when I get requests for an alligator ice sculpture, I always start by suggesting this one, since it DEFINITELY makes an impression, especially filled with shrimp. This one was at the Hotel Intercontinental in Nola.
updated 6/30/23 and 7/2/23 a LOT; added stories that I assumed I’d already included and more 🤷♂️
my first (and best) alligator ice sculpture design
One day, not long after I moved to New Orleans, I had some time to kill at my part-time bartender job at one of the Brennan’s restaurants. (It’s tough to move to a new city and just start taking ice sculpture orders 🙄) To keep myself busy, I drew out a gator head design that I thought would be fun to carve and fit in well at many New Orleans-style events. (I didn’t yet have anyone that actually WANTED an alligator ice sculpture.) For a reference, I used a postcard that I’d picked up at one of the many nearby souvenir shops.
Eventually, I convinced someone that it would make a neat sculpture. And since I drew that first alligator ice sculpture design, I’ve carved this piece many times for events across the Gulf Coast. I’ve made it into a luge when needed and it’s even showed up in a big-budget movie. (I’ll get to that in a sec, but you probably never saw it 😕) All in all, it’s likely one of the best ideas I’ve ever had for a sculpture.
learning about alligators
Over the years, I’ve refined the design some as I’ve tried sculpting it a number of different ways. And even now, I’m learning more about alligators in an effort to make my sculptures better. For example, somewhere along the line, I found out that gators rotate their eyes so that the pupil keeps a vertical orientation (as shown in the drawing) much like a compass needle always points north.
Also, I found out that I’ve been only giving my gators about half the number of teeth that a real gator would have. My design has 42 while live gators have 70-80. Because the teeth have to be left a little larger to allow for melting at an event, I probably won’t change that much, but it’s useful information if I decide to carve a gator at a cold weather competition. Not surprisingly, there’s lots of info on the web about gators if you’re curious. Check out this devilish looking gator peering at the photographer just as the day ends and the night takes over.
More than once, when I’ve sculpted other alligator ice sculptures, I left a bottom tooth peeking out when the mouth is closed. It turns out that that’s a crocodile look, not an alligator one 😬 You’ll notice that the jaws of the gator fit together well, even though they’re curved in shape where they come together. I used to think they were basically straight, like some bird beaks, only with teeth.
some notes on the design and templates
For this design, the templates are a bit different than the norm. Most ice sculptures are cut and viewed primarily from the 40”x20” side of the block. In this case, two blocks (at least) are combined and the sculpture is cut largely from the 40”x10” side of the blocks. The 40”x20” template shown (below, first rectangle) ends up being the TOP view of the sculpture.
Also, you’ll notice that the top view doesn’t use the whole width of the block. I usually use 17-18 inches of the block instead of the full twenty, partly because I’m often not sure what kind of tray will be used at the venue.
The older EPI trays (the common clear acrylic trays with the white lightboxes) are only 17 inches wide at the bottom. If I use all 20 inches of the block, I might well create a sculpture that would have to be modified to fit into the tray. (Even if a client says they’ll use their tray, I bring a large disposable tray as a backup plan.) At any rate, I don’t have a problem making this sculpture a little smaller; it’s heavy enough as it is!
notes on sculpting
Before I try to aluminum weld the upper jaw onto the lower jaw, I try to cut away as much as possible from the snout end of the upper jaw. If you do this properly, it’s usually not terribly difficult to weld the upper jaw into place because the upper jaw will be heavy enough near its base so that it won’t tip over.
However, just in case, the drawing below shows a couple of methods to make the welding process easier. The red section on the back of the gator’s head shows ice that should be left in place until after the weld is completed. This extra ice will act as a counterweight to keep the upper jaw from tipping. If that extra weight is not enough, you might consider welding additional ice on as well.
Also, in the gator’s mouth, a strut has been added. The strut is cut from an extra piece of ice and wedged into the gator’s mouth. It also will help keep the upper jaw from tipping while it welds. I used to leave this strut in place during transport, but I eventually decided that it wasn’t necessary as long as I got a good weld. You can use it if you feel it’s necessary, but if your welding skills are good, I wouldn’t worry about it. The jaw weld is a pretty big weld.
some practical details
The design shows an additional platform welded onto the bottom of the sculpture. This gets the gator head up over the edge of the tray a bit and is a good idea, but means that the sculpture requires more than 2 blocks. Also, at the base of the back of the neck, I usually cut a handhold as this piece can be difficult to move and put into place.
As another practical detail, I usually will cut drain holes into the lower jaw so that water doesn’t pool. Most of the time, this sculpture is used as part of a shrimp display. Once in while, other kinds of food will go in the gator’s mouth. (like strawberries🍓, seen below)
A gator head sculpture on the set of “All the King’s Men.” (starring Sean Penn, from 2006)
Originally, they had asked for a pelican sculpture to hold the strawberries, but they changed their mind after they saw the alligator head sculpture on my website.
alligator ice sculpture lands coveted movie role
Didn’t I say something before where this alligator ice sculpture was in some movie?
