Design & Templates
Design
When designing a single block ice sculpture you will start with the proper dimension. I often use 2” x 4” for my design space. You may also draw it any equivalent ratio (3” x 6”, 4” x 8” and so on). Just remember that the block is twice as tall as it is wide. Most designs will be in the vertical position, when the block is laid on its side it is only 20” tall and is not very impressive to walk up on. If you have a design that lacks height you should find a way to elevate it for viewing. It could be a base made of ice or simply putting the sculpture on a stand on top of your table. This will help in the awe factor as people walk up to your sculpture.
When drawing my designs I use the grid provided so I stay within the block. I do enjoy carving designs that explode the block but for buffet sculpting the majority of my designs are with out any fusion and within the block for ease of design and delivery as well. If you are creating an original design than you should study what it is you intend on sculpting. Many designs are variations or representations of an actual animal, vegetable or mineral. With that in mind be creative and try to keep your designs simple.
Let me explain what I mean about simple. If you decide to carve a fish then do one fish maybe have them connected to seaweed for support. Avoid carving a fish that is intermingled in the seaweed. The better designs are less complicated and provide a strong silhouette. If you look at the example designs the first has seaweed in the front and seaweed in the back with the fish going in and out. This looks great, but is not simple enough. The design to the right is the same fish much easier to carve and provides a strong silhouette. As this sculpture melts you will still see the fish and seaweed. The first design will melt down and appear to have a stake going through the fish and may not be distinctive enough to determine what it is with out the detail.
Something else to consider when designing a sculpture is that what ever is on the top of the block will melt down first. Remember that cold air drops, so the top piece will provide lower sections of the carving with cool air and preserve them. So if you have some detail or a feature of your sculpture that you want to last the longest place that more to the center of your sculpture. This does not hold true if you are outside and the wind is blowing. If the air is moving around the sculpture it will melt at a faster rate because you are taking that cold air away constantly. Wind will erode an ice sculpture. The eagle sculpture will melt from the wing tips down. That cold air will drop and help to preserve the head of the eagle for a time.
It is a good idea to leave a blocky base on your design. This will help for stability during the melting process. If your design is top heavy and melts quickly at the base for some odd reason there is a chance your design could topple. Having a square block base that is full depth of the block will help. Also because the bottom couple of inches of the base are under water in the drip pan the ice can corrode at the base and cause it to become unstable.
Some other tips for young ice artist is to draw your design from the front, the back and the sides as well. Drawing your sculpture is much like studying your design. If you spend time to draw redraw and layout all aspects of the design you will find it much easier to carve. Now there is this belief out there that sculptors are not very good at drawing. In many cases this is true, however with practice anyone can learn to draw. So no matter how bad you think you are keep drawing because it will only help you.
One excursive that I used quite often in the beginning was to take a picture of something and put tracing paper over. I would trace the picture onto the paper. Then I would trace the picture I just traced but this time I would only trace the outside lines. I would then freehand the detail of the image or sculpture. This helped me to visualize lines and draw one line at a time instead of trying to draw the whole image. The same concept can be said when you are using the graphing method. This procedure helps me to visualize independent lines as well. The graphing method is redrawing the picture in smaller segments. With ice I use an 8-box grid as you can see. I draw one line and connect them according to where they meet on the grid.
Some people try to redraw an entire image when in fact it is much easier to draw one line at a time. On the pineapple I draw a line according to the intersection of points so I start at the top. My first line starts at the top center in quadrant 1 at line A and angles to the left about 1/3 of the box length in and 1/3 of the box length from the top. Then it changes directions and meets the centerline A again about 1/3 of a box length under quadrants 1 and 2. Then my line curves around the third quadrant. Notice that I am looking at one line at a time and not the entire picture. Try practicing with this method you will be surprised how well you do.
Another great idea is to create a collage of photographs of your subject. If you find your self-unsure about how something should look or the detail is hard for you to interpret than you can have a reference to refer to while carving. Also keep your design handy complete with detail lines. If you are able a small model will do wonders as well. I use a lot of animal miniatures that can be purchased from Zoo gift shops, Craft stores (Michaels, Joanne Fabrics), or Tractor Supply Company (TSC). Check them out they are very cheap and provide a great reference tool. The zoos are more expensive but you will find a wider range of animals and a little better quality.
If your design is poorly drawn do not be afraid to ask another carver for a design. There are more than a couple of online options for you to download free designs as well, www.nica.org has over 500 line art designs ready to use for ice. Using a proven design can make a big difference in your final product. Chances are if your design looks bad at this stage it will not get better, in fact it will deteriorate from here. Take your time and plan out your designs because this step in the process will lay the foundation for your final product.
