Owl Beak

[paulieboy23]

Hi everyone,
I'm attempting to carve a Saw Whet Owl and am having a terrible time carving the beak. The rest of the face is coming out fine, but I cannot visualize where, or how to remove the wood to make the beak protrude from the face. I round the head as in Jerry Simchuk's book, and I also have the article written by Al Jordan written in WC Magazine. I even have a study cast, but no matter how hard I try, the beak ends up flat and tiny. Can anyone try to explain to me how to go about carving this beak. The pictures in the book and magazine show the beak already carved, but not how to carve it. I don't know weather to run a bit around the rictle feathers and carve around the outline of the beak, or just stab in and carve around the beak. If I keep this up I'll have a barrel full of the most expensive kindling on earth! As always, I'd like to thank, in advance everyone who takes the time to answer my endless questions.
paulieboy23

[Whittling]

G'day Paulie,

I did a caracature owl a little while ago last year. After having a look at the Saw Whet illustrations on Google, I think it might help. I've posted a few photos anyway in hopes...

There is a ridge between the eyes caused by the converging feathers as they meet there and push outwards. The beak is an extension of this. You need to refine the shape of the ridge at the bottom to form the beak, rather than removing any material from the ridge itself. Hope that makes sense. Also hope it helps