Halloween Pumpkins by GKirchberger by GKirchberger

Halloween Pumpkins

By GKirchberger
Nov 02, 2022
67 Photos

GKirchberger's Gallery

Halloween Pumpkins

Nov 02, 2022
67 Photos

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Troll 2022 (This wasn't supposed to be a troll or an elf, but some unfortunate early cuts meant changing my plan while incorporating what had already been roughed out.)

Trapped! 2021 (I stared at this pumpkin for a couple of hours before this idea materialized. The face was first sculpted on the rear of the pumpkin and then cut out in an oval shape. That determined the size of the "broken" hole. With some trimming of the face and enlargement of its hole in the rear, I was able to push it inside and against the wall. It was pinned in place with some shortened bamboo skewers.)

Skull 2021 (I couldn't believe my luck when we discovered a skull-shaped pumpkin just two days prior to Halloween. It made sculpting much easier. It's reasonably accurate compared to an actual skull, although the eyes are somewhat stylized. The jaw area was thinner than I expected; the left side had to be pinned with a couple of toothpicks.)

Bite Me 2020 (Our pumpkin sculpting party did not happen due to the COVID virus, so this vampire is it for 2020. I tried to make the tongue seem to curl over and it works pretty well, but it's sculpted from material above rather than from behind the lower teeth.)

Skull Crucifixion - 2019 (This one was displayed in a church. Donated to support the Northhaven senior living center, the auction winner decided on a half skull with a rocky, mountainous surface on the other half. I was supposed to carve three crosses of the Crucifixion, but that was too difficult with pumpkin flesh.)

Skull Crucifixion - 2019 finished (Three wooden crosses installed with super glue.)

Skull Crucifixion - 2019 final day (This photo was sent by the owner of the pumpkin after it was displayed in the church for two weeks, and just before she finally disposed of it.)

Hoplite Warrior - 2019 (I had wanted to do a Greek hoplite warrior for some time. A face within the helmet was challenging, but being only a partial face simplified it somewhat. I tried to attach the crest (from another pumpkin) with bamboo skewers, but finally just used lots of super glue. I would have liked to have added decorative "metalwork" on the helmet but I was running out of time.)

Hoplite Warrior - 2019 3qtr

Disgust - 2019 (SONY DSC)

Disgust - 2019 3qtr

Eagle 2019 (First one of 2019 and a good choice to start, it was chosen because it had a massive curved stalk that resembled a beak. Forming the beak was hard work using a coarse drywall saw, a heavy rasp, and lots of elbow grease. After the eyes were done I spent an hour detailing feathers with a scalpel.)

Eagle -2019 side view (SONY DSC)

Grumpy 2018 (Originally a quite ordinary pumpkin, turning it on its side and cutting a bottom flat provided a more interesting shape. Reminds me of those "You kids get off of my lawn!" types.)

Angry Chimp - 2018 (This angry ape is based on an online image. Note the location of the pumpkin's stalk. By turning the pumpkin on its side I was able to take advantage of a bulge that formed the jaws. That made it unstable, but by cutting three curved grooves on the new "bottom" it was stable on the lip of a bucket.)

Angry Chimp - 2018 3qtr (SONY DSC)

Oh Nooooo!! 2018

Silly Cat 2018 (SONY DSC)

Friendly or Demonic Smile? 2017 (My last one for 2017 so I decided to do an easy sculpt and wanted it to look friendly for the little kids. At first glance it does look friendly but the longer you look at it the more creepy it seems.)

Big Mouth Duh! 2017 (First of the last two and I'm running out of ideas and energy, so it's a basic sculpt)

Devil's Tongue 2017 (Not particularly frightening or evil, this devil seems more fed up with Halloween and is showing his displeasure to any visitors that might arrive.)

Princess Poppy 2017 (Princess Poppy was an auction donation for a fundraiser for a local senior living center. The winner requested a Princess Poppy troll and she donated it to a 3-year-old neighbor girl, who was thrilled to receive it! The pumpkin sculpt was simple but took a long time. The most difficult part was the hair, which was constructed from two wigs onto a plastic cone hat. Note the eyebrows — they are stuck on with super glue.)

Yeaahhh -- Spider! 2017 (This was my annual donation to a local senior living facility. The plastic spider was pushed onto the pumpkin after hot gluing a small nail to it.)

Explorer Vampire 2017 (This guy was the annual donation to Explorer Middle School.)

Disturbing for Sunshine Market 2017 (The first of 2017, my warmup, this was donated to a corner vegetable market where I buy pumpkins. They have the best for sculpting!)

Sinister Whimsical 2016 (Last one for 2016. It started out whimsical but somewhere along the cutting process he turned grotesque and sinister. Trick-or-Treaters were coming soon, so he is what he is -- a bit of a mess and not particularly friendly.)

Sinister Whimsical 2016 (This side appears to me to have a Jekyll & Hyde personality.)

