How Ice Carving Works

Artists work with many different mediums to express their creative and artistic endeavours. Some artists may paint with oil or water based paints. Some may sketch with pencil or charcoal. Some artists sculpt using clay, bronze or other materials. Artists use a variety of materials to make a many kinds of unique art. What some people may not realize is that ice can be used to form art. Artists who use ice carving have learned to create a variety of unique, artistic, and sometime functional ice sculptures.

Due to the tools used in ice carving, it is not an artistic medium that is good for children to work with. This method of artistry can be very dangerous; proper safety precautions should be taken to ensure that no one is hurt. Gloves, goggles, ear protectors and a hardhat should be worn when sculpting ice.

Most ice sculptors will do ice carving work that involves large blocks of ice that can weigh up to 300 pounds. When water freezes, any impurities in the water, like dirt, sand, or sediment, will freeze as well. Depending on the sculpture, an artist may want to have pure water or impure water. How the water is frozen may also affect the purity of the ice for an ice carving. Colored dyes can be added to the ice and for larger carvings, colored lights can be placed behind a sculpture to give the illusion of color.

Many artists that create in this medium will use a drawn template, often on a piece of cardboard that they will attach to the ice to use as a reference while they work. Artists, that have been carving for several years may be able to carve some shapes and designs in a freestyle manner.

Most sculptures are started with a chain saw to carve away large pieces of ice. This will give the ice a rough design form. A disk grinder may then be used to smooth the ice and a small hand held blower can be used to blow off small pieces of snow that stick to the ice carving. Next, the artist may use a smaller saw, such as a keyhole saw or a chisel, to carve out fine details. The end of the chisel, whether it is flat or pointed, as well as the size, can give a variety of different looks or textures to an ice sculpture. A hot iron or blow torch should be used over the carving to help give it a smooth and glossy finish.

Ice carving is a very precise art. The artist cannot waste too much time, because the ice melts. Yet rushing an ice carving may cause the artist to chip away at the wrong part of the ice. If a mistake is made, it can be hard to fix and the artist may have to start over using another block of ice.

Depending on the size of the ice carving, and the temperature on where it's being display, the masterpiece can last anywhere from a few hours to a few months.

By: Nick P.

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