I carved him in a couple of months at university. He is the first thing I’ve ever carved so I made alot of mistakes, which I seem to have covered up well.

To begin with I worked out the legs and arms in foam board, then make a mock up of one leg in pine, just to see what the problems might be. I used a band saw to make the profile of the pieces then shaped them out using various sanding tools and my gouges. I was very rushed when it came to finishing and it’s not a great job, I think I just didn’t sand meticulously enough before moving on to the next grade of paper. He was a great experience, but not enough of one. He’s turned out to be way to heavy to manipulate, and thus has ended up more like an articulated doll than a working puppet. I should have used Jelutong for the body, but couldn’t get any, and I really wanted to show off a nice wood grain. I didn’t want to hide the beauty of the wood.