Putting Glitter In Your Ice Carvings
Ice carving is certainly a unique discipline, but you have decided to participate in it. Perhaps you are hoping to reach a commercial level with your work, or maybe you just want to try it out and see how it goes. If you are just starting out with ice carvings, taking a class to learn how exactly to use glitter is advisable. Look into your local recreation center or community college to find out if courses are available.
You may also be wondering why someone would want to put glitter in his or Read the rest of this entry »
Injecting Color In Your Ice Carving
An plain ice sculpture is an amazing thing on its own, but adding color can enhance its beauty. There are several techniques to doing this including:
Lighting: This technique usually includes a backdrop to intensify the colors. Several light sources can be used including tinted bulbs, bulbs behind tinted material, and laser pointers.
Sand: This is usually done by freezing colored sand to the back of a sculpture and freezing a layer of Read the rest of this entry »
Advanced Ice Carving Designs For Sculptors
Advancement of skill in the ice carving requires the mastery of several areas of the craft, including proficient tool use, accurate shape cutting, and the precise execution of detail. When these have all been accomplished, it may be time to move on to more difficult designs. These designs can be found in several places.
Online: Many ice sculptors wish to share their joy of the craft, and are willing to put their designs where their heart is. Online collections range in the difficulty of the designs they include.
In Read the rest of this entry »
Easy Ice Carving Shapes for Beginners
To reach your full potential as an ice sculptor, it is important to start with the fundamentals. Any imperfections in the fundamentals will eventually create imperfections and, therefore, a loss of potential in later levels of sculpture difficulty. The following are examples of ice carving shapes that should be mastered by beginners:
The Cube: This shape may seem like a no-brainer, but it is not an easy feat to accomplish. First, measurements should be made to 1/4” larger than you want the cube. After these measurements are marked, side cuts can be made. Pay attention to corner Read the rest of this entry »
Creating Basic Shapes In Ice Carving
Before you can run, you must learn to walk. Before you can create intricate pieces, you must master the fundamentals. This idea is certainly applicable to ice sculpting, where any flaw in performing basics can lead to disaster in the execution of more difficult designs. Here are a few shapes that should be mastered by a beginner:
The Cube: While appearing easy, this shape is actually moderately difficult. To begin with, 1/4” should be added to the desired measurements of the piece. Using a carpenter’s square, mark the corners of a square. After Read the rest of this entry »
Ice Carving: Tools of the Trade
Ice carving is certainly more than a sculptor, a chainsaw and a block of ice. In fact, hundreds of tools for the trade are now in circulation. Here are just some of the basics available:
Ice Tongs: large tongs with sharp tips used to move ice.
Aluminum Plates: available in various sizes, these plates can be heated and used to bind two pieces of ice together or to smooth a section of ice.
Electric Blower: used Read the rest of this entry »