I had never done bears before. While searching for some good reference material for this pic I came to the conclusion that is very hard to make something look bear like as apposed to random indeterminate species of fur with rounded ears. Aside from the panda bears don't have a lot of distinctive markings (particularly polar bears). So it's important that you get the muzzle to look bear like.

With arctic critters I realize that I must fight the urge to make HUGE ears. I love huge ears but for realism's sake (I realize the irony of talking about realism in reference to the anatomy of an imagery critter) animals in cold climates have to have small ears other wise they loose far to much heat from them (unfortunately unlike you and me they can't just go out an invest in some ear muffs).

Did a bunch of experimenting with this picture. Mostly with ways to speed up the coloring process and to get rid of those pesky dark lines I dislike so much. I'm pretty happy with how everything came together.

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