Competition Designs

 

Label all pieces as you diagram the ice sculpture to the actual dimension of the block.  I prefer to use 2 inch x 4 inch dimension when I draw.  Make sure your piece has some type of base to hold itself up and give it stability.  If you split a block into 5 inches you may need a footer block to stableize it.


The next item on the agenda is to create a plan of attack.  Lay out what needs to be done and the order in which you will do it.  I will determine this by looking at my block layout and thinking the process through. Since this design have never been carved before I will be taking a few educated guesses.  If you find some problems in my thought process please let me know.


  1. 1.  Split block into a 7” and 3” slab

  2. 2.  Cut out footer from 3” slab then cover 3” slab with blanket and dry ice.

  3. 3.  Cut out tail piece and lay 7” block on side and freeze tail on in a horizontal position.

  4. 4.  Create a t-slab for the bird (7”) to stand on its own by standing the 7” block up with the birds neck to the ground so you can freeze the base across the seam of the tail to the main block.  this will create a complex seam and be very strong. Then flip to upright position.

  5. 5.  Cut out head piece and freeze on to neck.

  6. 6.  Dry ice seams (head and tail using a dry ice snowball) refer to Tips #16.  Now cover with blankets or silver foil bag.  Refer to Tips #17.

  7. 7.  Cut out wing pieces A B C D place in dry ice box

  8. 8.  Cut out flowers carve and detail, place in dry ice box

  9. 9.  Back to bird body, cut out first dimension

  10. 10.  Carve head and neck

  11. 11.  Prep birds back by making a V-shape cut so that pieces A and B flair out at a 45 degree angle from the body.

  12. 12.  Freeze on pieces A and B

  13. 13.  Angle cut the ends of A and B so that when piece C and D are placed on they will come out at a 25 (or so) degree angle from the seam.

  14. 14.    Freeze on pieces C and D

  15. 15.    Template wings and carve

  16. 16.    Carve body

  17. 17.    Carve Base

  18. 18.    Clean

  19. 19.    Freeze on flowers

  20. 20.    Clean again


Once you have done the block lay out and you think it works then practice once for the build to see if it works.  Many times I have to redesign after the first practice because of a miss calculation or I think of an easier way to do it.  After practice go back to your drawing and change what you like and don’t like based on your practice.  The piece that is sampled with this discussion was never carved before.  Try carving it and see if it works!  The design provided is to show you how to attack designing a sculpture for competition, do not use this design in a competition.  You may use it for your business or festival use.


I would like to see a two block or three block layout for this sculpture?  Would anyone care to convert this design?  If so please send it to greg@rockonice.com consider it homework!

The designs you will find here are to show you how

a professional ice carvers mind works.  The designs and block layouts are not for you to reproduce in competition, but to help you see how to break down the block.  You are welcome to use our designs for demonstration or shop use.

You will become the CNC Machine!

(Design provided by Trey Justice)

1. First thing you need is an idea, I often wait for something that inspires me.  Sometimes this takes a while, be patient.  You should carve what you know and whatever you enjoy.  Personally, I love carving wings because it can make any design explosive.  I also love to carve fish or anything with an underwater theme.


2.  Once you have decided on a theme you should gather some reference material.  I often use google, the library or even kids books.  Comic books and coloring books can be great reference material as well.  If possible I try to use a 3D model.

Designing Basics

  1. 1.Idea    (Bird)

  2. 2.Reference material

  3. 3.Drawing

  4. 4.Template drawing

  5. 5.Block layout

  6. 6.Plan or timeline

  7. 7.Practice

  8. 8.Adjust design from practice

3.  The Drawing at its final version.  Wings are separated for drawing but when it is templated I will only use the front wing.

Bird images from online sources.

Major Referance lines.  Remove Feathers and wood detail.  There is only one wing now because I will use the same template  to create both wings.  The largest feathers I will keep on my template and the primary feathers will be detailed in at the end, so they will not be on the template.  The flowers and leaves are major lines but they will be removed later for the final template.

First block is too small.  I will not have enouph ice to make wings,

head or tail.  If the block

is small than the bird is big.

