The blog of photographer Kim Ayres

Pumpkin for Halloween

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Inspired by some of the images that come up when you google Pumpkin Designs, I thought I’d have a go at stepping up a level from the 2 triangle eyes and a zig-zaggy mouth I’ve done before.

It took me a wee while, but I was pleased with the result. It has to be said though, it took nothing like as long as it used to in earlier years when I would hollow out turnips to make a jack-o-lantern, before I gave up on this Scottish tradition and adopted the imported US one of using pumpkins instead.








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40 comments

Sam said...

very impressive!

puts mine to shame!

Jayne Martin said...

Damn! That's a rockin' great pumpkin. You should sell it to a dentist. ;) - Jayne

Charlie said...

An EXCELLENT jack-o-lantern, and Meg is an EXCELLENT witch-in-training.

I'm wondering, though, where you got my teeth from.

Alan Richardson said...

That is a pumpkin with character.

Alan.

JRS said...

You have got to be kidding me! How did you even think to do that? Wow!
---Jen

mapstew said...

I think I might know that pumpkin!

Great work, and great patience!

:¬)

Kristin said...

Wow, that's quite something. It actually kind of creeped me out a little- well done!

http://excerpts-kristin.blogspot.com/

GirlBoyGirl said...

That's actually quite the pumpkin you carved there! I wish I had been able to do one this year. Perhaps next!

Auntie Em said...

I don't believe I have ever seen anything quite like that before. Way to go!

Midnitefyrfly said...

whoa the spiders are... different :) LOVE the pumpkin. We managed a very difficult TINKER BELL pumpkin. Should post pics. My 2 year old tinker bell loved it. You did a GREAT job on yours!

Sami said...

Your daughter is just so beautiful! The pumpkin looks great!

Sir Jackson Peaks said...

Well done! Really like the design you ended up with.

St Jude said...

That's a great lantern, I remember we used to use swedes, it used to break your arms trying to hollow them out. I'm with you pumpkins are the way to go. Meg looks great in her witchs outfit.

Pat said...

I don't do Halloween but I like the folk who do. I keep forgetting to tell you how much I like your ever changing site. I grieve to think of you struggling with a turnip.
Meg is looking very serious. Is she hatching witchy plots?

Anonymous said...

Oooohhhh! Great job on the pumpkin. Those teeth are amazing. I can't imagine trying to carve a turnip!

Alice said...

awesome. i'm always amazed by people who can create things like this. i can't even manage it with a stencil. although i did figure out the whole using-a-drill-to-make-the-eyes thing last year. what a time saver.

Sausage said...

How did you get the teeth like that?

hope said...

Only the folks with an artistic eye can come up with a jack-o-lantern like that!

[And no, I have no idea why they're called jack-o-lanterns on Halloween]

A Daft Scots Lass said...

Brilliant lantern

Mary Witzl said...

That's fantastic carving work there -- those curves are NOT easy.

We didn't do a jack-o-lantern this year. I feel so deprived.

Stella Jones said...

I love your pumpkin design, especially the teeth. They look so real. Well done. I wasn't going to bother with the carving this year and instead did an arrangement in a wheelbarrow, more like US thanksgiving. However, the pumpkin started going mouldy so I had to do something with it. I cut off the mouldy bit and found myself carving the rest. Don't they look spooky!
Blessings, Star

Dan said...

Seriously, you could market that Kim. That is excellent!

Really gets your likeness as well......

Anonymous said...

Very nice, Kim!

That's an awesome looking pumpkin.

Philip Dodd said...

you can carve vegetables too! I bow down before your renaissance man type skills.
Philip

Susan Carpenter Sims said...

I read this post yesterday, and then dreamed about your pumpkin last night! I dreamed that I was trying to carve the eyes the way you did, but they just came out as big holes.

Don't analyze that, please.

Respectfully Yours said...

Great pumpkin carving. Come over to my hometown in Waterford Canada, I have about 10,000 pumpkins for you to work on. We are home of the Annual Pumpkinfest Celebration...check it out:
http://www.pumpkinfest.com/

Eryl said...

All I can say is thank goodness I'm past the pumpkin lamp parenting stage so I don't have to compete.

The Confessionist said...

haha wow, i think you have a great talent for that!

Library girl said...

Great carving ... nice cup next to it. Oh yeah - 'You're THE Daddy!'

Pat said...

A belated happy halloween to you and your family! =)

Kanani said...

Very fancy!

Sandy's witterings said...

Down here, where Halloween is Samhain, Kes and me are mighty impressed by your pumpkin carving. Definately pumpkin of the year but could be my pumpkin of all time - well done.

Sandy

A.T. Post said...

Excellent work. That looks quite labor-intensive, but worth it. I, on the other hand, went in the opposite direction and did something even less intricate than the usual slitty eyes and mouthful of teeth. I just did two triangle eyes and a completely toothless grin. Ironically it was the best one I've ever done.

LegalMist said...

Awesome job!

Falak said...

Wow!!!How many hours did you take to complete that?????

Kim Ayres said...

Thank you all for your wonderful comments :)

After exploring the internet for interesting pumpkin designs, I realised one of the great advantages of pumpkins over, say, turnips, is the ability to carve on 2 levels.

As well as cutting right through it, you can remove the outer skin, and carve the fleshy bit too.

So for the eyes and the mouth, initially I just removed the top layer of skin, then cut in deeper for the teeth. The flesh is quite soft, so it wasn't too hard to give the teeth a bit of shape.

Basically, the whole thing is a lot easier than it looks, and I encourage anyone to give it a go :)

David Wagner said...

That is easily the coolest pumpkin I saw all October. Awesome.

1+2+2=5, 1+2+3=6: 56 said...

looks better in the dark but it's wonderful otherwise as well

flashbulb100w said...

That looks pretty cool! :D

Fay Campbell said...

Since you've taken on an American thing, would you please send me a single malt Scotch?

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