A head by a nose. The drawing on the nose is further revised and finally ready for carving. I won't get to the specifics of each step or what tool I used to carve the nose. For me once the nose is laid out and drawn in the way I want it to look, carving it is the easy part. After that it's a simple matter of rounding it to shape, cutting each nostril to the same shape and size and burnishing it with the woodburner. The reason for burnishing the nose is that when the final paint and finish is applied the nose has a more realistic look.

 I think now would be a good time to talk about another invaluable tool for woodcarving. Reference material. I can't carve a polar bear if I don't know what  polar bear looks like. Well maybe I could, but would it really look like a polar bear. I gather as much reference material as I can find on the subject I am trying to carve. Books, pictures, the internet and even taxidermy books can all be used for reference. From the intial idea to the final painting I am constantly using my references.

The drawing in of the nose is further refined and ready for carving

This is a taxidermy cast of a black bear nose. All bear noses appear to be fairly close to the same. Along with the nose cast and several close up pictures of the polar bears nose I can carve one.