13 Levels of Pumpkin Carving: Easy to Complex | WIRED

Pumpkin carving master James Hall explains pumpkin carving in 13 spooky levels of difficulty. The 2-time 'Halloween Wars' winner breaks down a variety of pumpkin carving techniques, ranging from simple to incredibly complex.
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[@elbowonfire]

What they don’t tell you is this man is actually level 14 himself. He is entirely sentient pumpkin.

[@mrbokchoi6193]

I did level 1 and skip straight to level 14 too

[@insertcreativenamehere7970]

That makes this video way more brutal haha

[@joytato]

this is hilarious but why does he legit sound exactly like how a sentient pumpkin would sound

[@hariswani9833]

Amazing I love all of the levels 💕❤️😍

[@MK-oe4np]

He's the great pumpkin

[@gradeakushy8738]

Level 57: "So in this level the pumpkin will actually carve you"

[@c3llary322]

Level 95: “So your going to want to either front flip or backflip for every inch you carve.”

[@9ser930]

Level 150: you need to carve the seed of the pumpkin before you plant, so it will grow in to the format

[@astyriakaaron5180]

Level 240: now this one's gonna be a bit difficult but what you wanna do is find the square root of pi and and use a knife of that length to carve your parents

[@steverogers3251]

Level 360: your gonna wanna call Jesus christ to bless the pumpkin for this...

[@edgarcardiel0272]

Level 540: " you're going to wait for the planets to align in a straight line to make a 1inch cut "

[@plastic_god7294]

Level 1: Normal jack o lantern face Level 2: Detailed jack o lantern face Level 3: EUROPEAN DRAGON

[@John15293]

Right? I'm looking for another ten levels in-between level 2 and 3...

[@shibopang6268]

Bob ross: Get some white on the background Some blue for the sky And presto you have a beautiful mountain landscape

[@AkrasieI]

Step 1: Draw some circles Step 2: Draw the rest of the Owl

[@daisyoverton204]

How to draw a rose: 1. Draw lettuce 2. Colour it red

[@steazy0001]

How to draw lettuce: 1. Draw a rose 2. Colour it green

[@ApsaraMenaka]

Level 1: ok. we're good. Level 2: allright, I can do that. Level 3: aaaaaand I'm out.

[@c3llary322]

Level 1: simple Level 2: slightly more detailed Level 3: mythological creature

[@isaiahscholl8479]

I was thinking the same thing and then I came to the realization that there was still 10 more levels for me to know I’ll never be able to do

[@decipheringchaos]

I've done level 3 before with a stencil. Probably could do level 4 as well since it doesn't have any shading either. Finding designs online and printing/tracing them is a great way to impress people with not too much effort.

[@bluwasabi7635]

Try alternative level 3: carved watermelon (it's thinner than pumpkin but can give you white and red translucent parts)

[@EthanTheChild]

one thousandth like

[@fartvader84yearsago8]

This guy really woke up one day and said "imma become a professional pumpkin carver"

[@mordecai8315]

Uhhhhh

[@smileunknown1305]

Bbbbbb

[@DizzyChi21]

We live in a society

[@bhuvaneshwarij1326]

Ikr! !

[@klunt40]

thats crazy

[@nicholasavis4932]

I wish you'd turned the lights off after he'd finished each pumpkin to see what it would actually look like.

[@sarkasticc9498]

@@ono446?

[@ono446]

@@sarkasticc9498 deleted their comment

[@KevinJohnson-cv2no]

They show the pumpkins with the lights turned off at 18:10.

[@entitree.]

@@KevinJohnson-cv2no that’s not with the lights off though, that’s with the lights dimmed.

[@tastytiletactician271]

Wish I got to see what monster pumpkin looked like fully lit up and not just the eye

[@Mike__B]

Gotta love it "Astrophysicist explains gravity in 5 levels" "Pumpkin carver explains pumpkin carving in THIRTEEN LEVELS!!!!"

