ne day in 1992, I was watching the Halloween episode of the TV show "Roseanne."

There was a party scene, and in the background they had these pumpkins that were carved to look like people's faces. I thought that was a great idea, and decided to try carving one myself. I've carved at least one pumpkin every year since.

I'm not sure why I love carving pumpkins so much. Maybe it's the challenge of trying to work with unpredictable material. Maybe I take some sort of perverse pleasure in knowing that my artwork will self-destruct in a matter of days. Or maybe I just love kids and enjoy doing something I know they'll appreciate.

Whatever the reasons may be, the annual carving of the pumpkin has become a tradition that I look forward to more than Christmas. And every year, when the morning of October 30th rolls around, my wife and kids must bravely accept the fact that I'm going to be in another world for the next 10 or 12 hours.

This site contains carving instructions for two different methods, and a gallery of pumpkins I've created over the past years.

The Mad Scrawler