Retained Whale Pumpkin Carving Above Glowing Wave Rows

From pumpkin to porch

1. 1

   Map bridge connections before anything else

   The two whale-to-frame bridges are the entire structural foundation of this design. On a template sheet, confirm the tail bridge on the left is at least an inch and a half wide and the nose bridge on the right is at least an inch wide. Any narrower and the whale will detach after a few days of display. Adjust the template before transferring.

2. 2

   Hollow to a consistent depth

   Cut the back lid and scrape interior walls to an inch and a half throughout. The whale belly area benefits from slightly thicker walls since shallow belly groove scoring will be done there later. Consistent depth throughout the lower wave zone ensures the wave slots glow uniformly.

3. 3

   Transfer the full design

   Tape the template and trace all lines with a stylus. Use two marker colors: one for the retained whale body, bridge contacts, and surrounding rind, and one for all wave slot apertures and the small eye opening. Review the complete map carefully before any cutting begins.

4. 4

   Cut the upper background sections

   Remove any open rind areas above the whale body that form the sky zone. The whale body divides the pumpkin face horizontally, so the sky zone above it and the wave zone below it are structurally separate. Confirm the nose and tail bridges are still solid after removing the sky sections.

5. 5

   Cut the wave slot rows

   Working from the top wave row down toward the base, cut each wave slot as a slightly curved horizontal aperture. Keep at least three quarters of an inch of rind between adjacent slots. The wave slots below the whale are the primary light source of the design and must all be cut before the eye and belly details are added.

6. 6

   Add eye aperture and belly scoring then display

   Punch the small circular eye hole through the whale body using a circular cutter. Use a linoleum tool to score the shallow belly groove lines into the whale surface without cutting through. Place a very bright battery LED inside centered below the whale body. The warm light flooding up through the wave slots around the dark whale silhouette creates the dramatic effect that defines this carving.

Written with AI to match this design