Pumpkin carving has long evolved from the Jack-O-Lantern days of triangle eyes and half-circle mouths littered with a tooth or two. Even the detailed stencils of haunted houses, witches and ghosts are starting to look amateur. Pumpkins are becoming more and more detailed and impressive with the invention of new and unique carving techniques. One new technique, which may look too daunting for the non-artistically inclined, is 3-D pumpkin carving.
3d pumpkin carving is more like pumpkin sculpting than carving. Unlike traditional carving there is no need to gut the pumpkin first, since there is no light or candle inside. In fact, you will never see the very inside of the pumpkin at all, unless of course you make a mistake and carve too deep.
To make a 3-D pumpkin sculpture, you use the pumpkin as is and simply carve a portrait into the side, using tools such as clay ribbon loops, an x-acto knife, and a paring knife to slowly whittle away layers of pumpkin meat and form the most remarkable pumpkin anyone in your neighborhood has ever seen.
Artist Ray Villafane gives detailed, step-by-step instructions (with pictures included) on his website for those interested in giving 3d carving a shot. If you are one of the brave, you might want to invest in more than one pumpkin, as this looks like the type of thing that takes many tries and a great deal of practice to get decent results. And even then they will be blown out of the water by ray’s designs.
Before you try to carve your very own 3d pumpkin keep in mind this tip from Ray himself: “If you have yet to try and carve a pumpkin in a 3-D manner you need to. Its fun and everybody enjoys a cool pumpkin… Picking out the right pumpkin is very important. You need a pumpkin with a thick wall. To get this kind you will have to choose one that is very heavy for its size. Also avoid perfectly round pumpkins and opt for ones that have a protruding ridge that sticks out on one side. These shapes make nice faces as you could imagine how difficult it would be to carve a 3-D face onto a shallow flat surface. ”
Ray’s work is amazing and worth checking out, whether you plan to try something different with your pumpkin this year or would rather just stick to the basics.