[@basspuff514]

Lmao underrated comment

[@shaec3405]

OMG. That was my thought too. Lol

[@JhonBarosa]

Sometimes seemingly complex things can be made simple by a good teacher, but because of the subjective nature of art I think there will always be huge amounts of depth and complexity no matter how much you try to water it down while explaining things.

[@truthful_artist]

@@basspuff514 l

[@Delta9Church]

I love that level 13 is outright "build a zombie samurai pumpkin Borg". That was an interesting turn of events.

[@itinkle]

I saw this comment first and thought it was a joke. Then we got to level 13... This mans skills are miles and miles above the average person.

[@myragroenewegen5426]

Indeed. The armature for the mechanical skull is more frightening than the actual finished pumpkin.

[@Garnox_]

is "Borg" a reference to space station 13?

[@michaelkhudson8]

"If you don't like it, you can throw it into the neighbor's yard"😁

[@dancemonkey5594]

I read this just exactly when he just said it 😂

[@nicolepasalagua9779]

That is what I do when I burn my pancakes.

[@gloria.ygg1]

How are his sleeves not even a little bit dirty ?? Like this dude is magical

[@Teqnyq]

That's level 16

[@CatsAndPokemon]

hes the bob ross of pumpkins.

[@BP-xv7fj]

Unlock it when you reach level 20

[@yumirow7487]

He is pumpkin

[@shaec3405]

He Is a pumpkin

[@lucasgross8401]

Level 1: Add eyes nose and mouth Level 11: SACRIFICIAL PUMPKINS

[@boenana-3054]

Level 1: Triangles and wonky curve. Level 3: A feckin dragon

[@madisonaberer6739]

I loved sacrificial pumpkin 😂🧡

[@ryanburns3921]

Well done Wired. Just watched 23 mins of how to carve a pumpkin just to find out I'm never gonna spend the time to go past lvl 3. Lol

[@shaec3405]

Just let the kids try

[@nickorsini7239]

Im necer going past lvl 2 lol

[@Bbbbbbbbbv]

I have 27 years experience of carving level 1 pumpkins lmao

[@TashitaxLinda]

Lmao same

[@TheHeadincharge]

And here I am at level 0 I guess lmao

[@FinalSentinel]

An Irys Aficionado and Ace Combat fan, a true person of culture

[@seraphimfahmy3510]

My rpg knowledge tells me you should be able to do level 7 now

[@RamblingPanda]

This is the best comment.

[@anversailles]

Dang. Just goes to show that even something that looks as simple as pumpkin carving has some incredible depth if you really take the time and effort. Super cool

[@JessicaVianaa]

I love how every level I'm like "wow this looks really cool" but the next level when you compare it to the previous always looks like the previous version was not that good... this is the embodiment of progress!

[@caribbeanwonders]

Right? I was happy with level 3 and then level 5 happened etc got more and more impressed lool

[@DarkAngelEU]

Idk that dragon looked good at Lv3 and then got worse imo. Everything after that was epic tho

[@flipacoin1154]

"this step is gonna be the classic European dragon" DUDE SLOW DOWN ITS ONLY STEP THREE

[@felixhenson9926]

Level 2 to level 3: Jack o' Lantern to European Dragon Level 7 to level 8: 3D carved shoulder added to your 3D carved head

[@meganemilyz]

This was more fascinating than I thought it would be…

[@sarkasticc9498]

@Miles Doyle get a life kid!

[@Smico85]

exactly my thoughts! @Megan Z

[@Trve_Kvlt]

@Miles Doyle This is about the scariest thing I'll probably see all Halloween

[@JP2GiannaT]

Miles, living a Christian life with love towards all is going to bring way more people to Christ than a KZbin comment. Where Charity and Love prevail, there God is ever found.

[@kannanshrinivasan6984]

@Miles Doyle stop preaching man. People don't care

[@Neoseanner]

Level 97 : So the main thing on this level of pumpkin is to carve the pumpkin that is able to consciously moving a little slower than the speed of light , without making it sentient enough to be able to destroy human race and bent the law of physics.

