Carving Craft Pumpkins
Submitted by Ghoul Friday on October 20, 2009 - 10:35am.
I picked up a number of white craft pumpkins (on sale this week for 60% off). Even though I have a collection of half-finished paper mache pumpkins, the reality is I probably won't get to them in time for this Halloween.
I've carved faces, and painted detailing that matched the 3 white light up jack o' lanterns I own.
I carved small holes into the bottom of each one, just large enough to fit a battery operated candle. I numbered the bottoms of each one (sections and pumpkin) so I could close up the pumpkins if I chose to do so.
These look so good!! I hate to admit it, but I don't like carving real pumpkins... they're too messy. :) I haven't seen white craft pumpkins anywhere. Where did you get these?
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Submitted by Vanessa (not verified) on October 20, 2009 - 11:46am.I picked these up at Michael's. They are having their pumpkin sale until the 23rd. At this time last year, all the white ones were sold out. This year, all the orange ones were gone (which suited me just fine).
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Submitted by Ghoul Friday on October 20, 2009 - 12:03pm.You did a great job on the painted detailing. I never thought of that, but it makes me curious how my fake pumpkins would look with the insides of the cuts painted like that.
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Submitted by Jakob (not verified) on October 20, 2009 - 12:45pm.Thanks. I've tried something similar on an orange pumpkin, but wasn't too pleased with it. Mind you, I didn't use the exact same painting technique. The orange one was all solid lines, and it's too extreme for my taste.
On these ones, I painted the inside cuts of the features a solid black. I then dry brushed the surrounding areas with the thinnest layer of paint. And then I would take the brush with a bit of paint, gently press the side of the brush against the inside ledge of the cut features (so the tip of the brush was just inside the pumpkin), and then with a bit of pressure gently pulled it left or right so the end of the brush popped over the edge and created a cross-hatch effect (a bunch of tiny lines) on the face of the pumpkin. I then dabbed it with my finger to blur it a bit.
It would be easier to show you than explain it with words. I was too wrapped up in experimenting with technique to stop and take pictures.
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Submitted by Ghoul Friday on October 20, 2009 - 1:01pm.Those look fantastic! I have seen some pre-fab white pumpkins that I sort of like, but yours look very nice.
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Submitted by dave the dead (not verified) on October 20, 2009 - 1:20pm.Numbering the pieces! It seems so simple and yet something I consistently overlook when dismembering parts. Especially for parts that I might reassemble at some point. Like groups of teeth or bones.
This is my workbook tip of the day!
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Submitted by KingUnicorn (not verified) on October 20, 2009 - 5:01pm.I can see I might have to make a trip to Michaels before Friday :)
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Submitted by halloween spirit (not verified) on October 21, 2009 - 10:13am.I'm completely infatuated with these and just posted about them on my blog, with your link. I *really* want to see them lit up!
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Submitted by Dana (not verified) on October 24, 2009 - 2:55pm.They are now all posted in the Art Ghoullery under Halloween 2009. You'll find these guys on page 2 :)
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Submitted by Ghoul Friday on November 4, 2009 - 12:35pm.Post new comment