The Great Watermelon, Charlie Brown.

The judges are still out from our pumpkin carving festivities, but to give you an idea of the pressure I was under, let me show you one line from an email I received last week:

"No pressure but I'm expecting something along the lines of Michelangelo's David given your current schooling."

While I definitely didn't attempt David, I took the Michelangelo thing to heart...

After a little research, S and I decided on Watermelons...

I dare you to attempt toting four watermelons on London transport on a Saturday night.

Can you guess what we carved?

Yes, all four Ninja Turtles. 

This did however result in a 'Who's your favourite Turtle?' debate. I would back Michelangelo all the way to the bank, but I was quickly put in my place. 

Kat toasted yummy pumpkin seeds with three different flavours. Who knew Taco Seasoning made for killer pumpkin seeds?

Despite how it looks, Paul still has all of his fingers.

How to successfully scare away all small children from ones doorstep...well done Crosby.

"No, it's not Batman!" Wu-Tang Pumpkin expertly carved by Matt Baird

Inspired by the most stolen artwork of all time.

'A' for effort Chuck and Jordan ;)

And then we named all the Vancouver Grizzlies that ever lived....oh, nostalgia.

What did one ever do before smart phones?!

Alright, give it to me straight. Which pumpkin / watermelons take the cake?

...and I'll leave you with this:

Prepping for Pumpkins.

This Saturday evening we've been invited to a pumpkin carving party. It's the Canadian Thanksgiving crew, so you can bet it will be competitive, well organized, and most importantly...there will be prizes.

I am, however, feeling a little bit of pressure given that I am the only art teacher of the bunch, and the only one checking out of reality for a year to attend Art school.

When I think of my pumpkin carving past, my favourite would have to be the Bob Dylan pumpkin that Patrick and I carved.

My biggest failure - losing to Meghan in a family competition at the ranch. Sorry Meghan.

The obvious thing to do would be to arrive at the party, template in hand, ready to carve. You can either search for actual pumpkin templates, or create your own. When Patrick and I carved 'Bob', we simply found a photo with a lot of contrast, and converted it using the 'cutout' feature in photoshop. We then printed the picture on our ink jet printer, lay it over the pumpkin, and traced the outlines on. This sounds very easy, but there are always those decisions to be made (similar to the printmaking process, regarding positive and negative space), along the lines of, "How do I cut out the shaded side of the face, and still manage to maintain the eye within it?". Trust me, it hurts your brain.

Lately I'm more of the simple, but creative school of thought. 

Here are some ideas I've found, that just about anyone could pull off (and pull off fairly quickly at that).

A little to 'girly' for my taste, but clever. image.

Bert and Ernie. Who can't relate to these pumpkins? image.

A Bunch of Pumpkins making a bonfire. Guy Fox day anyone? image.

R2D2- image.

A Pumpkin Village. I'd have to say it could be improved if a little more architecturally diverse. image.

My Favourite. Squeemish. image.

And how could I not include this one? Are we missing hockey yet? image.

Leave a comment and let me know which one I should carve. Better yet, send me your ideas. I'll let you  know on Monday which one I chose.