Yes, I did it again...

My once a year art skills came back to me this week.

I carved another pumpkin, Tigger, to be precise.

Tigger, the Pumpkin.

He did not take me as long as others had in the past, so I worked on my photography skills in low light...

In other words, I turned my bathroom into a photography studio.  I duct taped towels for back drops; I put sheets on the counter; I covered the window to completely block out the light; and basically banned everyone from entering.  :)

see the need for towels and sheets?

ok, a good background, but my extra lighting was in the wrong spot

Jackpot!

Both pumpkins together!

I was fun to get my tripod out and work with a slower exposure speed and capture the pumpkins in all of the glowing glory!

I hope you enjoyed it!
Until next year's pumpkins,
bye, bye drawing skills.....

Melissa

Carving out Tradition

I've been scanning old photos and slides for a while now and have another post coming about legacies and heritage, but an unexpected surprise surfaces in old photo albums--pictures of the pumpkins I've carved thru out the years.  Some of which, I did not believe I had anymore.  :)

If you're interested in how I started carving and my once a year art skills, read about it here...

So, without further ado, a photo retrospective of my pumpkins.

Beast, the one who started it all..not the best photo  :(

Bullseye, from Toy Story 2

Star Wars fans, please forgive me, it's Jar Jar Binks.  He's on the left.

Stitch, from Disney's Lilo and Stitch

Winnie the Pooh, Winnie the Pooh.

Simba, the Lion King

Flounder, you Guppy

not a great photo, but it's Huggly (a Children's book character)

The Princess and the Frog

Remy 

So, how many years have I been doing this...

The big hair, the rolled shorts...behold the 90's

See you soon,
Melissa

Once Upon a Halloween.....

Every year around this time, I can feel my artistic side come to life, specifically my ability to draw.
Unlike most people, my drawing skills do not occur on paper or other normal mediums, I draw on pumpkins.  Like a Halloween zombie, ghost, or goblin, it does not stay around very long, but it does not matter to me, because for a brief moment, I am an artist.  For the other 364 days of the year, I can't draw a straight line with a ruler or draw with any sort of perspective, but for Halloween....I'm good.  :)

I bet now you are wondering, how did this all start?  I'll tell ya.  When I was in college, I worked at St Mark's Hospital and for Halloween they decided to have a pumpkin decorating contest between all of the different departments.  I was chosen for my department, mainly I think because I was not in the meeting, since I worked in the evenings.  For some insane reason, I chose to carve 'Beast' from Disney's Beauty and the Beast.  The big furry guy with a ton of detail, yeah that one.  What I was thinking I have no idea, but I do know that it turned out.  :)  I even carved part of it when I was out to dinner with my mom and aunt and cousin in Bountiful.

That started the tradition and my 2 to 3 hour block of carving the day before Halloween.  It can be frustrating, tiring, cramping fun and I don't think I will ever stop doing it.  My only regret, I do not have pictures of the early years.....  :(

But for 2011, I got them..
First up Yoda.  Yes, the Star Wars Yoda.  I'm a big fan of his....

Tip of the day, when viewing photos on my blog, click on them and they get bigger and you can see more details.  Yoda was one of the more frustrating ones to do, because of all of the squiggy lines that make up his face.

Number 2, Lightning McQueen from Pixar 'Cars'

He's not as detailed as Yoda, which is why I chose him for my second pumpkins,  Quite frankly, my hands are still recovering.

Anyway,
Have a Safe, Happy, Release your Inner Child Halloween!!!
Melissa