My dad was the first person to introduce me to shadow puppets. When my sister and I were tiny kids, he would tuck us into bed, turn off the lights and then cast an image of a dog against the wall.

My brush was tiny, more like something you’d use for nail polish. That was apt because I was struggling to paint the toenails of my dragon shadow puppet. Dipping the silken brush into a pot of ...

The most challenging part, says Williams, is understanding the concept of negative space with the shadow puppets and creating an interesting silhouette. From there, puppets are cut out by hand or ...