Every year, I carve a pumpkin. I seriously look forward to it every year. Unfortunately, this year I had surgery at the beginning of October so I've been "out of it" so to speak. So, when I carved this pumpkin, I was not only "out of it" but I was in a fog of pain killers and well, pain. Can you tell I'm giving all kinds of excuses for my less than stellar pumpkin? I guess I'll never top my Sweeney Todd pumpkin. Maybe I should just carve Johnny Depp from now on . . . Sorry, Ron Perlman. Sorry I failed you and your lion-esque jaw. (Hangs head in shame)
This year I got some new tools: wood carving knives. I've used pottery tools in the past. Pottery tools require a pulling motion, whereas wood carving knives are pushed. It was different, but I liked it. The tools where much sharper and I got work done much faster. I got this set at Hobby Lobby for $8.99 + a 40% off coupon . . . you do the math. I don't wanna.
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| The tools. |
I adore both the Hellboy movies and I've been wanting to carve Hellboy for a couple of years now. Here's my inspiration photo:
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| The inspiration. |
I pride myself on the fact that I don't use stencils and never have. I simply sketch directly on the pumpkin, using a magic marker. If I make a mistake, I wipe it away with a damp rag. Then, I go over it all with an orange or red Sharpie. That way, the lines don't show on the finished pumpkin.
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| Sketching . . . |
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| More sketching . . . |
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| The carving. |
Again, I was in a hydrocodone haze so I really focused on the smaller shapes rather than the whole picture. It came out okay, but not as I had hoped. Sigh. And, I managed to cut way too big of a hole in the bottom so some light is peeking out. Double sigh. There's always next year . . .
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