Halloween Experts

To properly terrify your neighborhood, you will want to carve a perfect pumpkin! If you are decorating for Halloween, then you may want to choose a carving pattern that fits in with your theme. If you are decorating with witches, cauldrons and broomsticks, then carving a witch face or silhouette might be appropriate. If you are using traditional fall decor, like scarecrows, indian corn and hay bales, you might use a design with text that wishes your guests a Happy Halloween. Vampires, monsters, ghosts, black cats…there are carving designs available to fit almost any theme. A quick search of the internet will help you locate free pumpkin carving designs to print.

Let’s suppose, however, that you want a design that is unique and personal. Something like, your family’s faces on a row of pumpkins, or your house as a haunted mansion, or your business logo. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination. Of course, you can’t download and print such designs, but, with a little instruction, you can make your own! Just always remember that you are designing a “negative” image.

Let’s start with a simple one. I’ll use a family photo, and I’ll open it in any photo program. Usually one comes on your computer, or with your digital camera, but you can find plenty of free programs online to do this job for you.
First, I am going to rotate the whole picture, although you can leave it at any angle you find pleasing.
Next, change the picture to greyscale. This will usually be found in the “Color” tab of your photo program. It may also be called “Discard Color Information”.
Then, find the brightness/contrast controls in your program. Start with brightness, and slide it bright enough that you lose most of the detail of the picture. Then increase the contrast to bring out only the most dramatic shadows. Keep this up until you have a completely black and white flat pattern of the face.
Next, clean up your design, smoothing the edges of the shapes and keeping in mind that you will be cutting away anything that is black. Don’t leave floating islands of white, they must be attached to the edges somehow. Once you have cleaned up your image, you have your carving pattern.

If you have a subject in mind that needs more detail, then increase the brightness and contrast slightly less, so that it leaves some grey areas. Try the “posterize” option in your photo program to reduce the photo to flat and well defined areas. In this case, you will cut away the black areas completely, but you will only remove a partial layer of the areas of your pattern that are grey. The light will shine through areas that are not completely cut away, giving it a shadowed, 3 dimensional look.

Experiment with silhouettes first, that are strictly black and white. Once you have mastered those, you will be ready to try more complicated designs! Watch this space for some original carving patterns, as the season draws nearer!