Courtney Wunder of WunderKin Pumpkins is one of the world’s best pumpkin carvers. This is not a fact-checked or provable statement, but I am declaring it, and you’ll agree when you get to know her and see her work. Courtney takes notable cultural moments and carves them into pumpkins with mind-blowingly detail. This 33-year-old tiny-but-mighty Texas native took some time out of her busiest time of year — pre-Halloween — to chat about this spookily impressive endeavor and how she continues to raise the bar for her carvings.
Get to know Courtney Wunder, the inspiring woman who’s taking over Halloween!
We spliced together a quick behind-the-scenes montage of Courtney at work:
When did you start carving pumpkins?
I started pumpkin carving as a kid. I loved Halloween a lot. There was just something about carving pumpkins during the season. I started with the kits you can get at the grocery store, and I always picked the hardest ones because I had to be the best at everything [laughs].
Then I remember seeing a pumpkin carving contest pamphlet and the prize was money and a bunch of candy. Ten-year-old me wanted the candy. I sketched out a headless horseman holding a pumpkin head. I carved my pumpkin, shot it on my mom’s camera, and got the photo developed. The lighting was so terrible, but I was sure it would win. It didn’t.
Have you ever been this scared of a pumpkin!?
The next year, I saw the pamphlet again and the photo that won was a baby next to a pumpkin with a bat carving. I thought, “There is no way that baby carved that pumpkin!” To add insult to injury, someone had used and altered my design from the previous year. I’m sure that was somewhere in the fine print, but I just thought, “I vow to be the best pumpkin carver ever!’ That fueled me to get better at my craft.
How have you continued to learn and get even better at intricate detail?
In college, I was looking for some ideas on the internet, and I found some really cool stuff by this one artist Alex Wer of The Pumpkin Geek. I thought, “DANG! That is next-level stuff! I want to be able to do that.”
At the time, I was still carving regular pumpkins, I found a pattern of Jack Sparrow online and did that with a shading technique, not a traditional cut-out. I just kept going. I reached out to Alex a few years later, and he gave me some tips on tools to use and things that help prep the pumpkin to make it easier. Since then, he jokes that I have far surpassed his talent, which is just so cool to hear.
Watch as Courtney’s layers come to life.
We’re getting more details.
Boo(m)! The scene is so wildly life-like when the light comes through.
Wait, what do you mean regular pumpkins — what is the alternative!?
I transitioned to foam pumpkins in 2014 or 2015. I switch because one year I spent 10 hours making a really cool Dr. Who pumpkin and it was moldy the next day. It was so depressing! I wanted to find something that would last longer. That’s when I found craft pumpkins. I can have a spooky lamp year-round now! And now when I do commissions or sell them, they last forever.
How do you monetize this passion?
I started as a hobbyist and sold to friends and family. But finally, this year, I was able to do a show at Comicpalooza [Author’s note: I had to look this up, and it’s a HUGE deal — it’s Texas’ biggest pop culture event] in Houston. I decided to officially start a small business. I have been selling to people and slowly growing. I wish I were faster so that I could accommodate more people! Everyone wants a pumpkin in October, but I only have two hands.
Here is a great example of how subtle coloring can dramatically affect the overall impression of a lit-up pumpkin.
How long does one take?
It depends. I’ve gotten crazy this year and added paint on top of my carves to add more detail. The Stranger Things one probably took 24 hours. But the average is somewhere between eight and 12 hours per pumpkin.
Courtney continues to tag the movies, actors, and celebrities she carves, but no one has reached out to her … YET. It’s only a matter of time until Eleven sees her pumpkin.
How do you decide what scenes to carve and bring them to life in 3D?
People will usually come to me with an idea or a reference photo and I will mock it up on Procreate and make a pattern from there. I used to start off by doing hard layers where you carve the lightest one and that’s your brightest layer. Then you carve a slightly flatter layer close to that. I did that three or four times, but you could see the defined lines.
A self-proclaimed nerd, Courtney draws inspiration from the world of fantasy. How clever and cute is this Coraline vignette?
But I decided I wanted to blend more so that you don’t see those defined layers. I use a Dremel and a bunch of different drill bits and I sand. Now, I stay away from cutouts altogether. It can really throw off the look of the pumpkin in person.
What’s a common misconception you hear about carving?
People think they are photoshopped! That’s why I have done a lot of behind-the-scenes videos on social media to show people just how intricate the work is.
View this post on Instagram
Thank you, Courtney, for sharing your process and your pumpkins. Follow Courtney’s carving career on Instagram @WunderKinsPumpkins, visit her website, and message her if you want a piece of pumpkin artwork of your own! All photos by Courtney Wunder.
**********
For more of the South’s best people, places, and things, follow us on Instagram @StyleBlueprint!
