File this one under "Blind hogs and acorns."
My artistic skills are…well…questionable. That's why I'm so tickled that today's pumpkin carving turned out so well. Last year I carved my first-ever pumpkin. I haven't touched the tools since that day. What I wanted to do this year was create an Aslan pumpkin. But I couldn't find a suitable pattern anywhere online. I decided to do my own.
The project turned out to be much more involved than anything that I attempted last year. For one thing, I wouldn't have a simple pattern to follow. Indeed, I had to make my own pattern. I downloaded a JPG photo of Aslan from the recent movie. Using Photoshop, I added adjustment layers for Hue/Saturation and Brightness/Contrast to create a highly contrasted Grayscale image of Aslan's face. I then upscaled the image to fit my Letter sized page and printed it out.
Now, for the next complication. It became clear to me that a simple cutting out of holes (like I did last year) just wouldn't do. I was going to have to accomplish shading and highlights—partial shading of the gourd. And there's really no way to tell what it is going to look like (for a novice like me) until darkness falls and you light the thing up, although deeper cuts ought to mean brighter light, right?
So, I transferred some rough reference points (eyes, nose, mouth, outline of the mane, etc.) and worked the thing over with scraper and knives, and the movie below depicts the results. Honest…this is the first and only attempt that I made. I'm pretty tickled with it. If you aren't impressed, it's just because you don't realize how poor my artistic skills really are.
Enjoy. BTW, You'll need QuickTime to view it.
13 comments:
Now that's awesome!
Good gracious. When you carve a pumpkin, you really get into it.
Mine just looks like this..
;)
David
I have to admit, I'm impressed. Although, it did take several minutes to convince Noah that it is Aslan. I think the bright light coming out of the top of Aslan's head was what threw him off....
;)
Kristal
You better hope Dr. Patterson doesn't see thing before next Friday or he's apt to blow it to smithereens right on the spot. It looks just that good.
You ought to freeze it until next year and then carve a lamb to display it with.
Bob,
I really like the lamb suggestion. But lightning never strikes twice in the same place—I doubt that I could get such results attempting a lamb next year.
Kristal,
I tried it with the top on, but the candle died almost immediately.
David,
Man, you crack me up!
Thanks, Scott
You are kind of a strange man.
Dave Miller,
I'll not dispute it.
Lion in the yard, lion's gonna get us!
That is one sweet carving bro!
So...on Halloween night, I can hear the neighborhood children, "Daddy, I just saw a lion in that yard." Daddy says, "Son, even though it's Halloween, we don't tell lies..." Son says, "But Daddy, I know it was a lion I saw! It was in the preacher's yard...and he wouldn't cause me to lie!"
You'll be the talk of the town.
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