[@EvilSnips]

Level 14*

[@mabelh335]

I can hear him saying this nonchalantly

[@treebles]

great soh!

[@diegodesigns3976]

Lvl 100: “You’ll need to ride your Jack O’ Lantern car to Pumpkin Planet to make yourself an army”

[@graphospasm5394]

At his pace it's more like 20

[@hannahyamauchi839]

I love his frankness of the materiality and that level 13 is just showing off

[@kaycreese728]

I've been carving pumpkins every year for about 40 years. I think I'm now experienced enough to try level 2. This guy is a genius.

[@MotiviqueStudio]

This makes me ridiculously happy. Good job Wired. By level 8 he was doing stuff I've never seen in a neighborhood.

[@lenabeans]

I've always been impressed with people who can draw (in this case carve) in negative!! It's so cool :)

[@joshuamm21]

They're like normal carving and sculpting is boring let's make it negative.

[@PumpkinFreak]

sure hes a great 3d sculptor, but if im honest he isnt that good at the negative relief carving

[@the_Overture]

@@PumpkinFreak You're just saying that so he won't carve you

[@MildMisanthropeMaybeMassive]

Negative space is something that took me a while to learn.

[@ozok17]

@@PumpkinFreak not everyone has the same balance of skills. someone relatively more skilled in negative-relief carving might include more of that at the higher levels than is depicted here.

[@rhiannonbrown6390]

I haven't cut a pumpkin in years and this makes me smell it.

[@Emthe30something]

Loved carving pumpkins with my mom growing up. She was always a couple levels ahead of me. Sending this vid over to her.

[@sven_86]

Haha yep same here, sent to my mom right away lol

[@zyourzgrandzmaz]

i wish i had a mom

[@verlexin8398]

@@zyourzgrandzmaz golira 🦍

[@ozok17]

@@zyourzgrandzmaz sad garbage fire occurred spontaneously. ;_;

[@waywardmind]

I like that this dude is sitting in what seriously looks like a dismantled electric chair. Nice detail, WIRED.

[@x.otillweoverdose6211]

“He’s a monster but he loves his mom” monsters have emotion too 😩🖤😢

[@fatnose0]

every level is like "woaw, there's no way he outdoes this!" - lvl 13, gundam

[@maiesmonty5561]

The amount if anxiety when he didn't roll up his sleeves...

[@martinfillola733]

This man really did understand the assignment

[@0x777]

Level 1: Yeah, can do that. Level 2: Ok, makes sense. Level 3: ... SCREW THIS, I MAKE A PUMPKIN PIE!

[@bluwasabi7635]

Then carve the pumpkin pie 🎃

[@ozok17]

@@bluwasabi7635 yeah, pie-slicing levels: 1. radial, 2. concentric, 3. European Dragon

[@blackdog6969]

I was joking to myself that level 14 would be robotics but was pleasantly surprised when they actually added it as level 13. Got some Evil Dead 3 vibes with that last masterpiece

[@c3llary322]

Level 14 is just an entire skeleton made of pumpkin that is sentient and very murderous.

[@tyweed736]

“If it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing.” - Steve Spangler

[@jamesmarker3956]

Level 100: At this point, the pumpkins have developed their own civilization and have began their quest for world domination. Oh, that rhymes.

[@warmmonkey679]

just doesn’t though does it mate get a job

[@pizzapleope6595]

@@warmmonkey679 it does

[@warmmonkey679]

@@pizzapleope6595 learn what a rhyme is pls

[@regenpalkar4385]

@@warmmonkey679 Vincent van gogh Convince a mango How's this rhyme

[@gwen_gets_got]

@@warmmonkey679 - it does rhyme though lmao.

[@someone5383]

He actually does a very great job at explaining the details

[@Waker_of_Winds]

Me at 4 am: I should go to bed. Also me at 4 am: I must dive into the mysteries of pumpkin carving!

[@Phanta3]

🤣 Same for me at 3 am!

