Sugar Skull Pumpkins

Lately I have been doing a lot with these sugar skulls, and even though they're supposed to be for the Day of the Dead I decided to get creative and see what I came up with! This is one of the pumpkins I did this year:

 What you will need:

• 1 pumpkin
• Carving tools
• Black paint
• Puffy paint (I used white but any color you prefer) 

First things first, get all of the insides out of the pumpkin and wash the outside off so that the paint will stick. Do yourself a favor and do this to the back of the pumpkin: 

Even with the back of the pumpkin out, the light still shines through the front of the pumpkin very well. 

Next, paint the pumpkin black, it makes the puffy paint stand out better than other colors I tried. If you don't let the black paint dry well, it will rub off very easily when you go to draw with the puffy paint.

Next, carve out the eyes and the nose of the skull. These will be the only part of the face that is carved out. I tried carving before I painted and the paint ended up seeping into the insides of the features, carving afterwards works much better in my opinion. 

 My circles aren't perfect, so don't stress if yours aren't either. The nose is just an upside down heart and I found it was much easier to flip the pumpkin and do the heart right side up. ( Just a tip)

Now for the designs. Sugar skulls look intricate and detailed, but if you take it one step at a time, its very easy! My designs tend to turn out very feminine and delicate looking, because I use lots of swirls and dots. I recommend looking at lots of examples on the internet and then deciding what type of design you like best. It's always easier to pull from somewhere else.

The eyes are just little half circles. I always do the dots last, sort of using them as fillers. 

The design in the top is one I use all the time because it's just the most simple. 

Small details add a lot to the finished project. 

Adding these dots everywhere makes the whole design look more detailed. It's an easy way to make simple designs look detailed. 

Down the middle of the face, create these dots. 

The teeth are my favorite. I like to do mine different sizes, I think it adds diversity to the face. Some designs I have seen show a smiling mouth, I usually do mine straight across so that all of the teeth line up alright. 

I mimicked the top design on the bottom and filled it in. You won't see the bottom design too well when the pumpkin is sitting upright, so I kept it pretty simple down here. 

Now make the opposite sides match. The face should be symmetrical but if it's not perfect it's not a huge deal. Mine never turn out perfect. 

Now just finish off with small details!! 

That's pretty much all there is to it! I love doing these designs, they're easy but still just artsy enough to look intricate! 

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