Ellen DeGeneres is a New Orleans native which made this an obvious addition to this post. This ice portrait was done by Iceculture
updated 8/2/23 by working on the seo, also adding some pics and new info
ice portraits are not exactly easy
I’ve picked out a few examples of an often challenging kind of ice art: the ice portrait. In its simplest terms, it’s just an accurate rendering of a person’s likeness using ice techniques. In practice, it can be quite difficult to make a recognizable transition from life to ice.
All of the ice portraits have something in common: New Orleans. Ellen DeGeneres (above) is a New Orleans native. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt (below) had a house in New Orleans and Brad was active in the city’s rebuilding following Katrina. Huey Long (bottom) is probably Louisiana’s most famous governor and was the obvious inspiration for the character Willie Stark in the film “All the King’s Men.” The latest incarnation of this movie was partly filmed in New Orleans just before Hurricane Katrina.
Australian Hugh Jackman has the weakest connection to New Orleans, but his movie Logan was filmed here. Peyton Manning, on the other hand, while he’s never played for the Saints, has very strong New Orleans ties and is considered a favorite son of Nola ⚜️
The other thing that some of these portraits have in common is Iceculture. Julian Bayley graciously provided the color portrait examples and the Huey Long portrait was done on an iceculture CNC that had been modified to use Dean Carlson’s I-Sculpt software.
but ice portraits aren't rocket science either
As with any potentially intimidating project, if you break it down into manageable steps, it becomes a lot less scary. The first step in creating an ice portrait is to get the right photo of the person. This step is crucial. You need a good photo of the person that portrays them in a way that people are used to seeing them.
Everyone is used to seeing Ellen DeGeneres with a big smile and Angelina always looks sexy. The special features of the person need to be well presented. Look at Angelina’s lips and Brad’s eyes. Nicely contrasting shadows that emphasize their features can be very important as well, particularly in white only snowfill portraits like the Huey Long example.
The next step is to simplify the color scheme or “posterize” the image. This means that you drastically reduce the number of colors in the image while still maintaining a recognizable portrait. Photos have the appearance of continuous tones, which can mean the use of millions of colors. You really need to get the number of discrete colors down to the single digits, so you’re discarding a lot of information.
For the Huey Long portrait, this step was particularly difficult, because I only had two “colors” at my disposal: white and clear ice. For the color portraits, you have a lot more variety available, but you still have to deal with your available color palette (i.e., what colors of sand or paint can you get?) and the limitations of your tools and the ice. Each additional color can mean a lot more time that has to go into the portrait. You also need different levels in the ice for different colors and you don’t get unlimited depth.
Angelina’s and Brad’s portraits give us an opportunity to take a closer look at the posterization process. Not counting her makeup, Brad has at least one more color in his hair and face than Angelina has. Angelina’s portrait looks a bit like a Patrick Nagel work, or even out of a comic book, while Brad’s retains more realism.
Now this could easily be an intentional effect; the designer might have wanted Angelina’s look for some reason or it could also be a consequence of the photo they chose to base their design on. But as you simplify a portrait so that you can portray it in ice, you move in Angelina’s direction, removing the little details that add realism. So it becomes a tradeoff and a judgement call where to stop the posterization.
once you've simplified the project, it's easier
Once you’ve posterized your photograph, then you begin to move from design to execution of the portrait. You need to create some sort of “map” to achieve the portrait. If you’re hand engraving the ice portrait, then your map might be a template, or even a series of templates.
If you’re using a CNC machine to engrave the ice, then there is no real world template, but the design is programmed into the computer with the design software. Snowfill only designs like Huey can be carved from the front or back of the ice, while color portraits must be carved from the back of the ice sheet to enable the addition of color.
If you’re making the ice portrait by hand, then I would recommend staying at the simpler end of the scale, such as Huey below. Hugh Jackman and Peyton were also quite doable and I did actually engrave them by hand. You might try a design with a few colors, but if you have 10 or more colors in your ice portrait, then I would strongly suggest using a CNC.
I realize this might be easier said than done, but a complex color portrait like those above is best rendered on a CNC machine because it can give you the subtle depth differences necessary to get many different colors into the ice. It’s certainly possible to render a complex color piece by hand, but the required amount of time in the freezer would certainly make me think twice.
Once the color map has been generated, then the portrait execution becomes a technical exercise in creating the necessary different levels in the ice and then adding the different colors. It can be a slow, painstaking process, even if you use a CNC. But the results can definitely be worth the effort.
Portraits have long been a very important part of the art world and, in the last few years, they’ve become part of the ice art world as well. With some definite “how did they do that?” appeal, an ice portrait can be that unique element that helps to make a special event really special!
links and stuff
This post is listed on the ice sculpting techniques page, and you could also find photos and info from this entry on the ice sculpting secrets Instagram account or the facebook page. You can comment there as well as below. And if it won’t LET you comment below, then definitely comment on fb and/or IG, since those don’t shut down comments. Thanks!
