The Jack-o’-lantern is one of the most iconic symbols of the spookiest celebration of the year. So let’s draw a simple Jack-o’-lantern. We’ve picked out three easy-to-draw variations to suit any taste. Drawing feels more inspiring when the subject carries meaning. Here’s a look at the traditions and history behind the Jack-o’-lantern to spark your creativity before sketching it.
The Legend of “Stingy Jack”
The Jack-o’-lantern as we know it today comes from an old Irish folktale about a man nicknamed “Stingy Jack.” According to the story, Jack was a devious and drunk man who managed to trick the Devil not once, but twice. After he died, God refused to let him into heaven because of his sinful life. The Devil, still angry about being tricked, also refused to let Jack’s soul into hell.
So, Jack was left to wander the earth for eternity. The Devil, feeling a small amount of pity, gave him a burning ember from the fires of hell to light his way in the dark. Jack put this glowing coal inside a hollowed-out turnip to create a makeshift lantern. This wandering spirit with a lantern was soon called “Jack of the Lantern,” which was eventually shortened to “Jack-o’-lantern.”
On the night of Samhain, an ancient Celtic festival that marked the end of summer and the beginning of winter (which we now know as Halloween), people believed that the boundary between the living and the dead was blurred. Spirits, both good and evil, could walk the earth.
To ward off Stingy Jack and other malevolent spirits, the Irish and Scottish began to carve frightening faces into root vegetables like turnips and potatoes. They would place these carved lanterns in windows and at doorways to scare away any wandering evil spirits.
When Irish immigrants came to the United States in the 19th century, they brought this tradition with them. They soon discovered that pumpkins, which are native to North America, were much larger and easier to carve than turnips. This is how the pumpkin became the iconic symbol of Halloween and the Jack-o’-lantern we see today.
Reference Photo by Taylor Foss on Unsplash.
Note: The reference photo is real, while the sketch and the colored version were created with the help of AI to serve as inspiration for your own drawing.
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