Today I assembled Loki’s face for the Odd and the Frost Giants production and, unsurprisingly, it didn’t go well. He is the god of mischief after all.
I had the pattern that I’d worked out for the rehearsal puppets. When I cut it out of the watercolor paper, it looked slightly odd. so I decided to go ahead and assemble the face in paper to remind myself of what I’d done.
While I know that I’d made the decision to have an asymmetrical face, I was no longer happy with it so decided to balance the two sides and lay it out at a slight angle on the wood so that the grain would give the impression of a lopsided face without actually building it that way. After I traced the main part of the face, I had some trouble getting the marks for scoring to show up. Normally, I press down on the line and it transfers to the paper. Wood veneer is not so simple.
So I poked holes in the pattern with a small nail and then used a pencil to draw dots on the veneer. Without the paper in place, it is easier to see what I mean about the slight angle of the grain.
Normally I score paper with a bone folder, but the woodgrain requires me to very, very lightly score the surface with an Exacto knife. Even with that, I have to soak the skin in hot water to make it pliable enough to bend. After the first soaking, Loki’s upper lip was too stiff to make a bend that I wanted so I had to toss him back into the water. He spent a lot of time bathing for this process.
To hold the head together, I used a combination of spring clips, tin foil and a vise. The challenge is that while he is wet enough to bend easily, he is too wet for anything to adhere to. So I have to get him into approximately the right position and then wait for the surface to dry enough to take tape or glue but before it gets so dry that I can’t bend him. It’s a very narrow window of time. During the process of assembling him, I realized I’d gone through the snout with the scoring. Although I was able to patch that spot, another tear happened on his right cheek that wasn’t repairable.
After looking at him, I think that the pattern is flawed. It’s a challenging set of folds to begin with and meant for a more pliable medium than wood veneer. I’m going to spend today working out a simpler paper pattern and then trying again with another piece of veneer.
Just by way of comparison, I worked out the pattern for Thor’s head with only two attempts. Odin’s head also took about two tries. This will be my eighth attempt at a pattern for Loki’s head. God of Mischief indeed.
Love your puppet designs. It’s always fun to see how they develop.
I’m glad! They are wiley sometimes.
This all looks good. We’re looking forward to having you in rehearsal tomorrow. I’ll see you at the airport.
I did solve the problem with Loki’s head. Thank heavens.
See you soon!