Adorable Polar Bear Wooden Gifts: Part 1

We are bringing a series of carving tutorials for Polar Bear Wooden Gifts that will teach you to make this piece by describing each step and lots of dynamic accompanying pictures. This is the first installment that will show you how to carve the prototype of the polar bear figurine and cut out its various body parts.

Sketch and cut out the prototype of the wooden polar bear figurine

Find a similar 2D drawing from the internet or refer to the cover image of this post to make your own draft. We recommend using a rectangular piece of basswood, the size of which depends on how large you want to carve the bear figurine. Draw a front view of it on the block of wood and cut along the contour lines, this is the first step in all wooden gift carving so we won't go into it here, please refer to our previous wooden gifts for beginners tutorial if needed.

Drawing auxiliary lines

After cutting out the shape of the polar bear, we first use auxiliary lines to distinguish each part of the semi-finished product, including the head, ears, arms, and legs. The white part in the center is its body. Then we draw a center line on the side, which is the very middle of the semi-finished product's side. Here we use a thick marker to draw the auxiliary lines to facilitate our carving and learning.

Ears

We start from the top, first draw the polar bear figurine ear position, the ear is behind the center line, draw two semi-circle auxiliary line can be. Except for the ear semicircle auxiliary line, the rest of the part is what we want to remove.

Arms

Then there is the side of the arm occupies two-thirds of the position, and the top thin and bottom thick, thickness gradually transition, the two sides is the part that needs to be removed.

Legs

Divide the side legs evenly into three parts, the center leg is what we need, the rest of the sides are what we need to remove. The solid part is what we need to keep, and the dotted part is what we need to remove.

Removing the excess wood

Use a wire saw to remove the excess of the dashed lines, this is the easiest and quickest tool to use. Of course, tools such as a carving knife or chisel can also be used. We saw down the solid line from the side, removing the excess beyond the dashed line from the head, ears, arms, and legs respectively.

Summarizing

By now, the general shape of our Polar Bear Wooden Gift is made, and we can start carving from the detailed parts, which will be shared in the next post, so stay tuned with us.