50 Times People Showed True Skill When It Came To Carving Halloween Pumpkins (New Pics)

Artist Alex's, aka The Pumpkin Geek's, work has been featured in hundreds of blogs and major news publications, and he himself has done projects for Sony, Legendary Entertainment, and Paramount. What's more, he has carved over 100 celebs in pumpkin form, from Gene Simmons and Stan Lee to Ming-Na Wen and Jeri Ryan, to name just a few. As far as Alex knows, he's the only pumpkin carver that has been touring Comic-Cons full-time for the past decade. We've also featured his designs in a previous article.

Bored Panda was very interested to find out how Alex had started carving pumpkins in the first place. "I basically wanted to be the cool neighbor on the block at Halloween when I bought a house!" The Pumpkin Geek said.

"I had become a bit 'obsessed' about pumpkin carving and my wife asked me to carve a logo for a company she worked at that was having a Grand Opening in October, about 12 years ago. I decided to try the artificial pumpkins I had seen at Michael's, so her boss could keep it from year to year. I got 35 orders that night and The Pumpkin Geek was born!" Alex opened up about how his pumpkin art project was born.

He explained to us a bit about his work process. The pumpkins he actually works on are artificial (made from polyurethane), so they pretty much last forever.

"Since I hand carve on artificial pumpkins, I use Dremel tools and rotary carving bits. Basically, a handheld drill. I developed a '5-layer' carving technique to really make my work life-like and as realistic as possible. One section is cut all the way through, and then 4 different layers of depth to the surface."

Alex shared with us that each pumpkin takes between 4 to 6 hours to carve. However, despite his dedication to his craft and his popularity, not everyone is a fan of his work.

"Sadly, I am always accused online of simply posting 'photoshopped' images. [It is] quite frustrating," he said that the same people don't question other professionals like tattoo artists.

The Pumpkin Geek had this advice for those of us hoping to get our hands orange carving pumpkins for the very first time this Halloween. "Start with the Halloween kits you can find at stores. They give you an introduction to more intricate carving. Then, search online for sites and patterns, there are many out there to help you take it to the next level!"

We have the utmost respect for all the artists who are showing off their awesome pumpkin carving skills online. While the activity itself, essentially carving a root veggie, can sound incredibly simple, the truth is very different.

Those of you Pandas who have ever tried to turn a pumpkin or turnip into a work of art to spook and impress your friends probably know what we’re on about. Getting the darn design to look like you want it to is way harder than it seems. And at the end of the day, some of us (cough, cough) end up with something goofy, haphazard, and totally unInstagrammable.

However, those creators who have the patience and humility to learn from their mistakes can end up with some fabulous designs that capture the hearts and minds of millions around the globe.

Let’s be frank, carving pumpkins is an art form, and we’re darn glad that it is. If we could, we’d have (at least) two Halloweens each year so that these artists can get the attention and adoration they deserve more often.

Halloween and jack-o’-lanterns have been intertwined, literally, for ages. Halloween is based on the Celtic festival Samhain, which was celebrated in Britain and Ireland, in the ancient past. The festival marked the end of summer and the start of the new year, falling on November 1.

Those celebrating Samhain believed that the souls of those who’d died that year traveled to the otherworld that night. Meanwhile, other souls would return to visit their homes, according to Encyclopedia Britannica.

In the 8th century, the Catholic Church moved All Saints’ Day to November 1, meaning that Halloween fell on October 31. This meant that some traditions from Samhain remained, including wearing disguises to hide from the souls that were wandering around your house.

Meanwhile, the tradition of carving pumpkins and turnips with demonic faces remained as well. Pumpkin carving was meant to frighten away Stingy Jack, a figure from Irish mythology, who’d tricked the devil for money. After he’d died, Jack wasn’t allowed to go either to heaven or hell, so he was doomed to roam the earth for all eternity. Though few people know about Jack, pumpkin carving has become a staple of Halloween.

Last Halloween, Bored Panda spoke to psychologist Lee Chambers about why we’re so fascinated by the holiday and why we love horror so much. He said that it’s all about testing to see where our limits lie, as people.

 "The whole ethos of Halloween and the flirting with evil and death is fascinating because it is a place we rarely go as humans, especially in today's safe and sanitized world," the psychologist said.