Black Bears and Brown Bears and Grizzlies

My sister asked me to revisit the bear pieces I had done and send her a few. Tourists ask about them and are fascinated with the idea of  Bears in the area. Now I'm not an expert on bears but I think the top photo is a grizzly and the bottom a black bear.

Since I have a template for a Brown bear I'll do that one first. I have bigger plans for the grizzly!

 

 

This is a very simple portrait and uses only 4 colours of brown plus black for the nose and eyes. But I thought I would do a few versions of this using different combinations of fabrics. The tedium is making the templates so I made 4 at once on fusible web.

 

 

I'm still playing with the upholstery fabric but I've also introduced some lighter weight polys. (I would really like to cut up some of hubby's clothing but I've been banned from his section of the closet. Forbidden fruit and all that.)

But this first guy turned out well. I'll be putting them all on green substrate this time. They will be in the forest or field, so visible edges will blend.

Detail and fur will be added with thread, after he's placed on his background. As yet that's undecided.
Here's a bear done in red/browns. Same bear, but very different.