Treehouse of Horrors Halloween Cutouts

Materials

I try to make the cutouts life size whenever possible. Standard 4′ x 8′ sheets of plywood are big enough for most of the characters I’ve made. However, my vehicles doesn’t have a big enough cargo area to accommodate the full sheet, so I have to get them ripped down to fit in the back trunk. When necessary I’ll “stitch” the sheets back together to create a large enough workspace.

I like this 1/4″ SurePly brand of plywood. It’s more expensive than alternatives, but it cuts clean and barely chips when carving the cutouts. Much easier to paint when edges are smooth and splinter free.

Stitching together multiple pieces of plywood. Using various scrap pieces, I cut 4″ strips, overlap them on the seems, and use whatever heavy things I have around so the wood glue creates a solid bond.

Template

I’ll source images from various places online. The most memorable characters are easily found with a simple Google search. Screenshots from individual episodes are another convenient source. When necessary I will do some light photoshopping to isolate characters, and fill-in missing details.

Once I have my characters isolated I use Adobe Illustrator to create full size templates that I use to project onto the plywood sheets.

Illustrator makes it easy to create a workspace using inches as a unit of measurement, and work with a fullsize art boards.

Tracing

Using a small projectors I have for other Halloween decorations, I project the templates onto the plywood sheets. With pencil I trace all the outlines and other details I want to capture.

Using a Magnum Sharpie I add a thick outline to the tracings. This provides a buffer for uneven cutting, and ensure there’s enough space for the paint to create smooth lines.