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How to paint pumpkins: Easy pumpkin painting tutorial

Celebrate Halloween in style or give your home a modern makeover this Autumn with these beautiful DIY painted pumpkins, with photo steps to make 3 designs.

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Becki Clark

Published: September 22, 2021 at 9:10 pm

Say hello to your new favourite Fall craft project! Pumpkin painting look set to enjoy a huge surge in popularity this year, and it couldn't be easier to try at home! We've put together this step by step guide for you to try decorating pumpkins with modern floral motifs. Designer Becki Clarke has actually used dual tip marker pens and ceramic pumpkins in this guide but you can easily swap these for acrylic paints and thin paintbrushes, plus real pumpkins! In our step by step tutorial with photos, you'll learn how to create three different pumpkin painting ideas, one stroke at a time.

We love any excuses to get creative in the run up to Halloween (for more fun craft projects, head to our easy Halloween crafts for kids) but Becki's DIY painted pumpkins will also give your home a cosy handmade revamp all Autumn. They'll make a beautiful table centrepiece for Thanksgiving too. If you love to get creative with paints, you might also like our other projects: painted plant pots and acrylic painting guide. Or treat yourself to some new supplies and read our guide to the best acrylic paints.

How to paint pumpkins – step by step

Supplies

Ceramic Pumpkins, available from Hobbycraft
Dual tip marker pens, available from Hobbycraft

			
DIY painted pumpkins tips

These techniques can be applied using Acrylic, Posca or gouache paint as well as illustrative markers.
You can rough out where you motifs will go using a pencil
Have a practice on a sheet of paper before you work onto the ceramics

You will need:

Ceramic pumpkins
Dual tip marker pens

Step 1

Your first pattern is made up of simple floral shapes, firstly draw a rough circle shape to form the first flower motif and colour in.

How to paint pumpkins step 1

Step 2

With another colour draw two leave shapes (elongated ovals with points) that work from the circle, colour in and add a small circle in the middle. This will complete your first motif shape.

How to paint pumpkins step 2

Step 3

Repeat this motif across the pumpkin leaving equal space between the circles and adding in the leaves heading in different directions to create a fun floral pattern.

How to paint pumpkins step 4

Step 4

Now in-between these main florals add smaller ditsy flower shapes in another colour, break the shapes down into 5 teardrop shapes that join at the centre if you are having trouble with illustrating them. Keep these in groups of 3 and 5.

How to paint pumpkins step 4

Step 5

Add a small dot to the centre of the ditsy florals and then leaves working out from the groups of them. Your pumpkin should now be covered in a ditsy floral autumn pattern.
How to paint pumpkins step 5

DIY painted pumpkins – Spooky pumpkin design

Step 1

For this next design, start by writing the word “Spooky" on to a ceramic pumpkin using the brush end of the dual markers. Download our Spooky practice template here if you’re feeling nervous about lettering straight onto the pumpkin.

How to paint pumpkins step 6

Step 2

Using another colour begin illustrating stars across the ceramic pumpkin.

How to paint pumpkins step 7

Step 3

Mix and match between colours and size of stars for a graphic style pattern, if you have any awkward spaces then add in some dots in groups of 3 or 5 to fill the space.

How to paint pumpkins step 8

How to paint pumpkins – hearts pattern

Step 1

For the final design you’ll need to firstly draw and colour in a heart shape.

How to paint pumpkins step 9

Step 2

You can then add 3 more petals to the bottom half of the love heart shape to create your floral base.

How to paint pumpkins step 10

Step 3

With a darker colour add in 3 lines that are heading towards the top of the flower.

How to paint pumpkins step 11

Step 4

You can then add your leaves working out from the petals and groups of 3 dots sat within the leaf shapes.

How to paint pumpkins step 12

Step 5

Repeat this motif across the pumpkin and use the dots to fill any spaces that are looking a little too big but not big enough for another floral.

How to paint pumpkins step 13

Step 6

Colour in the stalk of the ceramic in your chosen colour.

How to paint pumpkins step 14

About the designer

Becki Clark is a multidisciplinary creative designer based in the New Forest. Inspired by nature’s flowers and seasonality, Becki’s signature painterly style lends itself to a vast range of projects from botanical painting and brush lettering to surface pattern design. She is continually inspired by the changing seasons and loves to create work and craft projects that reflect her love of nature.

www.beckiclark.com

How to paint pumpkins tutorial

Creative designer and author

Becki Clark is a creative designer and Author based in the New Forest. Inspired by the changing seasons and the magic of nature, Becki enjoys working on a range of projects from craft DIYs to illustration, writing books and running seasonally inspired workshops. She had a sausage dog called Reggie who joins her in her studio each day.