Info about Ronnie Burkett’s latest show is here. Also check out my exclusive interview.

(You may be looking for the info on buying puppets in Australia, specifically marionettes. That is discussed here. Making marionettes is discussed is here. This article is specifically about replicas of Ronnie Burkett’s work.)

No. You. Can’t. Make. Or. Find. Patterns. For. His. Puppets. (You can however, read his papier mache recipe)

I can’t even be bothered explaining this anymore… it seems I’m going to be the debunker of puppet replicas by pure default. People are now hitting my site looking for ‘Ronnie Burkett puppet patterns’ or ‘buy Ronnie Burkett marionettes’.

Seriously, I adore Ronnie Burkett. I’ve seen every show that’s come to Australia; I even travelled for a day from Melbourne to Sydney just to see his show. I’ve seen him talk at a conference in ‘02 and I’ve got a signed book of Tinka’s New Dress. I’ve emailed him on numerous occasions, and even had the pleasure of meeting the guy face-to-face. But, as with other popular puppets, people want to buy them or make them, no matter what the cost, and with no regard to the person who actually made them.

If you’re looking for his puppets, which by the way, I’m sure are never for sale, let alone patterns made available, then you no doubt need to read my post on 10 myths of free patterns. Basically, any, all or probably at the very least, the last myth will apply to you.

Ronnie Burkett (mentioned in a radio/live interview at his Sydney performance of 10 Days on Earth, I’m paraphrasing here) gets up at 6am, works until late in the evening. A man who spent a few decades learning from the masters of puppetry, travelled under his own steam to sweep floors just to get a glimpse into the insight of building puppets. His work is brilliant, and is reknown the world over for being one of the best contemporary marionette builders and performers. But you, the average googler, want to skip all the hard work that goes into learning marionettes, and just copy someone else’s stuff.

Seriously, I’m getting sick of fielding these stupid concepts of replicas; they’re not legal, not fair, and incredibly insensitive towards artists. Get your own d*n ideas, and instead go to Amazon, search for his name and you’ll come across five or six published versions of his scripts. You won’t get patterns, you won’t get design drawings; what you will get is something to read and reminisce with at home, and a little bit of income to an artist who deserves it. Alternatively, find out how you can help sponsor a show of his, or get him to perform near you (he does tour around the world, with each new show usually running for a few years).

If you want to learn about marionettes, yes, you’re going to have to do some work to get it looking like the professionals. You’re going to have to buy a book. There is no way in the world a free marionette pattern will teach you as much as a book (you know what, normally I link to a book I have that helped me learn, but this time I’m not; if only because this isn’t some self-rightuous ramble in order to force you to buy things. If you want to, check out the rest of the ‘Marionettes’ category on this page, where I have some info on how to make them). Especially because you need to learn about: weighting, stringing, trick stringing, materials and tools, carving, costuming, joints, various methods of materials and jointing, jointing for different parts of the body, performance, lighting, painting…. do you get the idea? Ripping off another artist’s work won’t teach you what you need to know, so it’s a waste of time.

(I’m sorry, I know I’m getting bitchy, but why do people think they have a right to do rip off artwork? Just because you do it for your iPod or download the latest TV show to your computer, does not make it right or legal - the "everyone’s doing it" idea is a logical fallacy, look it up if you don’t get it. Let alone trying to rip a puppet design, which I guarantee you, will never look like Burkett’s puppets without you having to do the 30 years of training that he did)

Learn how to make a real marionette here. Read about the types of materials needed to make marionettes. Find out how to untangle them here. Read about the myth of marionettes. Additionally, you can find my list of free marionette patterns here. How to string a marionette is discussed here.

(This article is AKA ronnie burkett puppets + for sale)