As you can see in the photo above, the glitter frozen into my comedy and tragedy ice sculpture is a dead-on match for the garish Mardi Gras decorations around the sculpture. Horrible photo, btw. Fire that photographer!
my comedy and tragedy ice sculpture
updated significantly 4/9/23 when added to the new site
One fun thing about this comedy and tragedy ice sculpture, you can easily add color accents to dramatically enhance it. The picture above and the designs below show a Mardi Gras color scheme added to the piece. In the case of Mardi Gras colors, you’ll likely want to use glitter instead of sand or paint methods, because at Mardi Gras, there’s glitter everywhere. It’s way more Mardi Gras-like if it has glitter. More on that below.
The color is added just like snowfill, only it’s added from the back of the sculpture and then snow is packed over the color while the piece is lying down. Take special care not to push the glitter around with the snow, otherwise the snow will push the glitter out of the way and be visible from the front.
You should be adding any color details while in a freezer if at all possible. Adding color to ice sculptures outside the freezer is tough, unless it’s just cold outside. However, if the fans in your freezer are blowing hard, it can also blow your glitter around. So keep that in mind!
In the template below (the last image), the design is reversed and indicates the spots where color can be added from the back of the sculpture.
Unfortunately, the design above doesn’t do justice to the color additions. When purple, gold, and green glitter is used, the accents really stand out and make the piece more dramatic.
If you’re creating your comedy and tragedy ice sculpture for a theater event, you probably don’t want Mardi Gras colors in it. In that case, you can choose your own colors or go with no color at all.
about glitter
Glitter is a horrible, horrible thing. It’s worse than sand from the beach, although it usually doesn’t get stuck in painful spots. If you accidentally knock over a container, immediately resign yourself to finding random glitter in the vicinity for the rest of your life. In New Orleans, glitter is part of the culture. Between Mardi Gras and all the rest of the potential costume events, there is literally no escape.
side note: If you’re a guy in a relationship/marriage, be very clear about your glitter use in your ice sculptures. Get photographic proof. Dancers at gentlemen’s clubs sometimes use glitter makeup, and glitter from an unexplained source can lead to unnecessary suspicions 
On a more serious note, glitter is also a microplastic. Despite the metallic appearance, it’s more likely made from plastic. When you add glitter to an ice sculpture, you’re giving it an easy path to water waste. It’s not much of a stretch after that to see how it can end up in rivers and oceans from there. I am looking into reasonable solutions, including biodegradable glitter, and I’ll post an article when I make enough progress.
what's the CNC potential for this design?
The comedy and tragedy ice sculpture design is PERFECT for producing on a CNC machine. I’ll be looking for an opportunity to run it on my machine. In that case, or if just run out of things to add to this site (not going to happen), then I’ll post a CNC-friendly version of this design. Until one of those things happens, this is what you’ve got 😉
for more info and some guidelines
If you have any questions about my comedy and tragedy ice sculpture design, email me or comment below, if it will let you. If you would like to use this ice sculpture design or any other design on this site, please check the design usage guidelines. The design collection page lists designs on the site.
You might also find photos and info from this entry on the ice sculpting secrets facebook page and you can comment there as well as below. Thanks!
