I’ve reworked this redfish ice sculpture design slightly. Later I hope to do a full redesign for an ebook that I’ve long wanted to finish.
updated 11/20/23 with a video and on 7/10/23 with some design corrections and more info
my could be red redfish ice sculpture design
Ok, I’m rewriting this post about my redfish ice sculpture design. Stuff I thought I knew about redfish, I evidently didn’t, so what I had before was largely 💩. I think I have a better handle on things now, but I’ll probably change even more things down the line.
I guess there are several fish that people think are “redfish.” There’s the red snapper and the red drum. Then there’s another fish called the Acadian redfish, which makes things super confusing. The snapper and the drum are both Gulf fish, but the Acadian redfish is a New England/North Atlantic area fish. However, there’s a part of Louisiana referred to as Acadiana, since a group of Canadians relocated there. It would thus not be unreasonable to assume the Acadian redfish lives off the Louisiana coast. But nope!
At any rate, I think my earlier redfish ice sculpture design was a red snapper. However, apparently, a redfish from this area should really be a red drum. So I’ve reworked the design to look a bit more like a red drum. It still looks a bit like a red snapper though so it’s kind of a hybrid. And I’ve seen redfish drawings/logos in Louisiana that look more like the Acadian redfish. So it’s no wonder I’m confused 🤪
Red Fish Grill isn’t really an oyster bar, but it’s one of my favorite restaurants for oysters. They have a BBQ oyster po-boy that might be my favorite New Orleans meal. I’ve done a number of ice sculptures for them and at least once, I asked for a po boy as part of my payment 😋
I was doing some reading when I was updating the design. When I read that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said that redfish were often found by oyster bars, I was like “ME TOO!” But then I realized that they probably meant a slightly different kind of oyster bar from the one I’m used to. It was really nice to find out that we had something in common though 🤣
this shrimp luge was for Red Fish Grill’s Easter brunch. Their logo (you can see it on the awning in the restaurant pic) actually looks like it’s based on an Acadian redfish instead of the local red snapper or red drum. This shrimp luge was of course designed from that logo.
here’s an older redfish ice sculpture at a hotel. I couldn’t be sure which of the three fish I based it on. But at least I’m getting better photos these days :/
here’s another redfish shrimp luge, but this one is a bit more realistic. I think it’s still based on a red snapper though, instead of a red drum.
to make this redfish ice sculpture design into more of a red drum, I still need to work on the fins and head. I could have also done better with the water, which is a little half ass.
Unless you’re going to cut this piece from a full-thickness block, you should plan on adding a base piece for stability. It also helps get it up out of the display tray.
Also, I would say that you should definitely light it red at set up. However, the red drum isn’t always, or even usually, red. Mostly it’s copper bronze. Sometimes they’re red, possibly from their diet, but they can be silver or almost black sometimes too 🤷♂️ They do like to eat shrimp, so they kind of work in a weird way as shrimp luges 😜
here’s the old redfish ice sculpture design, definitely a red snapper. The dorsal fin is different and there’s no tail spot.
here’s even more info about redfish here, plus I think a manta ray sneaks into this video. HEB is a Texas-based grocery chain that I used to visit a lot when I lived in San Antonio. The video is focused on one of the rare environmental success stories in recent decades: the recovery of the redfish.
links and stuff
This design also shows up in my Father’s Day ice sculpture design roundup. If you have any questions about my redesigned redfish ice sculpture design, email me or comment below. (It might not let you though since the born on date for this design is pretty old 🤨) 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.
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