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Apple Dumpling DesignsSo...at what point in your bear making/designing did you know you found "your look". Now that I've been watching bears for awhile I can definitely pick out who made what bear by just looking at the bear.
Did you stumble upon it...did you know what you were wanting and just keeping trying until you reached it...what did you do? How long did it take you? Or...are you still looking?
Curious George!!!
Nova Scotia,CanadaI'm still searching....:rolleyes:
Hugs,shari
BEAR ME SHOOTKAI Like to make totally diferent style bears. But when I work with the face my hands intuitially do something "the same".
I'm not that famous artist in tha bearworld, so I would love to hear all our girls ^ Judi, Shelli, Nancy, and OTHERS (unique artists)
Hugs, Julia
Past Time BearsIt takes a little while. I used commercial patterns when I first started and my first several bears just looked like random bears and unrelated. As I gradually became more aware of all the different things one could do with the individual pattern pieces, I began to assemble the look I liked the most. Finally, I took a couple of design workshops from known teddy bear artists (Ted Menten being one of them) and developed my "Past Time Bear" look. It's very hard to know exactly why a certain style emerges from different artists but, in my opinion, it really has a lot to do with an artist's personality, life experience, and philosophy. Not anything concrete, but something intangible that cannot be defined. And as far as I can tell, every bear maker will develop a "look" of their own in time. Eeeeekk . . . there I am again . . . getting all silly. What do I know, anyway???!!! 
I haven't made very many bears, but since I have designed my very own first pattern and made others from there, I find most bear have a similar look. I also find that as I finish a bear, I finish it in a similar style that I am familar with. I think I am just starting to develop my own look. But by next year, it could be different!
Back Road BearsSo, Kirsten, are you saying you are NOT going to stop making bears after all??
Oliver is sitting here next to me... I brought him over so he could see his picture in your avatar!
He's saying to all his new bear buddies: "Hey guys, that's me!!! Look! There's my picture on mom's computer!"
He asked that I send you lots of hugs and wants to know if you are feeling ok?
Daphne
Back Road BearsBear Look - It's taken 5 years!!! But the last 6 bears I made all have a very distinct Daphne look yet are all from different patterns I designed. Yippee!! I finally found my 'look'.
Funny, they have big bellies and close set eyes (like my hubby) and big noses and feet (like my dog!). And they are great snugglers... like me!!! 
Well, as I feel more normal, I do get the itch to make bears. But now school is starting and I am so tired from just setting up my classroom, I can't imagine working and making bear at this moment. :)
I am feeling pretty good, today was a bad day though, spent most of the day moaning from tummy issues and trying to sleep. I'd just not eat, but "peanut" wants to grow big and strong! :D
Glad Oliver likes his pic on the computer! Someone asked me to make them an "Oliver" He's so special, I'm not sure I could recreate him. He will remain a OOAK, but may have some brothers and sisters one day!
Back Road BearsOh, Kirsten, make more!!! Being an only child is no fun!! He wants lots of sibblings, he says. He's handsome and thinks there should be more bears out there with his good looks! But he's asked if one of his siblings can come live here with him!! So, when you're ready...... but we either swap bears or I pay full price!
Huggies.... (Oh, you'll actually be needing those before too long!! Oops!)
Bear Hugs,
Daphne & Oliver
bears by beesley TMI don't think we have yet established a look? I don't know, maybe some of you have a different opinion of that, please let me know? Do we have a LOOK????? It has often bothered me because I want people to look at a bear by bears by beesley and say that must be a beesley bear!!!!:P
Hugs Louise
Delartful BearsOooh when I first got into bear making last late November, I would admire the artists who had their own look, so I knew it was something that I wanted to develope
I have to admit, when I was first starting, I thought I would make largeish bears, around 16", I didn't think for a moment, I would be making the smaller sized bears. I was tossing up between two styles.. However, when I tried my hand at one of the styles, I fell head over heals - I haven't even tried that other style.
It came easily to me - I knew what I wanted to do !! I think I have my own look and style... and while I know it's not to everyone's tastes.. I don't really care, it's what I love, so it's what I should be doing!
Just go with what you love! I believe if you do what you love, you will do it well (in theory anyhow LOL)
Danni
I'm often told my bears are instantly recognisable - which is nice to hear! I don't know how they do that; somehow it just happens! I haven't ever tried to contrive a style, I've just let what comes naturally evolve.
I think whatever 'it' is, develops as you make bears - the more the better! 
Wisdom BearsHi All,
I am still trying to get a look after nearly nine years .Although people have told me they know my bears, I am always doing new patterns ,so I guess different bears are hard to look like your others. Hugs Rita xxx
DoodlebearsAs I like all of my bears to have a smile I think that is what has made my bears recognizable. Just lately though I have developed a different look to some of my bears and even then I try and make sure they have a smile. The first one that I did differently my daughter, Sarah, named for me. She called the bear 'Darwin' as he was the first one that had evolved...see the connection? I think when anyone makes a bear even if it is not from their own pattern they will finish the bear off in their own way and end up with bears that have a familiar look even if they don't mean to. I believe it comes down to the individuals way of doing thing like the positioning of the eyes and ears and how they stitch the mouth that will always give the identifiable look.
