Animal Print Pumpkin 😍

This project turns a little 8×8 canvas into a dimensional, glam pumpkin using modeling paste, animal-print foil, and a thin resin coat. We’ll sculpt the pumpkin, paint it black so the foil pops, burnish on a cheetah pattern, add a gold stem, and finish with clear glass accents.

Step 1: Tone the background

Brush a thin coat of white over the entire canvas to reduce the “grab” of raw fabric. While it’s still a little damp, scrub slate gray along the lower third and fade it upward so the tone softens as it rises. Wipe the brush clean and touch a hint of gray higher up to keep the field from looking flat, then dry the surface thoroughly with a quick blast of a hair dryer.

Step 2: Lightly sketch the pumpkin

Make a small tick mark about an inch and a half down from the top edge to reserve breathing room for the stem. Sketch a big oval—the “zero”—for the pumpkin body, then add two gentle parentheses that curve down and back up into the base so your form reads as three fat ribs. Add a simple curved stem; keep the lines light since they’re only guides for the paste.

Step 3: Sculpt with modeling paste

Load paste onto the backside of your palette knife and butter it onto the left outer rib, aiming for a thickness between one-eighth and one-quarter inch, Repeat on the right rib, then fill the center section last. To keep the ribs distinct, drag the knife edge along the seams to press a shallow ridge or channel where sections meet. Add a crusty layer to the stem—gnarly is good—then lightly tame any sharp peaks without erasing the tool marks. Thick paste on canvas may hairline-crack as it dries; embrace it. Let the paste dry completely - overnight is best.

Step 4: Paint for a foil-friendly base

Paint the sculpted pumpkin body solid black, pushing color into every crevice so no white peeks through, and cover the stem with taupe. Black is the secret to a rich, high-contrast foil transfer over texture. Allow the paint to dry fully before moving on.

Step 5: Apply foil size

Brush an even film of foil size over the pumpkin only, avoiding the stem for now. Let it come to tack according to your brand’s instructions; water-based sizes usually turn from milky to clear and stay sticky for many hours. It should feel lightly grabby, not wet or soupy.

Step 6: Burnish on the animal print

Work in small sections. Lay the cheetah foil color-side up with the clear carrier down onto the tacky pumpkin, then press it firmly with your fingers and scrub with a stiff brush to push the pattern into all the highs and lows of the texture. Peel and check; if you see skips, place a fresh, unused portion of the foil and burnish again. Repeat across the whole pumpkin, welcoming a few black gaps for a more organic, “fur-like” look.

Step 7: Foil the stem in crackled gold

Add size to the stem, let it reach tack, then press and burnish the gold crackle foil. The broken metallic pattern loves textured stems and reads like aged metal. If you’re finishing the piece without resin, consider painting the canvas edges gold now for a polished frame.

Step 8: Add simple glass accents

For a leaf, tuck a single gold glass shard near the stem and some plantium glass along the bottom of the canvas. Arrange two or three clear curved vitrigraph glass pieces sweeping outward. Keep the grouping small and odd-numbered so it looks intentional rather than piled on.

Step 9: Seal with resin

Measure a 1/2 oz of resin and a 1/2 oz of hardener, combine in a larger cup, and stir slowly for a full three minutes while scraping the sides and bottom so both parts blend completely. Drizzle the mixture over the glass first, then spread a thin, even coat over the pumpkin and background. Pop bubbles with a quick pass of a torch or heat tool, check from multiple angles for missed dry spots, and wipe any drips from the sides if you want to keep them matte. Let the piece cure flat and dust-free per your resin’s instructions.

Troubleshooting

If the foil refuses to transfer, wait until the size is truly tacky and try again with firmer pressure and a stiffer brush, working in smaller pieces and making sure you’re using fresh foil sections. If paste cracks appear as the canvas flexes, treat them as built-in character; if a particular line bothers you, spot-fill with paste, repaint black, and re-foil. If resin forms tiny fisheyes on metallic paint, the surface likely needs more dry time or was oily; let it cure, lightly scuff if needed, and apply a second thin coat, which almost always levels out perfectly.

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