I’m trying to think if I’ve ever made a giraffe ice sculpture for a regular event…maybe. However, I’ve definitely made several giraffe ice sculptures at live demos, all of them at a couple of zoos. One zoo was in Florida and the other’s in Texas.
updated 11/9/23 with the video and 4/16/23 with seo and formatting when added to iss
my giraffe ice sculpture design
This design was a request from another carver. I’ve done this sculpture in the past, but I couldn’t get my hands on the design that I used, so I rebuilt it. Hopefully, I’ll have a photo of the result to add a bit later.
Obviously, the problem areas in this sculpture are the giraffe’s long legs. They can look pretty thin from the silhouette view, but they should be left thicker front to back (of the block, not the giraffe) for strength.
Also, ankles and knees are usually the weakest parts of any legs. I couldn’t do much about the knees, which in the giraffe’s case isn’t a big deal, but at the ankles, I added some “grass.” You can add rocks, bushes, a message, or whatever you want. Anything that helps strengthen the ankles will help here because during transport and set up, the lower part of the giraffe is particularly vulnerable to a nearly unrepairable break.
Finally, there’s not much base here, but try to keep what’s there as substantial as possible. Make sure that the sculpture is very stable, because it’s a little more top-heavy than most.
One last note on the giraffe’s spots: I wouldn’t recommend adding them until the end of carving. They’re included in the template, but don’t worry about them until you’ve finished the sculpture surfaces. Giraffes have different spot patterns, so this pattern certainly isn’t the “right” spot pattern. Get a feel for the general look of the spots, then make your own pattern.
Also, you can either just outline the spots, as is shown below, or you can make the spots into real spots by snowfilling them in, as is shown in the design graphic at the top. By the way, going with the full snowfill would pretty much hide the neck weld, but then the sculpture has to be transported as one piece, which could be a problem in some cases. If you decide to weld the head on at set-up, make sure your ice is cold enough.
some odd giraffe facts. I haven’t gone and fact checked them, but most seem legit.
zoo demos result in some interesting sculptures
Once I have all of the old designs and posts added to the new site, I’ll do a better job of linking them together and talking about some of the live demos that I’ve done at zoos. For some reason, I manage to schedule live demos at zoos during the holiday season and they’re never close to where I live, lol. I’ve done a number of demos at 2 zoos in Florida and I have a recurring gig at a zoo in Abilene that’s now on it’s fourth? year I think.
But these demos are great and I love doing them since I get to create sculptures that I wouldn’t normally get to do. My giraffe ice sculpture is probably the most vanilla example of the ones I’ve done at the demos. Unusual ice sculptures include a ring-tailed lemur, a warthog, a maned wolf, and an armadillo. If I get the chance, I’ll add a lot of these designs on the off chance that someone can use them 🙂
Also, I’ll hunt down at least a pic or two of the giraffes that I made at the demos. I freehand sculpted them (not even a template), so the quality is a bit lower than normal, but they look ok 🙂
what about on a cnc machine?
Until I get a more capable (that’s bigger and more $$$), I probably wouldn’t try a giraffe ice sculpture on a CNC. It’s not that easy and it’s quite a bit quicker to do by hand. But if you make ice sculpting cnc machines and want to give me one so I can make a giraffe ice sculpture on it, then awesome! I’m here waiting 😂
for more info and some guidelines
If you have any questions about the giraffe 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 facebook page and you can comment there as well as below. Thanks!
