Growing up in France, we didn’t have Halloween. We all dressed up for Mardi Gras, of course, but we didn’t carve pumpkins, eat candy corn or go trick-or-treating. We also didn’t have baseball, peanut butter or Cheers. I moved to New York from Paris nine years ago and I’ll never forget the first time I had root beer (I spit it out, though, of course now I love it), the first time I ate Chinese food out of a white takeout box “just like in the movies!” or the first time I cooked a turkey for Thanksgiving. I’ve lived in the US for almost 10 years now and feel very much at home here, but there are still a few things quintessentially American that I’ve never done. For example, I’d never carved a pumpkin before! Turns out it’s pretty fun, only a little messy and totally worth it to see your design come to life through such beautiful, glowing light.
Pumpkins look best in a group, so I bought three pumpkins of different sizes, shapes and colors. I like jack-o-lanterns and spooky designs, so I decided to make a little pumpkin man. I drew a funny face on the pumpkin with a Sharpie and then added more details as I carved. I wanted to use a similar technique to linocutting and only carve the skin without going all the way through. I used my linocut gouges and it worked really nicely. Just remember to keep your tools sharp and carve away from your body! I carved the second pumpkin for the body and cut out little triangles with a knife to let the light shine through. I stacked them on top of the last pumpkin, put battery-powered tea lights inside, and voila! I hope this inspires you to try some new techniques while carving this Halloween! -Amelie Mancini
Click through for DIY tips and steps after the jump!
via Design*Sponge http://ift.tt/1FIxDLG From Grace Bonney
No comments:
Post a Comment