Oh yeah, I did! Here we go.
One day, I got a call from a prop manager working on a movie shooting in New Orleans. They wanted an ice sculpted pelican with the beak hollowed out so that they could fill it with strawberries. I wasn’t super enthusiastic about this idea since it didn’t seem like it would work that well. We talked about it a bit; they also wanted a back up sculpture in case shooting went long and the sculpture melted too much (That’s fairly common for movie and tv sets.) I don’t remember exactly how it went, but I think they changed their mind about the pelican after looking at pics on my website: they decided they wanted an alligator head instead.
At first, I didn’t know much about this movie: All the King’s Men. But it turned out that it had actors I’d heard of: Sean Penn, Anthony Hopkins, Kate Winslet, and Jude Law. Plus it had Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) and the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo)! It was also a remake of a pretty famous earlier version, the 1949 Best Picture winner. And it was a Louisiana story, featuring Willie Stark, a fictionalized version of assassinated Louisiana governor Huey Long.
Annoyingly, they wanted the ice sculpture on set early in the morning, a morning that I was supposed to still be on a mini-vacation in Biloxi. So once the sculpture was done, I made arrangements for my assistant Ben Shane to get the sculpture there. I’d have to meet him on set later.
So I went on my mini-vacation, the highpoint of which was a concert by Robert Plant. We spent the night in Biloxi and headed back to Nola in the morning. Once I got back, I headed to the set to make sure everything was going okay with the ice. Fortunately, it was.
This wasn’t my first time on a set, but it almost was. And it was definitely my first time on a major motion picture set. It was a cool set, on a beat up military barracks with old classic cars parked all around. But I was a moron, wandering around taking pictures with my little digital camera. It didn’t take long before someone informed me that I couldn’t do that. Oops!
Ben had done a great job getting the gator head there and set up. (Remember that this sculpture isn’t exactly light.) But he nearly made me want to go hide in a corner when I’d said something about Jude Law and he exclaimed “Who the 🤬🤬🤬🤬 is Jude Law?!”…just as Jude Law was walking by.
Fortunately, neither of these transgressions were enough to get us kicked off set, so we hung around and watched them work the alligator ice sculpture into the movie. It was made from ice that didn’t exist during the movie’s time period and sitting in a tray that wasn’t made until probably the 1980’s…but nobody would notice that 🙂
They filmed one series of shots that I was practically praying would make it into the movie. They had Jude Law sitting on the other side of the sculpture, positioned so that his head was framed by the jaws of the gator. Surely this would be part of the symbolism of the film!
Spoiler alert: that scene didn’t make it into the movie 🙁
but then we had to wait...
All the King’s Men didn’t exactly come out as quickly as we expected. I used to think it was because of a thing called Katrina, which happened not too long after the movie was filmed. It apparently was initially scheduled for a late 2005 release, but didn’t come out until almost late 2006. But I read later that the delay might have been for retooling and/or possibly to give it a better chance during awards season. So I have no idea 🤷♂️
You probably already know this, but just because something gets filmed and seems like it’s going to be in the movie, doesn’t mean it’s going to actually be in the movie. So I was nervous as to whether or not my alligator ice sculpture was going to make the cut. I was a bit anxious before my ex and I went to see the movie.
My ex wasn’t nervous though. She didn’t tell me, but she’d already read a review that mentioned my alligator ice sculpture. However, we didn’t know when the scene would be in the movie and she actually missed it when she ran to the bathroom 😬 My gator was only there for a few seconds, but it was right in the middle of the shot, with Sean Penn giving a speech in the background 😮
what about other versions? how about as a luge?
Initially, I didn’t really think my gator head could be converted into an alligator ice luge. But when I got a request, I figured out a way and I was VERY happy with the result. I had to think about it a bit, but it’s not hard.
It turns out that if you maybe make the gator’s head a little smaller (not much though) and then raise it up on a base, then you can create the slope that the ice luge needs. I drilled a hole through the top of the back of the gator’s head and then connected it to a channel cut on the bottom of the gator’s jaws. Then that channel was connected to a hole in the front of the bottom jaw. After that, you simply run a tube through it and freeze it in with slush. It’s not very noticeable either!
other sculptors' alligators
I’ve seen a number of ice sculptors try this alligator ice sculpture design. It turns out that this design isn’t super easy, I think partly because it has a different structure from most standard ice sculptures and the big jaw weld is a significant complication. Stuart Grayson though, did a very nice job with his version; super clean too!
some other possibly useful info
If you have any questions about this alligator ice sculpture design, email me or comment below. (It might not let you though.) 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 Instagram account and you can comment there as well as below. Thanks!
