Making of: Joseph Petticoat!

All hail the epic procrastination that was Joseph Petticoat! It's been about a year since I first thought of him. With finishing school, fixing up the house, and everything else always going on - This July was the first chance I really got to sit down and work out Joseph.

As an extra large prototype, he is mine for the keeping - his replicas to be made for sale will be smaller, like Tyler, since that is a much more managable size. My arm gets a bit tired from making Joseph dance at his 9 foot tall size.

I nearly forgot the importance of finishing Joseph until my husband got home and exclaimed that it was Joseph Petticoat's birthday! Since we celebrate Tyler's birthday, and Joseph being his new human size bestest friend, we must of course celebrate his birthday too!

Tyler thinks of Joseph as more of a friend than the other toys because he is not an edible size, although they can both bite each other quite well.

Joseph Petticoat's birthday is August 25th, 2010!
Tyler Poncho's birthday is May 9th, 2008!

Inspired by awkwardly cute flamingos and giraffes, I built Joseph on the idea of a super shocked and silly looking bird. In Madison we have a free zoo with these adorable animals for me to stare at and imagine Joseph frolicking and foraging among them. Tyler Poncho sponsored both a giraffe and a flamingo at our zoo!

This is the first sketch of Joseph...

I kept his shrimpy little T-Rex arms, his big ear spheres, his bulgy cloth eyes and beak. I added his lower and jaw in the production phase because I realized that was the best way to capture the expression I wanted. Originally he was to have discs with tentacles to make his petticoat, but as you'll see in the next illustration, I added long silly legs. In the production phase again I realized that legs and tentacles would be too much so I had to pick one. Since the illustration of his legs was already published in the book I thought that would be the one, especially since I loved the cute little feets he has in that picture. But he still needed to have a petticoat so he has feather trim around his bottom, for his little skirt.

Tyler and Joseph sailing into the sunset with Chilly Lomedomes in Tyler Poncho's Amalgamated Menagerie, Volume One.

They met at the end of Tyler Poncho's Amalgamated Menagerie, and will be adventuring into Volume 2 soon!

"Joseph is a rather haphazardly awkward flamingo from a beautiful blue desert. His species is responsible for painting the sky everyday, changing the colors and creating alluring sunsets for all to behold. They keep their feathers well groomed and trimmed with their peachy green bone-combs. Walking stately through the desert hills, their webbed feet softly shifting the sand, they bend their knees in an off-rhythm march, curving their necks to create letter shapes across the sky. In Tyler's land, the sky is made of flamingos."

Their book is available on Amazon.

More behind the scenes sketches?! Here's the thumbnails for the Amalgamated Menagerie, you can see the sketch for the above illustration in the lower left corner.

Click to open a larger view.

Unfortunately I didn't take many in process photos, but there are progress shots before I finished his head, and eyes. I made his entire body suddenly one morning. Did I forget to mention that he is COMPLETELY HAND-SEWN? Yes, I'm insane. Sometimes I get an aversion to sewing machines, and especially with new designs I like to have more control. I cut out his legs and finished one the night before, and the next day I had everything in this photo.

While I was working on Joseph I was staying at my parent's house, making it seem more like a "vacation." (Not having to cook for myself ;D!) You can see there lovely "Blue's Clues" chair that Joseph is sitting on in the above photo.

Here is Joseph wearing his head, which I believe I made the next day.

I regret accidentally having the flash on :(

As you can see, his eyes are not yet finished. So now begins the second phase of procrastination....

Tyler and Joseph discussing what kind of eyes Joseph would like to have...

 They contemplated his eyes for almost a month. After all, the eyes are the window to the fluffy soul, and have great importance in determining his personality. For some reason yesterday, I was able to overcome all this and finish his eyes, after having a sudden inspiration to make Swisswis in the middle of the night.

Happy Birthday Joseph Petticoat!!!

"I'm a pretty bird, I'm a pretty bird!"

Take a moment to imagine him yelling that at you.

And then he gets a little closer....

Oh, thanks for stepping in there, Tyler, I was getting a bit nervous...

Tyler in his Baroque Ruff, and Joseph with his Bow-Tie.

Now these dapper gentleman are ready for a night on the town!

Joseph Petticoat's will be available on TylerPoncho.com soon, but if you can't wait just send us a message. There will be Many Mini Josephs coming soon! Portable Awkward Bird Fun!

And of course, we now have TWO very large monsters living in our house - They really do add a presence and and personality. ...But what will Joseph's title be at Tyler Poncho Toys?....hmmm.......