[@iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii5912]

Unrelated question, can you make a piston door with pumpkins?

[@jacobrutzke691]

Yes in fact you can just make sure to carve them with shears before hand

[@_charles_3727]

Swear mumbo jumbo really got me to watch it

[@pillowcaseee]

Ah, another Mumbo connoisseur

[@smajyman6496]

I like how he calls the centre of the pumpkin the ‘guts’ and the ‘meat’, as if he’s done this with people before

[@usucktoo]

Or someone who cooks or works with pumpkins.

[@grots5437]

Are you telling me people don’t say “pumpkin guts”?

[@choccawocca]

i mean the chunk of pumpkin is called the meat/flesh like any fruit

[@miceskin]

I've been crying laughing for 30 minutes in my bed at this comment and my wife hates me at the moment but it was so worth it.

[@BLKWIDOWX]

hannibal

[@dahlivallee4647]

I deadass stopped understanding how there could be more levels once he started level 5

[@TiffanyDArtist]

It’s been a year and I am still incredibly proud of my husband James for doing this with Wired. I married such a talented sculptor ! And yes his forearms are impressive 😂😏 ❤❤.

[@voidsentphantom]

Holy crap, I never knew this craft got so complex. Literally an art form

[@isuzurodeosport3038]

Better show this one to Mumbo

[@alkasaket379]

I can literally see how much effort and time went into creating this video. And Oh my god the background music is totally going with the video!

[@Vionbringer]

Level 14: using a projector to display still images onto your pumpkin. Level 15: using 3D animation to custom map & animate effects onto your pumpkin with a projector like: slight expanding and contacting shadows to mimic breathing. Mapping exactly where the eyes are, and animating jittering eyes - things you couldn't necessarily do with servos. Level 16: creating an AI algorithm to auto-generate it's own designs and animations to then display via projector onto the pumpkin. You'd of course have to first capture a 3D model of the pumpkin with a LIDAR to 3D model software via scanner/iPhone.

[@ozok17]

what level is using the pumpkin as a projector onto a screen behind it, which is itself a much larger pumpkin?

[@acklord7145]

I would do more pumpkin carving if pumpkin guts weren't a thing.

[@MikeCheckBiloxi]

I like to squeeze the pumpkin guts in my hands and feel is ooze and squish between my fingers

[@coralxanpu]

@@MikeCheckBiloxi ew

[@bluwasabi7635]

Gloves are a thing. They help immensely

[@bluwasabi7635]

Alternatively: carve watermelon or cantelope

[@luthiennenharma]

If it's only touching the stuff that grosses you out, there are big plastic spoons (one side serrated, one side forked) you can use instead. As far as I've seen they are included in most cheap pumpkin carving sets.

[@mitchelnext1]

Level 1: ok i got this Level 4: holy crap this is amazing

[@dellasuz5854]

i legit asked my mom earlier, “do you think that there’s a professional pumpkin carver job?” and she said there’s a job for anything. she wasn’t wrong

[@polelix1023]

I wanted to be professional paper airplane maker guy, personally.

[@gubgub3275]

*mum

[@808.sfx_]

@@gubgub3275 mamma*

[@ozok17]

@@polelix1023 there are definitely people who publish books about how to make paper airplanes. there might also be people who make the professionally without publishing books, too.

[@Babadingldoo]

Dang, he didn't show off the Projector Pumpkin style, where you carve open the back and an image shows up on the wall. Combine with the other methods here and you get to use all sides of the pumpkin to create something both flat and with depth.

[@ozok17]

ikr? it's like he only uses pumpkins sometimes, and is more used to other forms of sculpture

[@aeiou644]

He's over here making realistic images on pumpkins and I'm here only able to make level 1 pumpkins 😭

[@karadrake3174]

And I can’t even make that 😂🥲

[@jamesarmisteaddoublespyund1193]

Welp, I’ve got about 4-5 days to master pumpkin carving, better get started

[@crubbythebeagle57]

cute beagle kzbin.info/www/bejne/fJfRZ6x5eclpeK8 kzbin.info/www/bejne/aXvcopeqlt-Kfas kzbin.info/www/bejne/g17ddYaVp8uriKc ..,

[@samanthakl447]

I carved some pumpkins today and after washing my hands numerous time I still smell like pumpkin lol. This guy has talent!

