14. Unless you have carefully studied a deer's head in the flesh, or have a cast to work by, you can not reasonably expect to be able to make the head precisely as it should be. Fifteen minutes of close and studious examination and note-taking of a head in the flesh will do for you what my poor pen could not hope to accomplish with ten pages of written matter.
15. There yet remains that part of the work which requires the most artistic treatment. In finishing the face, the first thing is to shape the cheeks, which is quickly done provided they are filled with precisely the proper quantity of clay. By trial you will find whether more clay must be put in, or some taken out. After the cheeks, form the eyebrow, fill the orbit with clay, and with a small wire nail fasten the skin down in that deep pit which is found in front of the anterior corner of the eye. Press the skin down upon the muzzle, fill in the lips with clay, and fold them as they were before skinning. Before bringing the lips together, fill out the nose, the chin, and corners of the mouth—but not too full, however. That done satisfactorily, bring the lips together as they were in life. No wiring or sewing is necessary, nor even pinning. It is to be supposed that you have kept the skin of the lower jaw pulled well forward into place, and if so, the lips will go together easily and stay there for all time to come. In modeling the end of the nose and the nostrils, give the latter good depth. Make the opening so deep that no one can ever see the bottom of it. No little fault disgusts me more than to see the nostrils of a deer, buffalo, or elk all plastered up with putty, as if the animal had never drawn a breath. Make your animal look as if it were breathing, rather than standing up with rods in its legs, and its hide full of rubbish.
PLATE XI.
[a]Head of Prong-horn Antelope.]
[a]Mounted by the Author.]
16. The eyes come next. Arrange the lids carefully over the clay, which nearly fills the orbit, then insert the glass eye, (which in every ruminant should have an elongated pupil and white corners), and work it into its exact position. Do not have too much clay behind it, or it will have a bulging, overfed, or choked-to-death expression. Do not let it protrude until it could be knocked off the head with a bean-pole, or lassoed with a grape-vine. Keep the eye well down in the orbit, and the front corner well sunken. An animal's expression depends upon the eye more than any other one thing, and the expression of the eye is dependent upon the disposition of the eyelid and the line of sight. A good glass eye has just as much power of varied expression as has a living, naked eyeball—which is no power whatever—unless it be the eyeball of an angry cat.
17. See that both eyes look at the same point, in front, about eight feet distant; that precisely the same amount of iris shows in each, in short, that both are exactly alike in every respect. A deer should have a mild, but wide-awake—not staring—expression, and the attitude should not be unpleasantly strained, either in the curve of the neck or the carriage of the head. Avoid the common error of making a deer's head too "proud." No goose-necks or goitre on your deer, if you please.
Having finished the eyes and fashioned the nostrils, cut some pieces of pasteboard, bend them to the right shape, and either sew or pin them upon the ears to hold them in precisely the right attitude until they dry. If the ears have lead in them they will support themselves. Lastly, wash the head thoroughly to get all the dirt and clay out of the hair, and comb it until it lays naturally. Now hang the head up in a dry room and leave it for a month, if possible, two weeks at all hazards.
When quite dry and shrunken, brush it well, and rub around the mouth, nose, eyes, and ears with a tooth-brush to remove the last remaining suggestions of clay. (See chapter on "Finishing Mounted Mammals."). Paint the end of the nose and edges of the eyelids with vandyke brown and black, using oil colors. The hairless parts of the lips are entirely concealed, consequently there is no painting to be done around the mouth unless the shrinkage has slightly parted the lips. If this has occurred put some black paint in the crack.
By all means mount a handsome head upon a rich and handsome shield. Tastes differ widely, but for my part I dislike a thin, light shield, and one not nicely finished is also an eyesore. The wood should be of a color that will harmonize best with the color of the head upon it. The finest shields are made of cherry ebonized, or red-wood, black walnut, oak, mahogany, or maple, and highly polished. The best shape for a shield is such as that seen behind the caribou head in Plate XVI.