Pug Face Pumpkin Carving With Soulful Eyes

From pumpkin to porch

1. 1

   Pick a small pumpkin and prep it

   Choose a small, round, smooth pumpkin so the pug's round face fills the whole front naturally. Cut a lid from the bottom instead of the top so the stem stays intact and the pumpkin sits steady. Scrape the inside wall behind the face down to about one inch thick with a loop tool. A thinner wall lets light pass more evenly through the shaded areas.

2. 2

   Transfer the pug portrait

   Tape your pug stencil smoothly over the front, clipping the edges so it hugs the curve. Use a poking tool to dot along the main outlines, the eyes, nose, ears, and each major wrinkle. Peel the paper off and connect the dots lightly with a marker if it helps. Take a photo now so you have a reference once the guide lines start to disappear.

3. 3

   Shave the bright highlights first

   With a ribbon or shaving tool, remove only the orange skin on the brightest areas like the top of the muzzle, the brow ridges, and the light edges of the ears. These peeled spots will glow a soft dim orange. Go shallow and check your depth often, since you can always take more off but cannot put it back. Leave a thin skin so it holds together.

4. 4

   Leave the wrinkles and folds dark

   This is what makes it a pug, so work slowly. Every deep crease between the eyes, around the muzzle, and under the folds should stay as untouched skin so it reads as a dark shadow. Keep narrow bridges of skin between your shaved highlights to define each wrinkle. Contrast between dark folds and light peels is what gives the face its wrinkly depth.

5. 5

   Carve the eyes deepest and last

   Save the eyes for the end since they are the most delicate part. Shave them thin first, then carefully cut a bit deeper so they become the brightest wells in the whole design. Leave a small dark dot or thin bridge for each pupil so the gaze looks focused rather than hollow. Do not cut fully through unless you want a hard bright spot, a deep thin well gives a warmer glow.

6. 6

   Light it and photograph

   Drop in a battery LED light, never a candle, since the thin shaded wall can scorch. Set the light low and toward the back so it washes up through the face evenly. Test in a dark room and shave any spots that still read too dark. Place it on a step or porch at dusk and shoot slightly to the side so the wrinkles cast their own soft shadows.