[@matthewgerman1618]

*mumbo jumbo liked this*

[@marvinz2073]

I knew I wouldn't be the only one xD

[@daikichinee-san]

This is awesome, and his voice is also very Halloween feels 🎃

[@jasonwilliams1713]

I'm just here to watch masters show off their mastery. 🤩

[@Gqevial]

Pumpkin carving sounds like it could be a sport

[@oogajiggawooga]

Red celophane over the eye-light would have made a world of difference too

[@mandeep3.14]

His forearms are impressive. This was surprisingly interesting

[@themagicalmilkshake]

Tf are you talking about.? Forearms?

[@PostTraumaticSwagDisorder]

@@themagicalmilkshake dude Forearms

[@technologynewsreviews200]

@@themagicalmilkshake yeah forearms bro, where is there a question in that?

[@loonylovegood5572]

Who else is learning about professions they never knew existed?

[@pufferfish3168]

Pumpking carving looks alot harder than building 4×4 Piston door

[@muffinadrianweber]

debatable.

[@whatareyouthinking6021]

@@muffinadrianweber not even debatle, it's just a fact

[@jacobrutzke691]

@@whatareyouthinking6021 it's not not if your dumb like me.

[@jacobrutzke691]

Which seems to be true since you spelled debatable like debatle

[@darkdenproductions]

This is the best video I've seen Wired put out. Great stuff and amazing director!

[@sumwitegurnm6558]

This guy has a nice energy

[@betteryou7hanme]

I'm somewhere between a 6 and 7. My pumpkins always look like nonsense until the lights make the image visible. Thanks for the info on how to improve my game.

[@applegal3058]

I'm a level 1 haha!

[@HyperWolf]

I think I’d be level 4. I was at a level 5 but I haven’t carved a pumpkin in years so I think some of those skills have probably dulled.

[@evansfamily1000]

Great editing, with the split-screen, to see the artist narrating while also showing us the process.

[@tanyat2098]

We don't celebrate Halloween. We don't carve pumpkins. Could not stop watching this video. Incredible artist!

[@MumboTheCat]

I can verify this is a certified *mumbo classic*

[@theblindedterritory866]

lol

[@La_Ke]

Level 30: After carving a brain for our pumpkin friend we now teach him how to speak so he can insult people we don't like

[@trickwillis]

Much like the gunk you are going to get on your arm when carving a pumpkin, there's always more that can be thrown at people, don't underestimate the how much a pumpkin can supply

[@robertsteel3563]

Thank you for Inspiring Mumbo Jumbo!

[@keithhays2837]

That was really cool to watch! Mr. Hall did a fantastic job of presenting this. I learned a lot, and I had expected simply to enjoy the presentation.

[@junekim120]

OMG thank you for such a nice tutorial on the different levels of pumpkin carving! This will help me get much better at my seasonal hobby 😊

[@ruchikhera7013]

Anyone here after mumbo jumbos different levels of piston doors video?

[@isyraqfirdaus5322]

i!

[@Theo-yb2ji]

me

[@someone-yj6mk]

I love watching these kind of videos. When I think the art looks perfect, they make it even better!

[@crambo1822]

I absolutely love these videos please keep them coming they inspire me to partake in such interesting hobbies.

[@kykye885]

Nice piston door

[@Zappr]

Thanks mumbo. I now want to consume more pumpkin content.

[@roni3896]

Another video with him please, this was extremely entertaining.

[@Luna-xb9zn]

This was the most informative pumpkin carving video I've seen so far!

[@jeffjefferson9916]

So we’re all here trying to learn how to carve a pumpkin last minute?

