Art Pumpkin Carving….from BEYOND THE GRAVE

Growing up I always loved pumpkin carving season. Like everyone else I started out making triangle eyed Jack-O-Lanterns, and when I got into middle school age I got one of those stencil kits with the little saws and began making more complicated silhouette carvings. Eventually I stopped using the provided stencils and began drawing my own designs. In all of those years I admired the images I saw online of the complex 3D carved pumpkins that took the art form to its extreme, far beyond just a simple cut out shape. Now I’m finally delving into that world and I’ve got to say it’s a BLAST! This new phase of pumpkin art also just happens to coincide with me also learning the art of videography to better document my work as an artist and sculptor. And so I bring to you the first iteration of the ZOMBIE PUMPKIN CRYPT KEEPER…… this was WAY more fun than I would’ve imagined that it could or should have been to carve, film, and edit. Hang on to your socks and enjoy (sound ON!!)…….

After finishing up these facial details I quit for the day. The following morning I re-did all of them….

It can be hard to honestly say that it simply isn't right, especially after I've already spent time on finishing details. True resemblance demands the scrutiny though and when I returned to this one after a night's sleep I knew for sure this malemute had the snout of a bear and the eyes of a boxer (the human kind, AFTER a fight). It could easily pass as a generic dog, but didn't look enough like THE dog I was making. Fortunately there was still room in the piece to find the final form I wanted, I just had to get over taking so many steps (and hours) back in time.

The snout was too short- so I pushed the eyes back about 3/4". The eyelids were too puffy- so I mellowed those out and made the eyebrows bunchier and closer to the nose bridge. The nose end was too round and the upper lips were too far forward- trim away. Not enough smile- so I extended the cheeks back and opened the lower jaw a bit more. Once the changes started happening I could tell I'd made the right choices and it was super fun to watch the dog I was looking for show up! The process is always so rewarding.

An illustration of the amount of elongation I achieved with the snout.

The left eye shows the new shape I was going for vs. the original on the right.

Re-doing the right eye to match the left. I’ll admit this photo kind of gives me the creeps…..

Ta-DAAA! Much better. :)