The Bear's Left side

Yesterday and today, (so far) I have been working on refining the front claws holding the fish and extending the left paw round the side. This meant turning the pole onto its side and the work quickly ran into the back left leg and paw. So here is the area roughed out.
It became obvious that the rest of the left side of the bear should be shaped so as to solve some of the lines and contours coming round fom the front.

I did not have an exact prototype for the side of the bear, but remembered seeing several in Canada which, similar to the Beaver, showed the animal sitting on its haunches. The head is normally of a much larger scale than the body. I took the shaping up to the crown, but not above it as I haven't yet decided what the boundary between the Bear and Beaver will look like.

The surfaces were smoothed as much as possible. In some areas this was frustratingly difficult due to the close interlocking of the grain.When I got it to this stage, I decided it was time to start on the other side in case this threw up any inconsistencies which needed adjustments on the first side.

7.25 Hours