[@ella17734]

Last minute? 🤔 I don't carve mine until a couple of days before Halloween because they can rot so quickly. To each their own.🎃 Happy Halloween Everyone! 👻

[@applegal3058]

No, I'm just in bed bored. It's something interesting to watch.

[@catgame9177]

i don’t even celebrate halloween

[@olly]

I’m here for the Mumbo comments, and also the pumpkin carving

[@TheHantyPanty]

everytime i think it’s at the final level it just keeps going !!!!! so much talent

[@igorf243]

This guy is a real master, not only doing but also explaining some life hacks is incredible.

[@32KZ]

next you should try turn a pumpkin into a door. ditch pumpkin sculpting- Pumpkin house

[@basspuff514]

This is so cool, I had no idea there was so much depth and technique to pumpkin carving.

[@NickRoman]

Actually, level 3 is buy pumpkin patterns. You stick a piece of paper to the pumpkin with a drawing on it, and then poke holes through to trace out the outline. Then remove the paper and cut along the dotted line. I've done it with little experience and it turned out pretty good. Way better than the standard level 2 even if you try to get fancy and draw something unusual.

[@seraphwithatank6535]

"12 layers of pumpkin carving and making a sculpture out of a inconvenient material."

[@aschizo4111]

i like how level 4 is already something i could not do. this is amazing to watch

[@joshswain6495]

I've wanted this video for so long

[@emilpind1005]

when level 3 is a dragon you know level 13 is gonna be some real carving skills.

[@edntz]

I was always curious about how they did this. Amazing video! Thanks.

[@TheseAreugly]

Epic door bro

[@SRMkay]

What exactly does a professional pumpkin carver do during the other 11 months of the year

[@raycarden7941]

Grow pumpkins, create and sharpen tools, study art and make designs

[@daveotuwa5596]

This series is adorable! Every episode is about contents most likely seen on the education streaming library MasterClass. It's time to learn the steps for faithfulness!

[@SMUGOE]

Thank you for sharing your technics & skillset. Very good to see. 👏

[@stevenamato505]

Level 30: for this level, we actually need to sacrifice a goat to please the pumpkin god

[@RaptorJesus]

I believe you mean The Great Pumpkin, and his vessel on this earth, Pumpkin-King Jack.

[@treebles]

great soh!

[@derek-64]

@@RaptorJesus Linus is his humble, faithful, and loyal servant.

[@jonavuka]

level 10000: we are going to genetically modify the pumpkin and super age it with my special tool so that it actually grows into the model i want... this isn't carving anymore... i'm just playing God for fun

[@solus7976]

10,000? at the rate he was going at, gmo pumpkins that grow into whatever shape you want would be like level 23 lol pretty sure we'd hit sentient jack o lanterns by at most 100

[@jadenlukebouah554]

3 AM rolls around and now I am an expert on pumpkin carving

[@jickhertz4124]

He explained and taught really well!

[@Angel_Billy4-30-23]

This was a pretty interesting video. I always wanted to try my hand at pumpkin carving but I tried a few times when I was younger and they just came out looking horrible. I mean, I guess it's just like anything else, practice makes perfect. They're just too expensive for me to waste keep trying on. But I think this year, I'll go around and collect all the pumpkins that my neighbors are throwing out and practice on them for now.

[@bluwasabi7635]

Also, try carving watermelon. Then you cen to eat the inside! Know though that it is a bit harder than pumpkin carving because it is thinner and more delicate. Maybe chill it a bit once carved to give it more rigidity 🤔

[@PumpkinFreak]

practice makes perfect!

[@ozok17]

it's easier to carve fresh pumpkins than used ones

[@ozok17]

@@bluwasabi7635 pumpkin can be eaten, and the seeds are good roasted with a bit of oil and salt&pepper (or whatever seasonings you like)

[@RocketPWR816]

You had me at level 7 I was for sure that was the pinnacle of pumpkin carving.

[@GSCBrowning]

At every stage I seriously said to myself “I love this pumpkin” 🎃

[@pattiduresky8760]

That was awesome, thanks for the detailed next level suggestions.