The Pumpkinator

When it comes to carving pumpkins every year, I try to challenge myself and exercise my creative side. Last year, I had a blast working on the Kanye Pumpkin, but this year I wanted to surpass the coolness and do something that looked a little better. As I brainstormed for ideas on what to do, I considered Bob Ross (but passed because I wasn't sure he was recognizable enough) and Barack Obama (but passed because it's probably being done by carving enthusiasts everywhere.) What I finally decided on was this guy:

That's right. What pumpkin carving could ever be more bad ass than Arnold Schwarzenegger as "The Terminator" ?



I decided that with the pumpkin I had, doing the whole picture would be impossible, so I cropped in and greyscaled his portrait to get this. You'll notice I had to do a little editing on the left side due to where the gun was all shiny and such.



After following the same steps from the Kanye Pumpkin project, I carved him out to become what you see here. It doesn't look very good... until you throw a candle into that bad boy and turn off the lights.



Behold. The Pumpkinator.

It doesn't match the picture exactly. In fact, I think he looks a little more like Frankenstein than Arnold. But I'm still SO happy with the way it turned out. It's such a challenge to carve these things, but I LOVE it. I enjoy discovering what works and what doesn't, refining my technique, and admiring the result of my efforts.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

-Barry

From American Indian to Zombie

I was recently thinking back on all the things I've been for Halloween and thought it would be fun to share old pictures. As I scoured our old photo albums, I found that not all Halloweens were documented. I don't blame anybody. Taking pictures back then was a lot harder. You had to find the camera. You had to make sure you had batteries. You had to make sure film was loaded. If the moment arrived and one of these ingredients were missing, you were out of luck. We, the children, didn't want to wait for mom to go buy film. It was Halloween! We needed to be on the streets! We had loot to collect!

Nonetheless, I'm very happy to find the pictures I did. Great memories...

Enjoy the pictures...

1983, my friends. What's crazy is that I distinctly remember this moment. I remember the Halloween party I went to. I remember wishing I could keep the present in my hands.

Cottonwood, AZ. 1986-ish. Shannon - a ballerina. Me - a vampire. Steve - an Indian.

Whenever I smell spray paint I STILL think of this costume! Oh, I loved my robot costume.
Also, notice that Steve is an Indian again. This is the first of many "costume repeats" for Steve. :)

Those clown feet were inflatable - awesome, but doomed from the beginning. They lasted all of four houses.

The headless horseman! My favorite costume of all time! My Mom is a genius for putting it together. Notice Steve's repeat of the wolf man. He LOVED that costume.

Shannon as a cat (again), Steve as a vampire, and AYE the pirate. (Get it? Eh?)

Costumes were kept in a box in the basement, so what one person was the previous year, another would be the next year, only with an added touch. You'll notice that Shan's clown costume is much more elaborate. Steve pulls the pirate off, but adds a beard (tough) and a gold chain (meets classy.)

1993. None of us had any idea of how often Steve repeated costumes. This is redicul/hilari ous! Check out my sweet braided leather belt. Damn, the 90's looked good!

And speaking of looking good, that year was Tyler's first Halloween. Isn't he adorable?

Yes, our cloaks were made from trash bags. Genius (and cheap) way to do it, but noisy when you're prowling the night.

One of the last years I trick or treated. I'm not sure what I was going for, but I look like Cramer with an axe. My good friend, Scott Lloyd, is pictured next to me.

This must have been junior year of high school because I'm rockin' my running tights (*shudder*)

Halloween 2004. Steve and I were lumberjacks. We ate at Denny's that night and much to our horror two dudes straight out of the trailer park (NOT DRESSED UP) walk in with their little ones and the little boy asks his dad "Daddy, why are those guys dressed like you?" Aggh!


2007. The Rocker. Confession: I loved wearing eyeliner. It does wonders for accentuating the eyes.


Last night. Took me 40 minutes to do my latex wounds but they looked GOOD!

And there you have it. A tour of Halloween through Barry's life!

-Barry

Halloween Project: Complete!

I posted a few days ago about the project I took on for my brother and his wife - both huge Halloween enthusiasts. The goal was to turn a mediocre painting they found in the trash into a scene worthy of Halloween decoration.

I've finished it and it's no masterpiece, but it was fun to do. You can tell from the pictures below that the final product is much more gloomy and slightly creepier than before.





-Barry

Halloween Project

My little brother and his wife are getting their house all decked out for Halloween and found this painting in the trash when they were looking for heads*


This is the painting. They added the guy hanging from the tree, the headstones, and some crap on the roof of the building, but they felt that their artistic prowess couldn't give this what they envisioned, so they enlisted in my help.

Stay tuned for how it turns out.

-Barry

*And by heads I mean hair-school heads. Always a wonderful addition to your gruesome Halloween decor...