let us suppose that you are about to make a marionette of Myles in Men of Iron. Let us make a list of his characteristics: brave, strong, loyal, daring, courageous. Now choose one of these traits which you think most fully sums up the character of Myles. Probably you will choose the word “courageous.” The problem now is to create a marionette whose appearance will suggest the Myles who is brave, strong, loyal, daring, but, above all things, courageous. Can you not see him, tall, broad of shoulder, fearless of eye, as he stands before Sir James Lee? Strong of limb and strong of will, he reflects the spirit of his time. You now have the problem of creating out of a few bits of wood and cloth this daring, headstrong young squire.
Begin by making a working drawing somewhat like the illustration. Now make drawings of the face of Myles just as you imagine it, front view and side view. Always consider the age of the character you wish to model. Faces of the young are smooth and round, the brow unwrinkled; those of the middle aged less smooth and round, with the jaw, chin, and nose more clearly defined. In old age, sagging muscles produce lines and hollows around the eyes, nose, and mouth. You must also consider the structure of a face. This means giving attention to the shape of the jaw, chin, nose, lips, and the eye sockets. In modeling the face of Myles in Men of Iron, you would naturally give him a forceful chin and nose, and a large, firm mouth. If you were modeling Lady Alice in the same play, you would express her daintiness and lightness by giving her a delicate nose, smiling lips, rounded cheeks and chin. Lastly, you should study the expression of the face. Have you ever noticed what happens to the muscles around the mouth when a person smiles or is sad or angry? When we smile the muscles lift the corners of the mouth upward; when we are sad the mouth droops at the corners; when we are angry our lips become straight and firmly set. The brow is very tell-tale and can show different moods. In surprise, the brows are arched. Curiosity draws the brows together, anger draws them together and downward. Sadness is shown by the drooping of both brows and mouth.
If you are to become a successful puppet maker, keep a small sketch book in your pocket and make numerous sketches of many different types of faces and of human figures.
Modeling. With your drawings before you, take a lump of clay or plasticine and model it into the general egg shape of the head. The small end will represent the chin. The large end will represent the crown of the head. Add the clay for the neck. Draw a light line on the clay to locate the brow, the length of the nose, and the position of the mouth. Now while you hold this egg-shaped head in your hands, place your thumbs just below the line of the brow, and gently and firmly press the clay down and out and up to form the eye sockets. Then build up the nose and lips. It is unnecessary to model the ears. In the first stages of your modeling, you cannot expect the head to resemble your ideal character, because you will be striving for the general proportions of the face. When once you have attained these proportions you can then begin to work for a likeness. Besides your ten fingers, you may find an orange stick or a sharpened match a valuable tool.
Making a Mold. After you have finished the head it is necessary to make a plaster of Paris mold of it. One way to do this is to take a small cardboard box that will hold the head and allow an inch of space on all six sides. Grease the box on the inside with vaseline. At the same time grease thoroughly and evenly with a brush the clay or plasticine head. Now mix about one half pint of plaster of Paris with enough water to give it the consistency of thick cream. This must be done with quickness, for the hardening process cannot be stopped once it has set in. Pour this mixture into the greased box until it is half full. Then place the head, back down, into the plaster. Allow fifteen to thirty minutes for the plaster of Paris to harden. Now grease the exposed surface of the clay or plasticine head. Mix more plaster with water and cover the face thoroughly. Allow this to stand overnight. The next day, when you remove the box, the two halves of the plaster cast can be separated. Out will fall the clay or plasticine head, which you will no longer need because you now have the two molds for making the papier-mâché head.
A simpler way to make the mold is this: Mark the clay as in the illustration. Then insert pieces of tin or stiff paper, such as oak tag. When the clay is dry, apply a coat of vaseline to it and to the tin or paper. Then apply the plaster of Paris and keep applying it until you think it is fully an inch thick. After the plaster hardens, proceed in the same manner with the other side of the head. When both sides are hard, separate them from the clay and you will have two molds.
Papier-mâché. You are now ready to make the papier-mâché heads. Begin by making a small quantity of flour paste. Take two heaping tablespoonfuls of flour and mix with cold water to the consistency of cream, add two cups of hot water, place over fire and stir constantly until it comes to the boiling point and boil for two minutes. A few drops of oil of cloves will keep the paste fresh in hot weather.