Reindeer Games

I suppose it was inevitable , having created a character who happens to be a Christmas Elf  living at the North Pole at Santa's Workshop ; the time would come when I would feel the compulsion to add reindeer to the mix of characters . With the inclusion of the Sleigh House as a story element in 2013s " Snarky Fangsgrieving " it became increasingly clear to me that to fulfill the potential of Snarky , Santa's eight tiny flying reindeer would need to become a reality .

Snarky the Elf ain't convinced . . . 

Were Snarky The Elf a more traditional medium - illustrated , or a more modern one - computer generated this would not be much of an issue ; but since it's a fumetti utilizing dolls one suddenly realizes " It is going to be impossible to find a stock reindeer doll or toy that will mesh with the established reality . "

Building up the body , making antlers and heads

The reindeer will need to be created from scratch . The phrase " Famous Last Words " springs to mind . Of course the easiest approach would be just to make some static sculptures , but when you're telling a story about supposedly real living creatures it's kinda imperative that they have the ability to move - body language helps communicate . The alternative to an actual poseable reindeer would be to create a series of static posed models - but how many would I need ? Five - Ten - MORE ?!? That would be a lot of work for a single artist only able to devote a few hours a week to a project . I decided to approach the task at hand as though I was making a puppet for a stop motion film , a jointed doll , just like the rest of Snarky The Elf's cast .

Sintra PVC sheets , 6mm , used to make antlers

Working with my modest Snarky Budget , which is ZERO ; I rummaged around my parts bins to see if I could find suitable gizmos to build a working armature . As is very typical of me , rather than spend preproduction time developing the concept I just jumped headlong into it . I'll learn as I go . That old phrase " Famous Last Words " comes back to mind . I'm not that concerned with making mistakes since one learns more by screwing up than by performing successfully , and on this project I was treading down new paths so I figured I'd just enjoy the trip and have fun while I was at it .

Sculpey Firm head and laminated craft foam head

The process of building an armature and bulking it up with foam has been surprising simple , although I can see that my makeshift armature likely will not be up to the task it will be called upon to carry out . I'll probably have to fork over the money for professionally machined puppet joints . The beneficial side to this setback is that it has me looking at an inexpensive and possibly simpler method of making a reindeer puppet utilizing craft foam - considerably lighter and possibly just as functional . For me the fun part is playing around with a creative expression .

The shoulder joint is too high - I will need to change it .