I am very new to taxidermy and just starting now with fish. Needless to say my painting skills are less than perfect. My question is, what do most people practice on when certain fish are not available? I know I can paint a fish and strip it down and re-paint, but would rather at least be able to do a fair job before I "waste" to many fish mounts. Thanks.
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...look at a photo and replicate what you see then there is no "waste". You should be able to paint most anything. Try to see what color(s) are underlying and which are on top. GET GOOD REFERENCE!
You can practice on paper with the air brush. Probably one of the best ways to learn is to purchase a replica. Practice on it and keep stripping it until you're satisfied. You can do the same with skin mounts btw - you will not waste them. Best way to do it if you're not satisfied is to immediately strip it upon finishing painting. This way it's really easy to get the paint off before it binds to the fish. If you're using water based paints, you can sometimes get by with stripping with denatured alcohol vs. laquer thinner, acetone or paint stripper.
Btw, a wise man re-coined the above phrase that you mentioned and I like it better "Practice makes BETTER, never perfect"...