I like this size.  I think I will have enough ice to have two wings, a tail and the head.  I will have to split the block.  Possible 50 inches tall on this design.

I think that this block is too big which will make our bird too small.  total height for this design would only be 42 to 45 inches.

If you study this layout you will see that everything is properly labeled and all ice is accounted for in the design.  Notice that the flowers will be carved seperately and pieced on at the end.  This will make the flower stand out against the wood grain and create depth that you can not always get when you carve everything inside the block.  This design was never carved before, try it and let me know what you think.  Maybe this is a good design, maybe not.  The bird may be too skinny for the size, in that case you may want to redesign this piece as a two block design. 

Hint:

Sculptures designs that tell a story will often enhance your scoring. 


The title of your sculpture is important and can often tie your theme or story of your piece together.  Always have a title.


If you decide to carve abstract then you want to make sure that you have very strong technical skills like precision cutting.


Always design a piece that you will enjoy carving.  If you are happy with your work than how the judges score will not matter.  The piece will be enjoyed by you and the audience.

Sample Designs

   Single Block             Two Block               Three Block

Send us some of you best designs.  We would like to feature past competition designs, but we also welcome designs for your business that you feel deserve to be recognized.  Any design that thinks outside the box is good with us!

Now you can start drawing.  It is important to draw your design from the template view first.  Having a strong profile will make your sculpture easier to carve and to fit into the dimensions of a block.  It will also take better pictures.  Many times a fully dimensional sculpture will not take great photos because there are too many angles to view without that perfect siloheute. I will then redraw my design from different angles so that my brain starts to think about where everything belongs in 3D.  The original drawing should have all your detail lines as well as major reference lines.  


After completing a drawing I will then decide what lines I consider detail as opposed to what I consider major reference lines. When I look at a design I immediately eliminate eyes, scales, feathers and any other feature that will hinder my progress on a template.  The major reference lines will be visible from the very beginning all the way to through the completed sculpture.  These lines help you carve and transform your piece to the 3rd dimension.  Look at some sample designs to see major reference lines as opposed to detail lines.  When you have worked all this out you will have your template drawing ready to go

Now is a good time to decide if this is a single block, two blocks, or three blocks or more design.  Take your drawing and start placing a rectangle with measurements that match the ice dimension to see how it fits in the block.  This is where having a drawing program on the computer really makes it easy.  You can shrink your drawings or your blocks and easily manipulate your drawing in most programs.  I use Corel Draw.  doing the block layout is usually a young carvers biggest challenge.  You want the sculpture to be as big as possible and explosive as well.

Any pieces that do not fit in the block must be frozen on (for questions on freezing tecniques refer to Fusion section).  If you are carving a bird then you may have to piece the wings on or if you have a fish you may need to add fins.  You will also want to remove pieces of your design that should be carved separately and later frozen on as detail.  This makes your piece easier to carve and makes your finer detail pop out.


When you start to lay out the diagram think about building the sculpture so that your design is already blocked in for you.  (Refer to 10 steps to 3D carving process)  The blocking in stage is very difficult to achieve, so if you can build the sculpture layered to the proper depths and thickness than you are a step ahead of the game.

3.  If you are a young artist and drawing is not your skill (which is the case with many sculptors) then you may choose to use a real life image and trace it for your design and template.  This is totally acceptable.  Many of us are great carvers but find ourselves very limited on drawing skill.  This is normal.  If this is the case, you should still make your own drawing  even if you have to trace it.  By tracing and re-tracing you will be studying your piece as well as practice drawing.  This is how I learned to draw, no formal training. 


Keep in mind that your design should have a strong profile and be simple.   Start simple until your mind can visualize explosive designs.  Each time try to add a more complex feature.  For starters, keep it simple.  Try doing just one large figure and concentrate all your time on that.  If you carve a fish, then make it as large as possible and do not add any small items like; star fish on the coral, little seahorse to accent, or other small fish.  this may add to the design, but it may hinder your ability to carve one perfect piece.  Judges would rather see a simple piece done perfect than a complex design poorly executed.