[Punk'n'Queen]

I don't know if I have enough talent for sculpting but I would like to give it a try. Has anyone done this kind of carving before? Any tips, stencils or advice?

(Edit by ZombiePumpkins: Your image link didn't show up because it was hotlinked from another site. For examples of pumpkin sculpting, see PumpkinGutter.com)

[Jack]

I did a couple last year,i tried a couple of simple wolf stencils from the pumpkinmaster books,first thing you need is a good set of wood chissels from your local hardware store

[Nikki]

Sculpting a pumpkin..sounds interesting. I'm going to look in to this! Or..that site hahah

[GeologySage]

I've done a design involving some sculpting. It was a Pumpkin Masters design with a regular face etc, but the mouth was a bit curvy and the teeth were sculpted. Anyone know the design name? Where's that site with the pattern database?

I remember it was quite fun and looked great in the day. Not as cool at night but still awesome.

[Sully]

I am old Pumpkin Wizard veteran and have sculpted 100's of pumpkins and they look cool. They also seem to last longer as there is more "flesh" holding things together.
What I started doing last year is using regular patterns and scuplting, or scraping, instead of carving. The key is to scrape the insdie of the pumpkin behind your patter really thin so the light shines through. I have had very intricate patterns last a week as tehre are no little carved pieces to dry out. Try it, it really works and is not that much more work

[Zombie Pumpkins!]

I've always been a purist when it comes to carving pumpkins (actually cutting out all the holes). But I'm looking to venture into the realm of "scrape away" designs for certain jack-o-lantern projects. Mainly because that's the only way to accomplish certain images, it seems.

But I think the "sculpting" that Punk'n'Queen was originally asking about was the stuff that goes beyond the scrape away method. The art of actually sculpting 3D shapes out of pumpkin flesh.... as opposed to the more traditional (and less "perishable") materials like clay, stone, and wood.

The best examples I've seen of this are done by Pumpkin Gutter and Grumpkins.

[Sully]

Ah yes, you are right. The 3-D no gut exterior sculpting. Should have read more carefully
I actually purchased a book called Extreme Pumpkin Carving that has patterns and instructions. It was very difficult and I think you need better wood carving tools than I had. I didn't want to spend $70 on a set to discover I didn't like doing it, so opted for a cheap $8 set at Michaels.

[pumpkinhead232]

sculting a pumpkin , i been carving for 18 year now carving pumpkin over 1300 pounds i carve pumpkin into gargolas and some real faces some take 8 hours some take 4 hours to carve .
www.stevespumpkinart.com to see my work .

[Zombie Pumpkins!]

Ray Villafane has some great examples of this kind of 3d sculpting work, and even a tutorial for you ambitions pumpkin-heads that might want to attempt it:

Villafane Studios Pumpkin Gallery