Tony Abbott's face might be one of the most recognisable in Australia, but sculptor Linda Klarfeld found herself caught off guard after sitting with the former prime minister for more than an hour.

Mr Abbott's distinctive ears and Roman nose - prime fodder for the nation's cartoonists and photographers for decades - were almost too attractive to sculpt.

Commissioned by the Victorian goldfields city of Ballarat to create a bronze bust for its Prime Ministers' Avenue, the Czech-born sculptor wanted to avoid a predictable caricature.

"It wasn't an easy one. I personally think he's quite attractive, and I always say attractive people are hard to sculpt because it's hard to make them look real," she said.