Skull w/ habitat? WIP

[Bone Painter]

Here is a raccoon skull I'm trying to spice up by doing something different with the plaque. Instead of a hanging mount, this will sit on the display shelf or mantle. It's not by any means finished- I've only stained one side of the rocks, so there are rough patches showing through on the undersides & I think I'm also going to use an oak finished plaque rather than the pecan finished plaque in the photos (I don't like the reddish tint of the pecan stain, it dosen't look natural to me). I'm pretty fond of the way the set up looks, & I wanted to see if you guys feel the same way about it. I haven't seen too many euro/skull mounts done with "habitat", usually they're just on plain plaques, and I was just kinda getting bored with that. I'll post more photos when it's 100% done, I just need to make a few adjustments & pick up some epoxy. Let me know what you think of it so far.

[Beaumont taxidermy]

I like it.  The pecan slab does not look too bad.  the variation of colors between that, the skul and the rocks gives a contrast that  I like..

[Sikk]

bone, to get a nice warm finish on your woods , choose hardwoods with color( cherry, ash, oak, elm, walnut, hard maple) and use a hand rubbed tung oil finish. Gives the wood a clean warm finish, I use it on all my bases.no glare, or dried dust to worry about. paul

[Bone Painter]

Thanks guys, for the tips & comments. I can get the pine plaques easily and inexpensively so they work great for smaller stuff, but I might try some nicer wood w/ oil finish for some larger skulls I'm going to be doing- mnt lion, bear, wolf & wolverine. I'll probably research which types of trees are found naturally in the areas where the animals were taken & use that to decide which woods to use for which skull. Where do you get your woods for bases Sikk? 

Here's a new photo of the coon, it's all fixed & permanent now. I decided to stick w/ the pecan finish  I know it doesn't look too much different now than it did, but thought I'd post the finished pic anyways.

[Lisa M]

I like this too Megan.  It's different than your other work.  I like your other stuff too...but this especially I like.  Would you mind taking picture of more than just the one side?  Did you break the antler yourself or did that happen all on its own?

Sikk...thanks for the tips on how to do the wood.  I have an unusual pedistal I'm doing for a bear skull.  The wood slabs are just that...slabs...made by my clients father.  I don't want the wood to be shiny...but I don't want it to be left raw either.  Thank you.