My puppets are about 45 cm tall. I make their bodies from wood and their heads from special materials: wood pulp and papier-mâché, which become very hard when dried. For their clothing, I get whatever textiles, patterns and materials are needed to reproduce the unique clothes of that particular person, but at the same time they must be thin and soft enough to enable the puppet to move naturally. When necessary, I dye the textiles with fabric paints and write inscriptions to make the clothes as similar to the original as possible. The pants and sleeves should be long enough to cover the "joints" in which their legs and arms bend and the clothes shouldn't be too tight so they don't restrict movements of the marionette (e.g. miniskirts, short shorts, swimsuits or neoprene wetsuits are not a good choice). As the nylon threads lead through the clothes, the puppets don't change their clothes once the threads are attached to the control bar.
After I gave it some thought, I derived the name Mariones from the word "marionette", but at the same time I wanted it to be a new word. A marionette is a puppet manipulated from above with the help of threads or thin nylon strings attached to a control bar. Of all the types of puppets, this one most resembles a human figure, both in its looks and movements.
Making
It takes me at least one month to make one marionette. I’m currently only focusing on creating marionettes for sale and that’s why I’m not accepting custom marionette commissions at this time. Thank you for your understanding.
Ak chcete vidieť, ako bábky vyrábam, pozrite si moje VIDEÁ:
To see how I make the puppets, check out my VIDEOS:
HOW I MAKE MY PUPPETS
(2020)
In this video you will see how I'm making three marionettes - inspired by three actors / movie characters.
The puppet making process is long and demanding,
although in the video it seems like I have it done very quickly :).
The video is about 7 minutes long.
PUPPET PORTRAIT OF
ROBIN WILLIAMS (2015)
PUPPET PORTRAIT OF
WHOOPI GOLDBERG (2015)
This marionette represents the TV character
'Sister Mary Clarence' (Whoopi Goldberg) from the Sister Act movie (1992). In this video I am forming her head, trying to capture her typical smile, painting and coloring her face to make the puppet look like real Whoopi.
There are some photos of the finished puppet
at the end of this video as well as in my gallery
("My puppets" section).
PUPPET PORTRAIT OF
CHARLIE SHEEN (2015)
This is a puppet portrait of the famous actor Charlie Sheen,
or, better said, Charlie Harper - a TV character from Two and a Half Men sitcom, because at the end of this video you can see the finished puppet wearing the typical Charlie Harper's outfit.
I replaced the material which my heads used to be made from (as you could see in Dr. House video) by the new one - it's better for working.
It has been a long time since I last made a video of making a puppet (I created Dr.House's marionette in 2013).
So now you can compare my earlier and recent skills.
PAINTING THE FACE (Dr. House) (2013)
Painting with flesh-coloured paint, "blushing" the cheeks, painting the eyes: pupils, irises... shading, and finally the stubble, so that the amiable doctor gets the proper scruffy
look :). You can have a look at the photos of the finished puppet in the "My puppets" section.
FORMING THE HEAD (Dr. House) (2013)
The first puppet I made based on a world-famous celebrity - the TV character Dr. House. The papier-mâché from which I made his head was quite rough and had an uneven surface, so the features of the face aren't distinct yet. You can decide for yourselves whether he looks like himself in the end, according to the "Painting the Face" video or the photos in the
"My puppets" section.