I want to enter my ducks in a competition this year or next to get my work chewed up by the judges, yes I have worked up the courage finally! and also lucked into a pair of perfect hooded merganser gifted to me by a friend who hunts.The question I have is that no idea I can come up with is good enough on the pose and mounting of the birds.I have seen the champion mounts and have an idea of what I should do but want to come up with a real knockout! any input is greatly appreciated.I want to do these birds justice and have a great display piece for my shop in the process, if I get a ribbon thats just more icing on the cake!
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Birdgirl,
I competed a long time before I started winning the major awards, however I've learned to get creative. But first you have to master the bird. My opinion is to do a nice simple mount. If you've never competed with a bird before, you will learn it's hard to score in the 90's, and an awsome habitat won't do you any good with a low scoring bird. If anything, save the hoodies until you know what you're capable of in competition.
good luck!
Consentrate on anatomy and shape. Get the feather groupe in the correct place and don't worry about unusual positions. Like in most art simple and well done is better than complicated and questionable. Learn everything you can about Hooded Mergansers, like their neck is exceptionally large. The hood is the distinguishing characteristic so study it. front back and side. Try to duplicate what you see.
Good Luck and go with an open mind.
Tony