I’ve made LOTS of brown pelican ice sculptures, including 2 for Louisiana governor inauguration parties. This wasn’t one of those though.
updated 10/30/23 with a TikTok and a little extra. Also, 7/15/23 with minor additions. I’m warning you now though, as soon as I get a chance, I’m going to do a significant update on this post, since I have some other fun brown pelican ice sculptures to show you, aside from the basic design and the super detailed one in the TikTok.
my basic brown pelican ice sculpture design
Just as I generated a lot of Southwestern-themed designs when I lived in New Mexico, my time on the Gulf Coast has generated a lot of Louisiana and southern-themed designs, such as this brown pelican ice sculpture design. My Deep South area designs aren’t always the most useful ones for carvers in other regions, but hey, the flamingo design 🦩 was put together for a carver in Alaska, so what do I know?
this photo came from Wikipedia; conveniently the pelican has adopted a similar pose
Brown pelicans are a favorite of mine. They’re widespread along the Gulf and they fly quite close to cars driving along bridges over the bays. They make for a dramatic sight as they wheel and dive into the water after a meal. And while I have seen American white pelicans in Baton Rouge (they apparently over-winter in Louisiana), brown pelicans are by far the more common sight. It’s especially captivating to watch the browns’ dramatic plunges into the water after prey.
While brown pelicans are currently doing well in Louisiana and along the Gulf Coast, that’s not always been the case. Browns are a remarkable conservation success story.
I changed the original design somewhat to make it more realistic, but some things couldn’t be changed because the sculpture requires adequate support. The pelican’s legs need to be shorter and thicker and make sure the tail is firmly connected to the piling.
a not-so-basic brown pelican ice sculpture
@icesculptingsecrets So far, this is about the closest I’ve ever gotten (there’s one other that’s pretty close too) to making a “realistic” ice sculpture. I’d like to try it again some time, but there are so many things to sculpt and only so much time. So maybe not. It definitely won’t be my last pelican (pelicans come up a lot in Louisiana), but maybe the last one that’s this detailed. I have some ideas to improve the coloring and I learned a lot about brown pelican anatomy; who knows, maybe I will try again 🤷♂️ Love seeing these beautiful birds! . . #brownpelican #pelican #louisiana #neworleans #icesculpture #icesculpting #icesculptingsecrets ♬ Agaru! Royal Road EDM / Progressive House(959886) - Eto
I did a significantly more elaborate version of a brown pelican ice sculpture for photos only. If you can’t see it in your browser, check it out on the ice sculpting secrets TikTok account. There’s a hidden support to compensate for the thin legs, but I did NOT Photoshop it out. I did the white head and neck by carefully applying snow. I MAY try this piece again in the future; this particular sculpture was in storage, but went down after a hurricane-caused power outage. Unfortunately, that’s happened before…
links & stuff
If you have any questions about my brown pelican ice sculpture design, email me or comment below. (It might not let you though, so try IG if it doesn’t.) 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!
