Pumpkin Carvings

Even though it is November already, I still wanted to show my Halloween spirit. Pumpkin carvings have been a tradition that many familys practice on or around Halloween. The idea of putting a silly face or skull on the pumpkin gives it character. Throughout the years many have made this tradition into a contest to see just how skilled these carvers really are. Some contests have restrictions on what to carve while others are open to the artist's creativity. When the winners are announced, you can see just how much work, thought, and design goes into each carving. Other meterials are used to create a unique design, such as paint or colored lights.

The details that go into the work show just how much planning goes into each design. The right pieces need to be carved from the right spots to give it a believable silhouette and some desgins, such as the werewolf, can give the illusion of texture.

Then there are designs such as this that give not only texture to a piece, but values to the whole pumpkin. When this little kitten is lite up, the light will illuminate different shadows and give the carving life. There are other methods to give shadow other than carving into the pumpkin to give it a three- dimentional look. These talented artists have used principles such as line, value, texture, form, and of course silhouettes to create an image that is beliveable and almost realistic.

Here are the links for the photos: (Day of the Dead pumpkin) http://www.illustrationmundo.com/wp/1947
(Three pumpkin carvings)http://www.charlesandhudson.com/archives/2009/09/enter-the-toh-pumpkin-carving-contest.htm
(Cat pumpkin) http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=104132&currentpage=All

Here are some carving contest sites with amazing and uniqe designs: http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/community/contests/pumpkin2010/winners.html

http://www.extremepumpkins.com/pumpkincontest.html

http://agoodson.com/pumpkin/