Why carve a swan? Well, to carve a swan you need to know many basic techniques. I consider the following to be the 7 Steps of every ice sculpture-
7 Steps of Sculpting
- Design– Apply the design
- Silhouette– Cut out the silhouette
- Blocking in– Push back the levels
- Rounding– Cut off the corners
- Sanding– Smooth the ice
- Details– Add refractive angles
- Clean– Remove small scratches & chips of ice
The following photos show how we carve using the 7 Steps
We carve at room temperature
(this block tempered for about 1 hour)
The template paper sticks right to the melting ice
Click here to learn 4 methods of making templates
Using a tracing bit, & die grinder
draw through the paper
Using a tracing bit, & die grinder
draw through the paper
The complete design is traced onto the ice
Because the ice is warm, you can easily remove
the template paper & discard
Using a chainsaw, Cut away all of the ice to create
a “Cookie Cutter” of the sculpture
(Be sure to cut out at 90 degrees)
More “Cookie Cutter”
finishing the “Cookie Cutter”
Using a Bullet Burr 125,
Remove the ice beneath the neck
Connect from the other side
The finished Sillhouette “Cookie Cutter”
Next carve in the reference lines
(still using the bullet burr 125)
More carving reference lines
All reference lines carved
Use a die grinder for reference lines not a chainsaw!
This is important
Using a chainsaw, Begin blocking in the carving
You will notice that the ice will just fall away as you carve
Remove the ice next to the head and neck
Remove some ice under the swan
Angle cut the large feathers
Angle cut the small feathers
Angle cut the tail
Split the wings
Using a bullet burr 125
Round of all of the corners
Cutting away 1 corner makes 2 corners
Cut those 2 corners away & your pretty close to round
Using a pistol grip sander,
Sand all of the surfaces that are to be smooth
Using a Rotary Knife,
Detail the feathers
Using A Rotary Knife or Vee bit
Detail the eye & wave
