Carving Up Celebrities

While most pumpkin carvers revel in creating ghoulish pumpkins, 30-year old David Finkle uses his creative talents to carve something a little more glamorous. He focuses on celebrities that range from music rock star Mick Jagger to President Barack Obama to the Queen of England.

David's pumpkin carving career began last year, when he entered a local competition in his hometown of Chelmsford, Essex. While he stuck to traditional ghosts then, this year he decided to spice it up a little bit.

He has learned to create detailed portraits through trial and error. He starts by sketching the face of the celebrity on a piece of paper. He then places it onto the pumpkin and starts to carve, using the drawing like a stencil.

The artist spends about three hours on each carving, uses an unusual three-shade approach in order to capture the intricate details of each celebrity's face. The brightest section is where all the flesh has been cut out. He then creates a slightly darker shade by removing just the skin, and then a still darker shade when both the skin and flesh are left intact. The result is a stunning life-like looking pumpkin portrait, especially when it is lit up at night.

Unfortunately for David, his masterpieces last only four to five days, before they collapse. However, his pigs have a great time gobbling up all the contorted celebrity faces !

What kind of pumpkins did you carve up for Halloween? Be sure to let us know by adding your comments below.

sources: thesun.co.uk, dailymail.co.uk