For many, Halloween pumpkin carving is an art that requires the best carving tools, a perfect pumpkin and intricate and detailed pumpkin carving stencils. In its simplest form, Jack-o'-lantern carving involves cutting through the entire thickness of the pumpkin skin and flesh. More sophisticated Jack-o'-lantern carving involves carving the pumpkin at varying depths to create an appearance of shading.
Pumpkin carving stencils can be purchased at party stores, but the selection is often very limited to traditional Halloween images like bats, ghosts, cats, Frankenstein and spiders. The Internet provides the broadest selection of pumpkin carving patterns, and Halloween enthusiasts can opt for free printable pumpkin carving patterns or they can pay for the carving designs, as is often the case with sports team logo pumpkin carving stencils and other specialized designs.
What many Jack-o'-lantern lovers may not realize is that the Web is home to some unique finds relating to Halloween pumpkin carving, including personalized carving patterns and special order pumpkins with portraits of people, pets, college logos and business logos, all carved on an artificial pumpkin (often called a "Funkin").
Ordering Artificial Pumpkins With Sports Team Logos, Dog Breed Carvings
Instead of carving a pumpkin that will mold and rot in about one week, some Halloween enthusiasts opt for a pre-carved artificial pumpkin, commonly known as "Funkins." Artificial pumpkins are carved using Dremel tools instead of traditional pumpkin carving tools.
Sites like MasterpiecePumpkins.com sell artificial Jack-o'-lanterns bearing sports team logos, mascots, college and university logos, and other images, like a Claddagh, crescent moon, fall leaves, flowers and even a wedding design – perfect as an autumn wedding centerpiece.
Artificial Jack-o'-lanterns typically cost between $25 and $75 depending upon the complexity of the design, though custom or personalized Jack-o'-lanterns with portraits of pets, people and company logos can cost several hundred dollars.
Pumpkin Portraits and Customized Pumpkin Carving Patterns
Custom Jack-o'-lanterns make a great autumn decoration for the home or office, so many opt to order a personalized pumpkin carved with the company logo or portrait of a pet, human or both. For portraits, customers send a photo and they'll carve a pumpkin from the photo. Sites like PumpkinGlow.com sell artificial pumpkins with a personalized carving or portrait, ranging in price from approximately $200 to $300.
PumpkinGlow.com also sells personalized pumpkin carving patterns for portraits, logos and other custom carving stencils. The customer must provide a photo of the person, pet, logo or other image, and it's then transformed into a customized carving pattern that can be used to create a customized Jack-o'-lantern.
How to Make a Portrait Pumpkin Carving Stencil From a Photograph
Do-it-yourself enthusiasts may prefer to save the money and make their own portrait pumpkin carving stencil from a photo. This process requires a digital copy of the photo and basic knowledge of how to use photo editing software like Photoshop or Paint.
The basic process involves turning the photo into a black and white image, increasing contrast and reducing the number of colors into the image to just three or four (black, white, dark grey, light grey), Then, the image is "reversed" and a negative image is created, (i.e. white areas turn black, black areas turn white.)
The image is then printed for use as a pumpkin carving stencil for the photograph, with the black portions of the pattern indicating a full thickness cut, white indicating that the skin is left intact, dark grey indicating a 3/4 thickness cut and light grey indicating a 1/4 thickness cut. This creates the illusion of shading in the pumpkin carving.
Pumpkin carving is indeed an art and the Internet provides great resources and tips for carving pumpkins. it takes a great deal of practice to carve the perfect Jack-o'-lantern, but some find it a fun and addictive hobby that can be continued into the summer months by switching to watermelon carving!
More Articles on Pumpkin Carving for Halloween
Readers may also enjoy Where to Find Free Animal Pumpkin Carving Stencils, along with How to Preserve a Carved Pumpkin.
Halloween lovers can also learn how to make pumpkin carving stencils for Jack-o-lanterns, using photos, illustrations and your own original drawings.
Mia Carter - Mia Carter - Journalist, Producer/Editor & Web Writer. Carter's work has appeared on CBS and CNN.com.
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