Experimenting with pumpkin designs
I've always been envious of those well-carved pumpkins. You know the ones, with fancy details, pictures, etc. I decided to give it a go myself this year. I came up with a design I wanted to try out 
Once I was happy with that, I used tracing (or transfer) paper to imprint the design directly onto the face of a mid-sized pumpkin. I then used a short-bladed carving knife to trace the image into the skin of the pumpkin. The makers of the knife -claim- that it is the best knife for carving wood, but I found that it was worthless for that use. Although, it DOES do a mean cutting job on a pumpkin.
For this portion of the carving, I found that using a dish-drying rack made a nice place to hold the pumpkin at an angle, facing up to me. (I did this all standing up at the kitchen counter / sink area) I carefully cut away the areas of the pumpkin skin that would represent the lighter areas of the design. I left the dark areas untouched. I cut it away in small sections so I wouldn't accidentally cut away the dark areas.
With the design done, I then cut open the top of the pumpkin and scooped out the meat and seeds. I used the Pumpkin Masters™ carving kit to do this portion of the process. With the scooper tool, I scraped away at the wall of the pumpkin directly behind the peeled image. I was especially careful to NOT poke through the skin of the pumpkin, which could ruin the design. The thinner the wall, the more light shows through. To test out the pumpkin, which I was doing using in the kitchen sink, I held it up to the kitchen window, with the peeled design facing away from me. Looking down through the open top of the pumpkin, I could see which areas let light through and which didn't. Then I'd scrape away the appropriate areas.
Once I was happy with that, I used tracing (or transfer) paper to imprint the design directly onto the face of a mid-sized pumpkin. I then used a short-bladed carving knife to trace the image into the skin of the pumpkin. The makers of the knife -claim- that it is the best knife for carving wood, but I found that it was worthless for that use. Although, it DOES do a mean cutting job on a pumpkin.
For this portion of the carving, I found that using a dish-drying rack made a nice place to hold the pumpkin at an angle, facing up to me. (I did this all standing up at the kitchen counter / sink area) I carefully cut away the areas of the pumpkin skin that would represent the lighter areas of the design. I left the dark areas untouched. I cut it away in small sections so I wouldn't accidentally cut away the dark areas.
With the design done, I then cut open the top of the pumpkin and scooped out the meat and seeds. I used the Pumpkin Masters™ carving kit to do this portion of the process. With the scooper tool, I scraped away at the wall of the pumpkin directly behind the peeled image. I was especially careful to NOT poke through the skin of the pumpkin, which could ruin the design. The thinner the wall, the more light shows through. To test out the pumpkin, which I was doing using in the kitchen sink, I held it up to the kitchen window, with the peeled design facing away from me. Looking down through the open top of the pumpkin, I could see which areas let light through and which didn't. Then I'd scrape away the appropriate areas.
After doing all this I dropped in a tea light candle for illumination. I am very happy with the end results.
Comparing the original sketch to the finished pumpkin, the end product did come out pretty close in appearance, although I did change the teeth. Partly because it looked better, and partly because the divisions between the teeth were very easy to break. To accentuate the teeth, I painted the gaps black, with a water-based craft paint.
I'm now working on sketches for new designs. The week or so before Halloween, I hope to have 5 to 6 new designs ready to go, to line the stairs leading up to my flat. I plan on posting images of those here, when complete.
posted by George Willis at 3:06 PM
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