Ghosts, pumpkins, bats and witches will be invading our homes on the evening of 31 October. It’ll find you spending Halloween in a spooky atmosphere!
What about making your own decorations this year?
There’s nothing like a DIY guide to inspire you. In collaboration with the artist Julie Adore, we’ve put together a guide to decorating pumpkins with Halloween motifs and colours; you can do it on your own or with your family.
Bring your paint, your brushes and your best pumpkins and let your creative juices flow!
Visit your favourite market to get your pumpkins. Pumpkins, squashes, gourds: choose the shapes that inspire you! Our advice: go for the ones with the smoothest skins.
Next, prepare and protect your workspace. Clean your pumpkins with water to remove any residual soil, then dry them.
Step 2: select your acrylic paint colours
Choose your shades in advance to ensure a harmonious colour scheme. We’ve gone for traditional Halloween colours, but there’s nothing to stop you from choosing the ones you like!
Information: the incredible covering power of acrylic makes it the ideal medium for all surfaces. Unlike gouache, acrylic is indelible, so you can display your pumpkins inside your house as well as outside, e.g. by your front door, without worrying about damaging your works of art!
Step 3: paint your pumpkins with broad strokes of the brush
To start with, place a small amount of acrylic paint on the smooth side of your palette. In order to keep waste to a minimum, it’s best to add paint as you progress.
Using your Acrylic Round no. 10 brush, apply white paint in an ovoid shape to define the ghosts’ silhouettes.
Recommendation : if you want to paint the whole of your pumpkin, the Acrylic Large 3/4 brush is the one to go for.
Step 4: add the details
For the “ghosts” pumpkin, place a small amount of black acrylic paint (or any other colour) on the smooth side of the palette. Using the Acrylic Round no. 10 brush, draw the eyes and mouth.
Butternut squash: after first coating it with a layer of white acrylic, paint black lines or any other pattern you like for a festive touch!
That’s it! Well done!
One thing’s for sure: your pumpkins will add a touch of mystery to your interior decor.
We’d be delighted to see the result of your creativity! Feel free to share it on the social networks using our hashtag #Carandache and mentioning @carandache.
Fancy continuing in this creative vein? Follow our other DIY guides.