Perfect Puffy Penguins or It Doesn't all have to be Art With a Capital "A"

The Penguin Who Started It All

Perfect Puffy Penguins or It Doesn't all have to be Art With a Capital "A"

Last night I saw a photo of this adorable little penguin posted by a Face Book friend.  For some reason his pompom shape and goofy look appealed to me.  

Having made pompoms in the past to tie to ice skates, I knew I had the skills necessary:)  So I created a video with basic techniques and came up with this adorable prototype.  It may not look like a penguin but has a very high cuteness factor.  

Penguin prototype

It looks a little like a sheep and could easily have a couple of white balls added to his furry little body to become a snowman.  My vision last night included pre-made goggly eyes but I couldn't bring myself to commercialize the little beast like that.  I could do felt but not plastic….

Here's a quick instructional video on making the little prototype here ->

 I had started with this.

Today I went to the art supply store and got some felt, raided the yarn drawer at my art studio, got scissors and got started.  I needed to play with something relaxing and silly.  This kind of project is best done around other people so I went to find a group of other artists I know.  They were kind enough to let me join them.  I learned a little bit about penguin anatomy from them also. Like they have black backs.  I hadn't cut the ball right to make his  back.  I was a little bit disappointed that I hadn't thought of following correct penguin anatomy but kept going.

and this.

At this point my Perfect Penguin research yielded this image of a glorious Adelie Penguin.  This noble beast, whose source I've lost, made my little guy look silly.  I loved my little Puffball and kept going.  Sometimes I wonder if I should have just let him stay a little puffball but that's ok.

I attempted to fix his back with a toupee.  A Perfect Puffy Penguin with a back toupee (think penguin mowhawk) is a scary thing.  I slipped down the path of attempting to change something special to fit in with expectations. I'm a little disappointed in myself because I know better than to force something to be something it's not.  Puffy would always be a puffball no matter how much I trimmed his little fake feathers.

I expected my Perfect Penguin to look like the photo instead of…himself.  He did make me giggle at every point of his conception.  Yarn balls have a lot of character and humor when you personify them.  It starts to get tough when you give them toupees.  And use glue guns on them:( that gets very sticky.

You can see that his species is suspect here.  He looks
a little like a poodle with some weird yellow things
stuck to him.

That toupee is kind of spiffy.  He's just propped together
here.

In the MEANTIME, here are a couple of his incarnations.  I took him inside and glued him together, trimmed his fuzzy fake feathers and had a Perfect Penguin Prototype.  I'm not sure I'll continue down this path of penguin production.  This little guy is one of a kind.  He could use a younger sibling though.  You know, the kind that gets away with everything because his/ her parents are worn down from taking care of the older one!  Regardless, this was a fun experience in play and process which are essential to a happy life.  I'm looking forward to returning to the studio to clean up the fuzz from the haircut that gave him the final "polished" look.  The penguin is a little perplexed at the haircut.  He doesn't look at all like the noble beast he was (well, I was) trying to make him into.  At this point it's time to accept him as the perfect Penguin that he is.  I'd like to go back and remake him but it would feel a little disloyal.  Time to let go!  Needless to say I had a very enjoyable couple of hours just playing.

This whole thing just cracks me up.  I'm pretty sure that if you got this far you may think I'm very clever and you want to make your own penguin or other puffy creature.  Please consider jumping into the icy waters.  There's room for everyone and Puffy would love some friends to play with!

The sweet little Puffy Penguin 

shedding his baby feathers.
(He looks like a wet dog, but
don't tell him.)
It's been a rough winter.

Just don't pursue perfection with too much enthusiasm.  You'll never catch it…

The final chapter in our story is a testimonial from one of my students who owns a plush animal company.  Puffy and I are feeling pretty spiffy over this!