# Introducing: TrentSketch



## trentsketch (Jul 27, 2009)

Hi, I'm Robert, known online as TrentSketch. I've been running my yard haunt since 2003, switching in 2005 to all home-made props, and in 2008 to a green haunt with props mostly made of recycled and rescued material. I have a new theme every year and do my best to have at least one traffic-stopping giant static piece. The themes tend to be a bit out there as I rarely think of the easiest solution or obvious concept when brainstorming. The crowd grows a little more every year and I try not to repeat effects twice in a row. What can I say? I love a good challenge.

It's a shame I never got a great night shot of my favorite prop all lit up, but even in the day it's pretty indicative of my style. My seven foot plus venus fly trap at the side of the house:









But the eternal garden died in 2007, and the deep green sea of 2008 is better forgotten, so this year is all about the Jabberwocky.


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## Fiend4Halloween (Aug 28, 2008)

Hello and welcome to a great forum. Your art sounds great. Do you know about Stolloween? Check this out, he's along the line of what your into. http://www.hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=15715&highlight=stolloween


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Welcome to the Forum, Trent!


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## ScreamingScarecrow (Oct 1, 2008)

Welcome aboard!


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## sharpobject (May 7, 2008)

Hi and welcome !!!


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## Dark Angel 27 (Sep 11, 2008)

Greetings! welcome to the fun house! love your venus fly trap!


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## Wyatt Furr (Jun 5, 2006)

Howdy and Welcome


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## Spookineer (Aug 20, 2006)

Welcome to the party!


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## trentsketch (Jul 27, 2009)

Thanks for the welcome, everyone.


> Do you know about Stolloween?


Yes. I'm in awe of his technique. He has a difficult artistic medium formed to a science with his procedure without degrading the quality of his output. I'd be lucky to produce one prop with that level of detail. I wind up painting in detail because my mix always takes so long to dry. I'll have to experiment with adding starch to my paste. I haven't used paperclay since I was making masks for Halloween in elementary school. And cardboard forms? Forget it.

My goal is to transport the ToTs to another world and I design my pieces to be examined closely under extremely controlled lighting and spacing decisions (blame the theater background for my OCD-like need to control everything). Stolloween's work could be displayed anywhere and be appreciated.


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## HalloweenRick (Nov 25, 2005)

Welcome!


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## pyro (Oct 7, 2006)

welcome


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## Vlad (Aug 2, 2005)

Welcome to the forum


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## scareme (Aug 29, 2006)

Hi and welcome to the forum. With changing your theme every year, do you have a storage problem?


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## Spooky1 (Aug 25, 2008)

Welcome to the forum, Trent.


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## spideranne (Jul 17, 2006)

Welcome!


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## trentsketch (Jul 27, 2009)

> With changing your theme every year, do you have a storage problem?


Everything is disassembled as much as possible to use for various other projects throughout the year. I just have stacks of wood and bins of mangled chicken wire and discarded papier mache waiting to become something else.

The gigantic pieces that can't reasonable be torn apart hide wherever they can on the property (one is in waiting in a friend's garden, though I doubt I'll ever get it back) and see if they can tough it out through winter. Those that don't survive are ripped apart for any salvageable parts. Those that do get a fresh coat of paint and modifications to be something else the next year. Smaller pieces that I know I'll use in one of the other two yards I do are stored at that location.

A lot of the smaller pieces are kept in my design studio or bedroom year round until I can use them again. Others are shoved in storage bins and shoved in every inch of usable attic, basement, garage, and shed space I can find. And yet, inevitably, some pieces wind up in the trash after a few years. I try to give them away whenever possible, but some don't even offer that possibility.

I'll be building a new shed to keep my Halloween stuff away from my father's Christmas stuff. It's a tense but reasonably stable trade off between holiday decorations. What I wouldn't give to do a big Christmas set up my way...


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