For this entry, I’m going to go over some of the thinking behind designing a sculpture from scratch. Above, you see the finished design. I’ll take you through my process of designing a sculpture that I ended up carving for a recent event.

    To start with, the client wanted a sculpture with stars and the first name initials of the two girls that the party was being thrown for: M and K. Working with those elements in my design program, I came up with the design below.

    Once I had the design, I began the process of fitting the ice to the design (not the other way around.) I put a block-sized rectangle over the design to see how I could put this sculpture together, as shown below. I generally try to cover as much of the sculpture as possible with the rectangle in this step, even if I have to turn it at an angle.

    It looked like I could get most of the sculpture out of a 40x20 inch slab attached to a base. Aside from that, I would have to add a couple of pieces, but it looked like those pieces could come out of the same main slab. There were a couple of spots that didn’t quite work, but those were minor adjustments. These minor adjustments are indicated in red. I added an additional support to the “K” star and I moved around two stars below the top star. I made the top star a little larger because I could and because, as one of the most exposed parts of the sculpture, it would melt the fastest.

    Sometimes the hardest part is getting the most out of your ice. These two add-on pieces on the main stars didn’t want to fit easily into the leftover ice. But they did fit, so the sculpture requires only a half-slab and a base to complete, as shown below. (When making a template for a sculpture that’s a tight fit, give yourself a little extra space and make the template a little small.)

    When you weld pieces on like this, leave a little extra ice around the weld. You can cut this ice off after it’s frozen and it will help the sculpture look more like it’s from one big piece of ice instead of several smaller pieces. These two pieces of ice need to be added as early as possible, so that the welding surfaces aren’t damaged. Also, take special care in the case of the “K” star, as the weld crosses a letter. You need this weld to be as clean as possible. Normally I would avoid this situation, but I felt like it would work okay this time. Look for upcoming entries on aluminum welding for details on how to make clean, strong welds with ice.

    When you’re finished with the outside silhouette of the sculpture, you have to work on the interior shapes of the stars. Cut all the way through the ice only in spots where you’re comfortable. Otherwise, just cut part way and chisel out pockets between the stars. Make sure that the cuts around the stars themselves are as sharp as possible.

    This sculpture design employs a method of ice sculpture design that I call the Core Design concept. Basically, smaller pieces are attached to a larger center piece that is the structural foundation of the sculpture. I’ll expand on this method in future articles.

    Finally, I’ve included a diagram which is a starting point for another way to put this sculpture together. It takes a bit more ice, but some might be more comfortable with this method.

    I didn’t get a picture of my “Stars of the party” sculpture, but the client was happy. Don’t wait for a party for people with the initials “M” and “K”. This piece could be carved with or without initials or even with short names instead.

    If you would like to use this design or any other design on this site, please check the design usage guidelines. The design collection page lists designs on the site.