Painting Perfect Pumpkins
Marissa and Isaac(?) with their artwork
I had a request for a pumpkin painting post, so here you go (:
First of all, as an art major, I can’t stress enough that there is no such thing as imperfections when considering you or your children’s creativity, and it’s not “real art” unless you get your hands dirty!
With that said, let me share how to paint the perfect pumpkin:
Picking the pumpkin — You will probably want enough space to work with unless you really prefer the tiny or small ones, so I suggest getting a regular or even large pumpkin for your canvas. And the more bumps, lumps, and bulges, the harder to paint on! (unless you are doing a scary monster face, in which case the more the better!)
Set-up — Lay down a lot and I do mean a lot of newspaper or even a drop cloth if you are really messy or are doing this with kids. Outside is easier with minimal clean-up, but weather could be a factor, as well as keeping little ones corralled.
Paint — Acrylics are the best choice for pumpkin painting, because they are bright, inexpensive, and water-based/washable. However, if it rains, your pumpkin will magically turn orange again, so keep that in mind when deciding where to place your masterpiece.
Brushes — Any will work, from little to huge and cheap to expensive, it just depends on what you want to paint. Obviously a realistic vampire might require delicate oil brushes but chubby toddler hands seem to like the thicker brushes with bigger grips.
Design — Here is where your imagination comes in! Paint what is in your mind, be it a pretty kitty cat, a spooky ghost, a fall of leaves swirling around, or just a name and a smiley face, whatever floats your boat. Feel free to sketch out any ideas beforehand if you are taking this very seriously, and then transfer onto the pumpkin with a marker, or use stencils.
Now I do understand that some of you may have hyper toddlers like mine who are not going to still still long enough to do this, or you do not want them to get ridiculously covered in paint, so what I would recommend is to paint their hands, one at a time, with whatever color/colors you want, then slowly and firmly place them on the pumpkin. Keep a rag handy, for as soon as you let go of them that painty hand is going on them or you!
Do you have any other crafty and creative fall or Halloween ideas to share?
Thanks for the pointers! We used tempera paints this year since we forgot to carve our pumpkins in time. Needless to say, tempera paints didn’t work very well. Oh, well. The kids were happy anyway. Next time we forget, though, I’ll remember acrylic paint! Thanks!
Hi Brynn,
Glad to be of service, and sorry tempera paint was a bit tricky, but hey, as long as the kids were happy it was a success, right? Hehe, the messier the better (: