How to Carve a Masterpiece From a Pumpkin Lantern, According to a Professional

You’ve no doubt carved pumpkins since childhood, but there is a level of lantern art that goes far beyond the triangles plebeians carve from pumpkins. Whether you want to experience the atmosphere of exquisite pumpkin carving (or just learn how to choose the right pumpkin), we have some tips from one of the best in the field.

John Neal was the Food Network’s Halloween Wars Season 4 Champion, and his creations have been featured on shows such as Access Hollywood , Jimmy Kimmel Live, and Home & Family . This all sounds intimidating enough, but with Neill’s advice, you too can greatly improve your pumpkin carving game.

Start with the best pumpkin for the job

The first step to creating a stunning pumpkin masterpiece comes long before you reach your carving tools. You have to choose the right vegetable that suits your idea.

“When it comes time to create a pumpkin, I choose one of two ways,” Neil said. “Either I’ll lose the idea and go look for pumpkins that shout, ‘Cut me out so I look like this !! “But if I’ve already sketched, then I’m trying to find pumpkins that fit what I’m about to do.”

When choosing a pumpkin, make sure it is not moldy or mushy and look for a thick green stem – it will stay fresh longer and, according to Neill, will be about the same thickness as the “meat” you can cut. pumpkin.

Unless you’re looking to buy huge items that require a Big Mac or Atlantic Giant pumpkin, Neil recommends the classic Howden pumpkin variety, but find one that’s a little heavier. “You want it to be heavy,” Neal explained. “If you take a bunch of pumpkins and one of them is very light, then the walls will be very thin. If you want to carve a face at a 1: 1 scale, you need a pumpkin about 14 “tall with a really nice thick wall.”

Know your destination before carving.

Success in pumpkin carving, as with most artistic endeavors, requires a plan. Great pumpkin sculptures don’t come from beginners.

“There is definitely a learning curve, so maybe start by pulling out some clay and sculpting something you want to do,” Neal said. “You do what is called a mock-up – a small sculpture before you make a large sculpture – so you solve all the problems first and learn something else before the show time comes.”

If you are going to create a face, you can use your own as a model. “When I have an idea for a face, I set up a mirror and do this expression so I can capture as much of life as possible and translate it into a pumpkin,” Neil said. “You use your face as some kind of link to bring it to life.”

Choose the right pumpkin carving gear

After you’ve searched your local pumpkin patch for the perfect specimen and created a model of your sculpture (look, nobody said it would be easy ), it’s time to collect your tools. A serrated kitchen knife or these plastic scissors might work great for day-to-day use on a lantern porch, but it won’t work in the world of raised pumpkin molding.

“To do what I do, I need a set of tools similar to those used in ceramic carving, mostly flat ribbon tools,” Neil said.

You can get by with a small set of tools with hinges and a flexible knife (you can buy a basic set from his website for $ 20 or visit your local art supply store), according to Neil, but if you’re new to this, be prepared for the fact that small tools will break; it’s part of the process.

You will also need a spray bottle of water, wet towels, and a lot of patience. (More on this below.)

Don’t take off the top!

A classic Halloween pumpkin lantern may have a cut-out top, but it’s time to get rid of that gray cliché. “When you cut off the top of a pumpkin, it almost dies. “There’s no healing power left,” Neal said. “It’s like chopping off someone’s head.”

The pumpkin doesn’t need to be hollowed out at all, but if you want to, it’s much better to make a hole in the back rather than the top. This will make them last longer and look cooler without skull surgery.

What about a candle?

Lighting a lantern from the inside with a candle is the standard for Halloween, but don’t let tradition get in the way of your masterpiece. Neil usually avoids indoor lighting, using it only for a specific effect.

“I’m more focused on the shape of the pumpkin on the outside, so I use a directional light and then maybe a shadow light or colored light aimed at it from a different direction. If there is no goal, for example, the eyes will light up, ”he said.

Even if you like inner light, never use candles. It is flammable and the pumpkin will dry out quickly . Instead, Neil suggests using cool, battery-powered, safe LEDs. Then you can choose any light color you like and even make it change or flicker.

Moisten the pumpkin

Keeping the pumpkin hydrated is just as important as maintaining it as you work. Working with dried pumpkin pulp will be unpredictable, Neil says, making the handheld water spray an indispensable tool in your arsenal.

Tip : If you slip and let it dry a bit, you can re-wet the pumpkin – if it’s not too far away – by submerging it in a tank of cool water for an hour.

Does it even have to be a pumpkin?

I’m not a lawyer, but I’m pretty sure there are no laws that say pumpkins are the only vegetables or fruits that can be cut into scary faces and left on the porch in October. practice on smaller foods before cutting up the pumpkin.

“You can slice butternut squash, radishes, apples, potatoes, and even avocados,” Neal said.

The absolute futility of canning pumpkin

Whether it’s a crooked face that you knocked out in five minutes with a meat knife, or a complex piece of art that took 15 hours of painstaking work, you have to admit that your pumpkin won’t last forever. This is the nature of pumpkins, and that kind of makes them an interesting artistic medium.

“If you keep it in a cool, dark place, covered with a damp towel, and treat it like it needs processing, you can probably last up to a month,” Neal said of the finished work. “But all this time he will slowly go downhill.”

“When you are carving and the pumpkin is completely hydrated, you are trying to grace these shapes and refine them to perfection, so it seems that the sculpture is very organic. But as it begins to dry out and the basement structure begins to deteriorate, it changes its shape and begins to look like a very old carving. You can never be sure how this will change. “