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Step 3Carve it.
Before you transfer to pumpkin, make sure that no black or gray area is completely surrounded by white. That would destroy the structural integrity needed to keep your shadows where they need to be. Darken white areas that surround shadows to fix this problem.
Transfer the lines to your pumpkin . I used this tracing projector that I got at a garage sale, but an LCD projector, or an overhead projector would also work. Tracing or transfer paper will work fine if your surface is relatively flat, but I think the effect is much better (and more fun) if you project onto a surface that's not flat. That makes off-angle viewing distort, and the only angle that the image can be viewed from will be in the direction you projected from (also note that your carving should all be done with that angle in mind).
Every area that is white in your image gets cut out completely first. Then you start removing material from areas that are gray. Be careful to leave every black area intact. While you're carving it's very helpful to have a light source behind the carving. A low-wattage light-bulb on a cord is helpful. A good reference copy of the image you're using is also very helpful, because there's almost a cognitive dissonance with this kind of carving. For me the physical shapes and lines carved don't intuitively relate to the final image. it's very helpful to be able to walk away from the pumpkin and see it from a distance while you're carving. I also squint a lot when I do it.
At some point, you'll get to a stage where your image on the pumpkin is starting to look good, and you'll probably find that at different points in the carving process, you've departed somewhat from a linear translation of the original image. My advice: embrace this. Don't try to make the pumpkin look exactly like the image you projected. Adjust lines, think about viewing impact and viewing direction. Make dramatic cutouts, feather your mid-tones in ways that make sense for the pumpkin image. Your original image was a guide to get you started, not something to use to rate your success. Throw it away when you reach 75% completion.
Transfer the lines to your pumpkin . I used this tracing projector that I got at a garage sale, but an LCD projector, or an overhead projector would also work. Tracing or transfer paper will work fine if your surface is relatively flat, but I think the effect is much better (and more fun) if you project onto a surface that's not flat. That makes off-angle viewing distort, and the only angle that the image can be viewed from will be in the direction you projected from (also note that your carving should all be done with that angle in mind).
Every area that is white in your image gets cut out completely first. Then you start removing material from areas that are gray. Be careful to leave every black area intact. While you're carving it's very helpful to have a light source behind the carving. A low-wattage light-bulb on a cord is helpful. A good reference copy of the image you're using is also very helpful, because there's almost a cognitive dissonance with this kind of carving. For me the physical shapes and lines carved don't intuitively relate to the final image. it's very helpful to be able to walk away from the pumpkin and see it from a distance while you're carving. I also squint a lot when I do it.
At some point, you'll get to a stage where your image on the pumpkin is starting to look good, and you'll probably find that at different points in the carving process, you've departed somewhat from a linear translation of the original image. My advice: embrace this. Don't try to make the pumpkin look exactly like the image you projected. Adjust lines, think about viewing impact and viewing direction. Make dramatic cutouts, feather your mid-tones in ways that make sense for the pumpkin image. Your original image was a guide to get you started, not something to use to rate your success. Throw it away when you reach 75% completion.
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