Some puppet designs/ experiments

I have been struggling with the designs of my puppets for my 'Rabbit's bride' project. Drawing and design in general are not my strong points, so I have made these rough maquettes (or 3-D sketches, as they really are) to help me get an idea of what my puppets might look like. I think I still have a way to go with this, but here is what I have been messing about with...

Firstly, I have been looking (again) at the idea of masks, creating an illusion of character. So I have been playing with the idea of the girl being a rabbit and a girl all at once, or in fact neither, someone who is pretending to be both girl and rabbit but in truth is just acting, or playing at these roles. I really like a series of photos by Pamela Klaffke entitled "Bestia Parvulus" (animal child)- check out the link here, as this was part of the inspiration for this idea.

So,  the pictures above show someone pretending to be a rabbit, and below the same 'person' is pretending to be a girl...

However, I think these are pretty creepy, and not really in a good way. Plus the idea the the girl changes ages and changes between rabbit and girl, at the same time the rabbit changes between rabbit and man might be a little bit too confusing.

Ok, so next up is another puppet idea. I think the girl is still a bit doll like though. So I am still very much working on these designs. I am even considering scrapping the puppet idea all together and using live action and green screen...

                                         
                                              And here is the same girl but in a rabbit mask...