Halloween Top Hat Automaton - Sketch

  A contemporary automaton by Dug North

I saw a photo of a man in a magazine who had a little ghoul sticking out of the front of his hat. I wondered if the creature was driven by a mechanical device, but decided there wasn't enough room in the hat.

That's when I decided to make an automaton hat for my Halloween costume. The sketch at left is what I came up with. Later I was asked to write up the process for MAKE magazine Halloween special edition

I envisioned that the monster's arm would be attached to the part of the hat the rises and so would rise with it.