Where Can I find good designs?
It is usually easier to convert line art than a picture so look for line art first without color is best. You can find a design anywhere but these are a few places I frequent:
The Design chapter of this book
Coloring books
Kids books
Clip art books
Clip art web sites
Google images
Other ice carvers (with permission)
Template
Once the design is completed the next step will be to transfer it to the template. There are a couple of ways to do this. One method is to use an opaque or overhead projector. Another would be to use the graphing method. And finally the design can be laid out on a plotter that is designed to print up to 24” or 36” wide rolls of paper. All of these options will work and each requires you to prepare just a little differently. In the end the concept is still the same, create a master template and carve from standard and proven designs.
When creating a template you do not want to have all detail lines on the template. You should only have major reference lines. These are lines that you need to achieve a blocked-in sculpture. Major reference lines should be visible through every step of the carving process. If the carver cuts off a major line than you should immediately redraw that line. If you lose your line than it is easier for a carver to become lost in the piece.
Some of the old school carvers and chefs used to draw their template on a cardboard box and then cut out the design. They would then place the template on the block and trace with an ice pick. I do not recommend this method because if the cardboard gets wet then you will have destroyed your master template. It is also is harder to store the template because it takes up so much space. This method could be applied to wooden templates, corrugated plastic even foam. One advantage to paper templates is that you can fold them up and file them neatly in a filing cabinet.
VS.
Major reference lines
Design with detail lines
light box
2”
4”
This section was heavily influenced by:
Dawson List who worked so hard on NICA design for our newsletters.
After you have carved the original once you should then go back to the master template to make necessary changes if need be. You may find that the saw does not fit well into certain areas and causes over cuts. You may want to modify the design to carve easier. Another reason may be that the final product is not in proportion or it is not the look you were trying to achieve.
The graphing method is the slowest of all three and requires more work. Take the design and draw it on to graph paper with your diagram grid on the design. You will redraw the lines to a larger scale because you are now the projector. Just like the pineapple drawing exercise you will redraw each line from one box to another except this time you will be converting to a larger scale.
After your image is blown up make a master copy.
The last method we will cover is the computer printouts. Many businesses have this capability most beginning carvers do not. You must have a printer or plotter that can print on a 24” wide roll of paper. This method is very precise and efficient. You can use a variety of different drawing programs like Corel Draw, Photo shop or Adobe. Once the design is programmed into your computer you can print it out as many times as you like. For Multi-block sculptures this method makes it easy. I highly recommend that all beginning carvers learn to do drawings in the computer. As technology is changing this method will be something you can branch off of easily and grow. If you can learn to carve than you can learn to use a drawing program. Some benefits of having computerized line art is that it makes a nice professional presentation. Also as you create a library of designs it is easier and quicker to draw in the computer. It is much easier to lie out a 10 or 20 block design in the computer than to do it by hand.
The best paper to use for templates is newsprint, which you guessed it, is what they print newspaper on. If you go to your local newspapers they often give away the ends of their rolls, so in some instances you can acquire this paper at no cost. It can also be purchased from an ice carving Supply Company. The average cost of a template size sheet of paper is about $.08 each.
When using the projector method you should only make your template once. That is now considered your master. Save that design and file it away for the next time you have to carve that design. The next time you can use a light box or simply tape the design to a window and let the light shine trough so you can trace the design on to another piece of template paper. The light box is a wooden frame with a clear or white plexi-glass surface with a light behind so you can see the image through multiple pieces of newsprint.
The overhead projector is almost as good as the opaque. The problem with the overhead projector is you have to convert your design to a transparency. The transparency paper can be purchased and printed on with your printer; otherwise you can insert the transparency in to a copier paper tray and copy directly on to it.
An opaque projector is something you can find in any art store, photography store and some times even an office supply store. The opaque projector is great because you can use a colored photograph or line art. You do not have to transfer the image to any special paper or eliminate color, simply place the artwork in the projector and blow it up to your desired dimensions. If you have to reproduce a logo simply place the logo into the projector you do not have to redraw it or reprint it without color. If you are preparing your design in a 2” x 4” (or equivalent dimensions) box or grid you can blow up the design until the box on your artwork is exactly the size of your paper. Be sure to trace using permanent marker. If you are creating multiple block designs you could draw each box individually and then piece them together as you carve or stack your ice.
TIP:
Go to www.NICA.org for over 500 line art designs ready for use in your business! You must be a member, what a great benefit!
