I mentioned that I am using a German paper-folding technique, created by Albrecht Roser, to create the Coraline face. As it happens, I have a pattern and instructions for a face up at my puppet company’s website. If you want to play along at home. It’s for Gerta from the Snow Queen.
I start off using some lightweight bristol board. The finished face will be made from Arches 140lb coldpressed watercolour paper, but as I’m trying to find the pattern, I use the cheap stuff. A t-cut up the bottom middle of the page defines the bottom of the nose. Two more cuts in from the sides help me shape the eyes. The important thing, at this point, is the line that I score into the face with a bone paper folder–yes, it is actually made of bone. This line defines the brow and line of the nose.
I cut and tape until I get a head pattern that I roughly like. In this case, I did about three versions, moving the line of the eyes down farther each time, before I got one that was reasonably close to the face I’m aiming for.
At this point, I cut the head apart on the lines. I then slice it down the middle and pick the side that is closest to what I want the finished product to be to use a my pattern. I trace the pattern on a new piece of bristol and then cut it out again. For this effort, I’m just taping it together inside, but the final one will have papier-mache on the interior to reinforce. I have touring puppets that I’ve made using this technique which are astoundingly sturdy.
 Coraline illustration by Dave McKean |
 1st draft Coraline head |
It’s not a bad head, but there are a number of things to adjust. The line of the brow as it wraps under the eye needs to curve up more. The chin is too pointed and overall, the face is too long. And of course, the mouth. I will probably scale this head up to sort out the mouth and then reduce it again. One of the beauties of this technique is that the patterns scale so very, very easily.
Amazing! That technique is perfectly suited to McKean’s illustrations.