For the past five years, in October, I've taken great pride in carving DROD-themed pumpkins as a fun way to be festive on Halloween. I've been referred to as the
"
No. #1 DROD Fan"
- Mattcrampy - 2003,
and as "
an absolute legend"
- Pilchard VIII - 2006.
I've been called "
Amazing!"
- wackhead_UK - 2004,
and "
Mighty cool"
- larrymurk - 2005,
and had my work referred to as simply
"
RAWSOME"
- ErikH2000 - 2007.
Yes, it's been a glorious road for me, but I think its time for me to hang up my gourds, and sheathe my carving tools, for this year I'm:
PASSING THE VEGETABLE TORCH!
Simply put, I want you to be worthy of my title as "
#1 DROD Pumpkin Carving Master"
by creating original DROD-themed artwork carved or drawn on, sculpted or etched from, a pumpkin (or other vegetable of your choice).
The Rules
Things are gonna sound a bit tricky, so please read carefully:
1. Your artwork must be DROD-themed, and completely original (unlike my 2007 lantern, which uses a stencil created using graphics from The City Beneath).
No artwork from any of the DROD games is permitted.
2. Your artwork must include a vegetable or melon or squash in some, if not the majority of, it's composition. Why not restrict it to pumpkins? Because I understand that pumpkins are not accessible to everyone, especially in regions where Halloween is not observed. Therefore ANY vegetable, or combination of vegetables, will be permitted.
3. Group efforts/collaborations are not allowed. Younger folks, please, ask for your parent's help when using sharp tools and carrying heavy veggies.
4. Public discussion of concepts, ideas, imagery, or anything that other participants could potentially "
steal"
from you and use as their own, is also not allowed. Please, feel free to discuss carving or drawing techniques, or anything that will not compromise your own work.
5. It is recommended that when completed, you take a digital photograph of your work, and post it in the submission topic.
Submission topics, keep any replies made hidden to everyone except the person who posted the reply and the original creator of the topic. So you can post your picture as a reply to that topic (after the submission date) and just you and I will be able to see it. If you cannot take a digital photograph, you should have ample time to take a traditional film photo, and scan it. Many stores now have scanners available for public use, and will export images to a digital format for you. Dimensions of the photo are not restricted to a certain size, but please keep file sizes under 400k if possible. If you have trouble with this, feel free to ask for help here on the forum.
6. If taking a photo of a carved pumpkin or other hollow object, please take it while lit. (instructions for the best way to do this can be found further on)
7. If you have questions, please post them, I'll do my best to respond in a timely manner, but I don't have as much PC time as I used to. Notice how this is my first post in almost an entire year? Yeah.
Tips
1. As stated, you may ask questions about techniques freely, but here's a few things to get you going if you're unsure what to do.
2.
CLICK ME - This is a link to a fairly in-depth article on how to carve pumpkins, from simple shapes, to delicate stencil-work. I imagine these steps would work on other veggies, or squashes, or melons.
3. The best way I've found to take pictures of carvings in hollow objects is to light the inside using a bright flashlight pointing in, toward the bottom (Or at least not toward the camera). Once lit, you'll want to take the picture in the dark, with no flash. Take a few pictures to see which comes out best.
Deadlines
Okay, getting a bit complicated here.
1. This November contest is being announced early, and here's why: If you decide to use a pumpkin as your medium, NOW is probably the best time to go choose one. Toward the end of October, it's slim pickings for sure, you'll end up getting what nobody else wants.
2. You may begin to create your artwork, and photograph it at any time, but you MUST submit a SINGLE image as your entry between the dates of
Local Time:10-24-2008 at 01:00 PM in
negative 849 weeks, 5 days, and
Local Time:11-03-2008 at 12:59 PM in
negative 848 weeks, 2 days. Any entries before
Local Time:10-24-2008 at 01:00 PM, or after
Local Time:11-03-2008 at 12:59 PM will not be accepted. That's a ten-day window. You can do it!
3. On November 4th, a SPECIAL event will occur (to be mentioned soon), and then on November 5th, public voting will begin. On
Local Time:11-13-2008 at 12:59 PM, the polls will close. And the winner will be determined.
Prizes!
Okay, that
SPECIAL event I mentioned. Not only is your artwork going to be critiqued by your forum peers, but all pieces will receive
SPECIAL evaluation by ME, the current reigning DROD Pumpkin Master. And
SPECIAL prizes will be awarded for the person lucky enough to receive my
SPECIAL nod.
Here's how it works.
= After the submission topic is closed, I will peruse the entries and choose my favorite, and second favorite from the bunch.
= I will write down my selections and seal them in an envelope, and paste the envelope underneath my bearded dragon tank (he's vicious, I tell you, hands off), where nobody will dare to go peeking.
= On November 5th, regular voting will occur, with my decisions remaining private.
FROM FORUM VOTING:
1st Place Prize: A Prize from the prize pile, and 100 rank points.
2nd Place Prize: 50 rank points
3rd Place Prize: 25 rank points
FROM MY PERSONAL SELECTION:
1st Place Prize: You will be officially dubbed the NEW "
#1 DROD
Vegetable Artwork Master!"
PLUS, I will personally mail you the
2007 Aumtlich Lantern. Don't worry, it's a fake pumpkin, I'm not sending you rotted vegetables.
2nd Place Prize: I will mail you a new Pumpkin Carving Kit, identical to the ones I've used when making all of my DROD lanterns!
Also note that it is entirely possible that you could win both first place as voted by the community, and first place as selected by me. DOUBLE PRIZES, BABY!
Oh jeez, this is the first contest I've ran since the DROD Haiku Contest so long ago... Hope I didn't screw anything up!
Please, have fun, be creative, and don't worry if you don't think you're any good. I had NEVER carved an elaborate pumpkin until my first Beethr'O'Lantern, and I was shocked by what I could do. Maybe you can even surprise yourself! The contest is being announced SUPER early, so you have no excuse not to try!
Ciao!
-Clayton
[Last edited by ClaytonW at 10-12-2008 03:07 PM : Changes in RED]
