Trading tips for gutting, transferring, and carving the real thing.
By GUS
#13701
Grab a pumpkin & go for it ..whilst they're in season rather than umming & erring then doing it when they're going out of stock
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By St0ney
#13941
I Agree!

My fear in adding Skill levels, is the carver may feel their not ready to carve it, If I say it's extreme. Some will not even give it a try.
Even though their ready.

Some that do go for the more detailed pattern for the first time - they are sometimes shocked they were able to do it. and they turn around and do an exceptional job.

To me the difficulty level is based on three things,

1. The number of cut-outs.
2. The complexity of the shapes
3. the thickness of the lines (that need to stay on the kin).

People tend to always under estimate their abilities.

Here's an example on what I'm talking about.
2 day's ago I got an email from a new member.

He has been carving PM patterns and kits for a many years.
And wanted to give shading a try for the first time.

This was his very first attempt at shading.
Image

And he not only Wowed himself - But me also :wink:

The point is you'll never know what you can do, unless you try.
your not learning to cut diamonds - Kins are cheap.

Practice make perfect. Many tattoo artist practice on Pig skin
until their good enough to tattoo a real person.
Messing up a kin - is not as dramatic - LOL

And yes - I also have crazy glue in my tool box. - LOL

I used to love watching Bob Ross on TV.
He always made Happy little mistakes.

Oops = a new happy little tree.
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By Tkaraoke
#13948
Holy frijoles! You mean even *I* can do this?! ROFL!

That's a great story, St0ney! It makes me feel good when people step out of their comfort zone and try something different. I have a few patterns I'm going to try this year just for the hell of it. They still aren't fancy like the dragon (for some reason, your damn COW keeps begging me to carve it) but I really want to take a stab at this type of pattern.
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By matspud
#13952
My advice would be to just try any pattern you really like. Just take it slowly. Even of it doesn't turn out as planned you still gain experience and know what not to do the next time.
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By Zombie Pumpkins!
#15196
CanadianCarver wrote:I always thought the Homer Simpson one would be tough. A lot of big cutouts with very thin lines left behind!
That's a good point. A lot of people tackle patterns like my Homer or Scooby-Doo. They're popular characters and look fairly simple because the cut-out shapes are large. But you have to be extra careful because the lines left behind are thin and can easily break if you go too fast. This is one of the reasons I don't make many cartoon character patterns... I don't want to frustrate people.

Anyway, I don't really want to discourage people from trying patterns that they think are outside their ability, because I still believe that anyone with some time and at least 3 fingers can handle any of my patterns.

But... I recently heard a story about kids tackling some of my tougher designs, and the end result was... children in tears. Small hands and short attention spans don't always make the best carving experience. So for that reason, maybe I should at least label some designs as "beginner" level.

Then again.... even bigger kids (and I mean adults) have hacked up some of my designs.. So maybe it's not a difficulty scale I need, but rather a "suggested patience level required" meter. :wink:
By GUS
#15286
I'd have maybe agreed a while ago a rating by virtue of patience / time locked in a small dark room, BUT patience in today's society is eroding, instant meals instant download, pre-packed, pre-cooked.

..picking up tools & carving is a bit like making a glue it together model aeroplane kit! , something thats often missing from todays mindset of telly & 30 minute pizza delivery to your door!

I say let em cry! ..spoiled little ..(insert ramsey style bleep here)..
(ps my name is also dominic littlejohn monday to friday in the red rags!)
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By SaneInsideInsanity
#15463
I agree almost all pumpkins on this site though none are overly easy can't be rated i think it all depends on your hands and tools, now if they're were some that had shading and different levels of shading that would be a completely other matter. Shading is always difficult and i wouldn't suggest it to people who are new to the carving world, however if you feel comfortable enough trying to add shading or making your own patter with shaving to carve them i use either my Dremel drill... the sanding bits make for quick work or the more inexpensive method is using pottery tools for etching and taking away small layers.
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By sloaner
#16094
A scale could be a good thing for ppl who only do 1 or 2 pumpkins and dont wanna tackle something too hard but most are easy enough