Yikes!!! My little dog has just been sick all over the carpet....yucky little darlin'
Oh, how I hate these yucky jobs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:(
Jane.
Jane.
Nova Scotia,CanadaHugs Jane!!
Hope you feel better soon,I know it would have been hard for me to have a full-time class during all three of my pregnancies,my heart is with you.
Yes I do think Bears By Beesley have "a look" I think you all do here on the board.I'm going to go look for mine,it must be here somewhere.....
Hugs to all.Shari.
Flying Fur StudiosI also think Beesley bears have a specific look to them. A very vute look I may add.
Now, i don't have a style yet either. Not really. I may develop one, one day. But I also know some great artists who's bears look very different from eachother and they like it that way. I think i may end up like that as well. Change keeps me excited, and I love to try new things with each bear. At least for now anyway.
Shari, your bear totally have a look to them. I think I could pick your bears out of a crowd. It's the faces, and the noses that do it. I also wanted to say I'm very happy that your aviator bear sold. He was gonna be mine, but I like to bid last minute, but a bunch of friends came over and I got distracted. I was SOOOOOOO mad!!! 
Keep making them please, I have to have one!
Heather
LuxembearsI agree with what so many of you are saying. I believe the more bears you create the more you will see the common 'thread' that identifys them as yours.
I have several original patterns, more than 20 and I like to have different styles, yet people tell me they recognize them as mine, even though I think they look very different from one another. I sometimes don't see it myself but I think it is like having children, in way. Outsiders will often see the resemblence between the children and thier co-creators, mom and dad.
My bears are also a spin-off of my inner self or soul. They come from my heart. I often don't know what they are going to look like until they are finished....kind of like they are speaking to me and have a life of thier own. Sounds silly maybe, to an outsider, but I bet many of the artists out there can relate. One example: when I create a felted face bear, each face has certain parts, yet they all come out looking different, even when I try to make them look the same. hhhhmmmmmmm
My ' look'...and i guess I have one, is not something I decided on ahead of time. It it happened on it's own.
I have been an artist as far back as I can remember, drawing...ALL the time with lots of detail. Without trying to sound boastful, I have won many drawing contests starting in first grade, and through high school and also made the top 1200 in the USA. Also won a national drawing competition at age 14. I never had any help from anyone, but my parents were my enablers as I had an endless supply of drawing tools, colored pencils, markers, crayons.
Anyway, at the risk of writing a novel (sorry) I believe art is something that you are born with . Yes, anyone can go to art school and learn a SKILL, but to really make art your own it has to come from within.
I also have to say I recognize so many of the bears before actually seeing who the artist is...this means you too Louise!
What would we do without art. Artist put the rainbows in our world.
I suppose developing a look is a bit like a signature...it may be the same letters as someone else but they are written in a different way.
I think my bears have evolved without my really realising it ...when I look at pictures of my early bears they are so very different to the ones I make now...yet I still feel as if I am on a journey to make a bear which I feel represents the fuzzy feeling that I have inside when I think about all the lovely memories of my childhood...If that sounds soppy...well I expect it is...but that is what I strive for.
I take inspiration from loads of things but often it will be my dogs, though we have a new kitten now and baby animals are so pretty and lovely that I to try to depict the innocence in their faces.
What drives me on my journey to make the bear in my dreams is the knowledge that I'll probably never make it...because there will always be something else to try...
Jenny
I think Judi and Jenny are on to something. Certainly there is work out there, by other artists, that inspires or touches me more than others, for reasons I can't entirely define; it just IS. In my own work, from the outset, I went in those directions, because they resonated with me.
When it comes to "creating" or "defining" or "making happen" a look, though, what it comes down to is some kind of weird, intangible experience, of looking at that little stuffed head, and just kinda knowing where it "feels right" for each feature to go, and in what size, and in what color, etc. It's almost an intuitive experience. In a way, the features create themselves; that's just where my head and heart and hands want them to go.
I think this unique look of our bears is why we can "look" like our bears. Something we think looks pleasing and right to us in our bear creations would be something that is familar. It could be a family member, pet or ourselves.
I can find the soleful eyes of my Mom's dog there, the mischeivous mouth of my cats, and part of myself shining through my creations. 
Posts: 8,574Honey, I can't find my look until I find my lost pea brain :/
I hope it's soon
Upstate New YorkThe "look" I would think is nearly always developing, but especially for beginners as we decide what we like, what techniques work best and which ones we like to implement. I've used patterns, and have done some originals, but I don't think my bears are yet strongly bearing resemblance to one another.
Deb (NY)
When I visited Japan many collectors commented that my bears look like me ( I did think that must mean I am short fat and very hairy) but truly I think that Kirsten is absolutely right when she says we are drawn to create bears that look like part of ourselves that we can relate to.
I choose to adopt pets that have a certain look ...and then work to create bears that reflect the image that I aspire to....
And ,interestingly, why a collector will choose to adopt a bear designed and made by one artist over that of another
I think if I went to an analyst they would have great fun with me....!!!
Jenny
Posts: 8,574Oh then the Japanese must think you are very cute!
Dilu
Haus of Bears, Inc.I made sooo many Bears in the last Years, and I still did not find my "Look" yet.
Maybe I am changing my designs too often, or, could anybody , looking at my Bears, tell that this is "one of those Black Forest Bears".?
Rita
