How to Paint Vampire Pumpkins

Painted pumpkins are decorative and colorful and are a viable alternative to carved pumpkins, which rot quickly. Painted pumpkins make for stunning Halloween decor and will display for a longer period through the Halloween season compared to carved jack-o'-lanterns.

Paint a vampire face on any size or shape of pumpkin or gourd using simple craft supplies. Both adults and children will enjoy pumpkin decorating ideas, like painting a Count Dracula vampire pumpkin to display on your front steps or as part of your home decor for the holiday. With help and guidance from adults and this tutorial, pumpkin painting is a great Halloween crafts option for children who are too young for pumpkin carving to get into the pumpkin decorating activities.

Select a healthy pumpkin that is free from scars and rot to create your spooky vampire pumpkin face. Use a white Lumina pumpkin if possible. Lumina pumpkins have white skin rather than orange. They are considered novelty pumpkins and can be difficult to find.

Contact local pumpkin farms in your area to inquire about the availability of Lumina pumpkins. If you cannot locate one to use, a traditional orange pumpkin from your local store or pumpkin patch will also work.

Place the pumpkin in a sink and wash it with dish soap, warm water and a sponge to remove dirt. Dry the pumpkin with a towel and allow it to air dry for at least an hour. If you are using an orange pumpkin, paint the entire pumpkin with white acrylic paint or spray paint. Allow the paint to dry for at least one hour.

Draw the hair of the vampire using a pencil and paint it with black acrylic paint. Draw a heart shape around the top front and down the center side of the pumpkin. The top point of the heart will be the point of hair on the vampire's forehead.

At the center side, draw pointed ears on the sides of the pumpkin. Then, continue the hairline from the bottom of the ear to the bottom of the pumpkin. Paint the area and the entire back of the pumpkin with black acrylic paint.

Paint the facial features of the vampire. Paint black circles for eyes. Paint black triangular-shaped eyebrows, extending slightly down in the center front to create a frightening expression on the face. Draw a pointy nose with black paint as an upside-down triangular shape under the eyes.

Using red paint, draw a rounded line for the mouth with creases at each end. Paint an outline in black of two triangular vampire teeth that point downward near the center front of the mouth. Add a few splotches of red paint under the fangs to look like blood dripping.

You may be able to find stencils to use as a guide, or you can make your own templates on a sheet of paper to guide your drawing.