In competition do natural scars hurt you, or is it better to cut them out and fix
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Theoretically, scars are a part of nature and should not influence a judges decision, but.......
Judges are humans, and humans normally like to see an eye appealing piece. Scars and imperfections may have a negative affect upon your piece, even though they are part of nature. You should never have a judge dock you for a scar. But, in the back of his or her mind, it could be eye distracting. I would choose a nice hide or cape for your piece, one without many imperfections, one with eye appeal. I think you will be more content and better off in the long run.
I listened to a fish judge critique a competitor one time about his fish. The fish had nice anatomy and was well painted. The judge scored the fish an 87 and the competitor was upset. Even though nicely done, the fish had ragged, jagged, imperfect fins. I notice the fish when it came through the door, as being nice, but the fins were very distracting to the eye. During his critique, the judge praised the competitor for his work. And finally stated, "I didn't take off for the condition of your fins, but I would definitely try finding a more perfect specimen or replace the fins with good ones on your next piece. The fins were just too eye distracting. You looked at the piece and your eyes went straight to the nasty looking fins. Anyway, scars and imperfections may efect your piece, even though a judge says it didn't. Good Luck and I hope you BLUE!