Sinister Whimsical right 3qtr s (Ugly.)

Frankenstein's Monster 2016 (I'd always wanted to do Doctor Frankenstein's creation but I could never find the right pumpkin. Until now! I think that I went a little overboard with the stitches. Also, the eyes could have looked deader had I "rolled" them up under the lids and brow a bit more. The electrodes are 1-inch dowel covered with aluminum duct tape.)

Frankenstein's Monster 2016

Frankenstein's Monster 2016

Cute for Kacey 2016 (I offered a custom pumpkin in a charity auction for a senior living facility. The auction winner requested "cute" for a 1-year -old's birthday, an unusual and difficult assignment for Halloween. After stressing out and searching for ideas I finally settled on a baby's face for the baby birthday girl.)

Cute for Kacey 2016

Cute for Kacey 2016

Vampire for Northhaven 2016 (This is a custom pumpkin offered in a charity auction for a senior living facility, and which was donated to the residents. One woman remarked that it looked like her ex-husband.)

Vampire for Northhaven 2016

Vampire for Northhaven 2016

Warmup 2016 (Why "Warmup"? It was my first pumpkin of 2016. I donated it to Explorer Middle School.)

Gonnabiteya! 2015 (This is one of only two pumpkins with distorted shapes that could find in 2015. Grocery stores like to purchase round pumpkins because they sell, while ones with inspirational shapes do not sell well. So the pumpkin producers naturally provide the desired product, which is unfortunate for pumpkin sculptors.

This one just begged for a threatening mouth of sharp teeth.)

Gonnabiteya! 2015 (Amazingly, this pumpkin's center of gravity was far enough to the "rear" that it was relatively stable. As I removed material it became even more stable.)

Gonnabiteya! 2015

The Martian #1 2015 (Inspired by the book and movie The Martian, this was an opportunity for realism. Unfortunately this astronaut caught a Martian virus because he was spitting up thick, foul liquid every 20 minutes as I worked. He began to stink, too, so I moved him outside. Within an hour he was covered in fruit flies. That was a big disappointment.)

The Martian #2 2015 (After the first Martian got sick, I decided to do a second. This one is a cleaner sculpt, but because the face isn't as symmetric as the first it's a little creepy, as one viewer described it.

A common error when sketching faces is making the eyes too big as these are. They had started smaller but got away from me as I cleaned up edges. But I am very pleased with this pumpkin.)

The Martian #2 2015 (I think it looks better from a three quarter view.)

Grumpy Butler 2015 (This is the second distorted pumpkin for 2015. Not only is it a severe pear shape, but it required a stand to support it in this position. This guy was donated to a local middle school where I used to do pumpkin sculpting demos every year.)

Mr Creepy 2015 (He almost has the look of a clown. I had planned but forgot to try adding watercolor to this one. With a red nose I think he'd definitely be a creepy clown. He was also donated to the middle school with Grumpy Butler.)

Smiley 2015 (Tired of teeth and wrinkles and working on pumpkins, I decided to go simple and happy. This is actually based on a graphic smiley that I found online. I figured that this would be good for the very littlest trick-or-treaters who might be bothered by the scary pumpkins like Gonnabiteya.)

Vampire 2014 (Yep, another vampire.)

Grizzly Bear 2013 (There is nothing better than finding a pumpkin that is an odd shape, especially if it suggests a design. I don't like perfectly (or nearly) round pumpkins. This one was destined to be a bear. The fur texture is made with the tines of a fork - a very quick and easy operation. The ears were cut out of the back side and attached with round toothpicks.)

Grizzly Bear 2013

Mr Tongue 2013 (Get too close and I might lick your face! The "taste buds" were made with a sharp nail. The tongue is not a separate piece, it just had material removed from around it. The top does come off - if you look closely you might be able to see that the cut was made just above the eyebrows and extends around in back.)

Vampire 2013 (A strange pumpkin with very light flesh, as though he has no blood - which is why he wants yours!)

Gorilla 2012 (I had always wanted to do a gorilla and this year I found the perfect pumpkin for that. The shape and scale of the features are reasonably accurate.)

Morphing Twins 2012 (This pumpkin actually looked like it had tried to divide in two. Fortunately I found it before someone else who would have chosen to sculpt a butt. I'm happy with it but I wish I had taken more time to focus on realism.)

Scared Guy 2012 (He was sculpted to be a frightened soul who is staring in fear at the gorilla.)

Three Amigos Totem Pole (Sculpted from a very tall pumpkin, the only happy one is the guy on top.)

Angry Curly Tongue 2002 (I consider this to be one of my best. I displayed it at the venue where I was teaching a class in pumpkin sculpting.)

Smiley Guy 2002 (This turned out to be a highly stylized effort at creating a happy pumpkin.)

Angry Orange Hair 2002

Don't Come Any Closer

Too Much Coffee

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