Facepalm Grump 3D Sculpted Pumpkin Face

From pumpkin to porch

1. 1

   Pick a big, thick-walled pumpkin and open the back

   Choose a large pumpkin with a smooth, deep front face and few ribs so you have a broad canvas. Cut a rounded access hole in the back, not the top, so the front stays uninterrupted. Scoop the inside and scrape the front wall down to a fairly even thickness of about an inch. A thinner, uniform wall glows more evenly once your LED is inside.

2. 2

   Transfer and rough out the big forms

   Sketch or transfer two shapes onto the front: the full hand covering the upper left, and the exasperated face with squeezed-shut eyes, nose, and frowning mouth. Use a wide ribbon or loop tool to knock down the broad low areas first, like the cheeks and the gaps between fingers. Keep the hand and nose standing proud as the highest raised forms. Do not chase details yet, just get the proportions and depth reading right.

3. 3

   Shape the hand and knuckles

   Sculpt each finger as a rounded ridge with a shallow valley between it and the next, tapering toward the fingertips. Round the knuckles into gentle bumps and let a couple of fingers drape down over the brow. Keep every finger connected to the palm and to the pumpkin surface so nothing is fragile or free-floating. Sculpting in relief like this means no bridges to worry about since you never cut through the wall.

4. 4

   Carve the face and wrinkles

   Deepen the eye sockets into shadowed creases so the eyes read as clenched shut. Build the nose as a raised form, then carve the deep frown lines from nose to mouth and the downturned lips below. Use a fine detail tool for forehead wrinkles and the folds around the eyes, working shallow lines that catch light. Step back often and check the grump reads from a few feet away.

5. 5

   Tune the glow with skin-peeling

   Now control brightness by how far you thin each area. Peel the skin off the raised hand and nose so those forms glow a soft orange, and shave the deepest wrinkles and eye creases thinner still so they read brightest. Leave the outer border of untouched orange skin around the whole scene as a dark frame. Hold a light behind the wall as you go to see the values develop.

6. 6

   Light it and photograph

   Set a battery LED puck inside, warm white or amber, and aim it toward the front wall. Test in a dark room and shave any spots that stay too dark. Mist the carved surface with water and refrigerate between showings to slow shrinking. Photograph it soon after carving, since sculpted relief loses crisp detail fastest as the pumpkin dries.