at a world championship ice sculpting event in Luleå, Sweden, we really focused on a strong ice sculpture silhouette.
updated 10/24/23 with a very relevant video and on 7/20/23 with retitling, seo, links, and formatting
ice sculpture silhouette and how people see your ice sculpture
Here’s the first of many tidbits about designing an ice sculpture. When it comes to ice sculptures, silhouette is everything! Okay, not everything, but maybe as much as 80 percent for some pieces. If your sculpture’s silhouette is not good, then you’re probably going to get the dreaded “What is it?” question.
Early in my ice carving career, I would occasionally try sculptures that had a lot going on well inside the edges of the design. Important parts of my design might cross in front of other elements and the silhouette was weak. As a result, these sculptures were initially confusing to the eye and someone who didn’t know what it was supposed to be beforehand had to spend time figuring it out. You do not want an ice sculpture that requires contemplation, you want a piece that make a statement!
So how do you know if your design has a strong silhouette? Well, here’s a test. Take your design and trace the outline as if you’re drawing its shadow. If it’s still obvious what your sculpture is when you (or someone else) looks at this outline only, then your sculpture has a strong silhouette.
Compare these two approaches to a swan with its wings up. The first looks fine as a rough sketch, because you can see necessary details. When you see only the silhouette, however, it’s not as clear what it is. In the third sketch, the small open areas are removed to simulate the silhouette as seen from a slight angle; it’s only from directly in front of a sculpture that many cut-throughs can be clearly seen. In the second design, it’s much easier to see what it is because the silhouette is much stronger and you don’t have much ice in front of ice.
this design would have a weak ice sculpture silhouette.
this design has a much stronger ice sculpture silhouette.
THIS video! While it’s about animation, it specifically addresses silhouette and its role in helping the viewer quickly recognize what they’re looking at. Their commentary on animated character silhouette also applies to ice sculpture silhouette. I only found this video well after the fact, but it nails it! If it’s not playing properly on this post, check it out here.
related links
This post on ice sculpture silhouette shows up on the ice sculpting techniques page. Also, you might also find photos and info from this entry on the ice sculpting secrets Instagram account or the facebook page and you can comment there as well as below. (Well, probably not below, since this is an OLD post.)
earlier comments
The following comments were on the original blog entry. After some technical difficulties etc., the blog was reconstructed, and this was the only way to keep the original comments. Unfortunately, the hyperlinks from the original comments are gone in some cases.
darren best
I recently overheard judges at nationals in downers grove saying one of the main things they would judge on was first impression . If your carving a dragon they want to know its a dragon from 20 feet away. that would require a strong silhouette
Wednesday, March 28, 2007 – 03:36 PM
Dawson List
Darren,
The first category considered in a NICA competition is “First Impression,” and it gets special treatment because the judges will usuallly make a round of all the carvings to score that category first and then go back to each carving and consider the other categories. A carving’s silhouette is an important part of “First Impression,” because it helps determine whether or not the judge can quickly determine what the sculpture is all about.
Also, ice carvings don’t really have shadows like a more “normal” piece of sculpture and this makes the outside edges of the piece all the more important.
Thursday, March 29, 2007 – 06:47 PM
Anonymous
Hey Dawson…This is the best blog/web-site me and my buddies have seen I look at it all the time and have taken some valuble info from it. I am an student carver/apprentice at the greenbrier in WV…Do you have a good template for the sculpture above….Better than what I can get from the pic…We love having fun with all the templates on here and I thank you for them. I can see the scale picture behind the sculpture and can see how big the actual piece is I/m only trying to use 2 or 3 blocks…Thanks so much for all the tips
Paul
Friday, February 1, 2008 – 08:24 PM
Dawson
Paul,
I don’t have a template for this piece. Somewhere, I have a design, but I wasn’t the one who came up with the design; my teammate Erik Cantine did. His wife made the clay maquette that you see behind the sculpture. At any rate, partly due to a surprisingly warm February in Sweden, we didn’t exactly stick to our original design anyway. But the main figure is mostly from one piece of ice as they provided large blocks (probably from the Torne River, which is the source for the Icehotel).
Erik carved most of the figure, while I carved most of the other elements, particularly the wings. At some point, I’d like to revisit this sculpture, or a variation of it, at a later competition and then I would have a template. I can see if I can put together a template before that, but I can’t tell you at the moment how soon I could get that done. If I can manage that, then I can let you know or perhaps just go ahead and post it.
I’m glad you like the templates and feel free to make suggestions or request a certain design. I can’t guarantee that I can provide requested designs, but it doesn’t hurt to ask. Thanks and you’re welcome!
Saturday, February 2, 2008 – 11:40 PM
