Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays, and pumpkin carving was something I especially looked forward to as it was a great way to channel my artistic skill and interest in the holiday.

I started off using pre-made patterns for pumpkin carving ideas, you would find in those books by Pumpkin Masters. However, I soon grew bored with the same jack-o-lantern faces and decided I would try my hand at my own designs. Each year I would challenge myself to do something different and more difficult for Halloween decorations.

In 2009 I carved my first ultra-detailed jack-o-lantern design, Iron Man. I posted it to a few sites and entered a few contests for fun, and it really seemed to take off. Since then, I have tried to do something newer, better, and more challenging every year, and here we are today – a portrait of my cute Pomeranian dog, Sophie!

A few tidbits about my carvings:

– I only carve REAL pumpkins. Though it is disappointing that they do not last, they offer a unique final appearance that is not matched by the synthetic foam pumpkins.

– I carve using an X-Acto knife almost exclusively. It’s amazing what such a small little knife can accomplish.

– A carving may take between 8 and 20 hours of total carving time, not including pattern drawing and transfer.

– I light my pumpkins using a CFL bulb on a cord. Candles are simply not enough light.

I carved this dog-o-lantern of my Pomeranian Sophie this year

I first made a sketch of Sophie on a pumpkin

Then I used X-acto knife to carve the pieces

This was the final result

You can see the process of carving my dog-o-lantern in the video below:

Here are some older works of mine. 2016:

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

My first one, in 2009

2010