I finaly finished my first customers deer head, and he picked it up today. This is my 4th deer head and I think it turned out better than I thought it would. He knew going into it that I had not done many before his, but he was very pleased with it, and wants more work done. Take a look at the pics and tell me what you think.
Csmith
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j72/Csmith41284/P1010052.jpg
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j72/Csmith41284/P1010057.jpg
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j72/Csmith41284/P1010053.jpg
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j72/Csmith41284/P1010060.jpg
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Congradulations on the success and a happy client.
Just a few things for future help...The eyelashes should be coming down over the eye at an angle instead od being straight up, and the mouth / nose is mis-aligned.
Congrats on the happy customer, and keep checking the reference.
To my first deer head.If you apply yourself you improve with each one you do.At least for a while and then you will begin to feel like you are going backwards, you will slip into a depr> Oh Heck!Never mind.You should be proud.When you hit one of those walls remember there are teachers in this trade.It will be money well spent .lol
Yes, the eyelashes need to be at 45 degree angle sloping down, it looks like you need to split the eyelids, a common beginner mistake. The eyes look like my first deer, to split the eyes, takes more detail then splitting the lips. The eyelash roots have little fine roots of fat that need to be removed so the lid can relax. Find someone that can show you by eye on how to do that. It looks to me that you are not doing that. The nose pad is crooked. However, over all, you are on track and in good shape for lessons. Get some training to refine your new skills before you make a dozen deer with all the same mistakes that this one has. Before you make bad habits that will show up in every deer, get some one on one tips. In addition, never, never, let the customer, or friends and family be the judge on your quality. They are just being nice, and they have untrained eyes. There is danger in believing them.
You are on the right track, but you need some reference, especially for the nose. The pad is out of alignment, and the bumps on the nose look too big.
Be careful with the gloss around the eyes. You don't want the gloss to go down past the edge of the lower lid otherwise it makes the eyes look infected.
I looked at your pictures above. Nice job. It looks better that my early deer. I decided to help you out on your eyes, I would add a good eye shot to my Taxidermy Reference FREE SAMPLE page.
Goto: www.geocities.com/kennethbauman/wtsample.html
Here you will find a good eye shot. Right click it, save it to your computer. Print you off a good picture of it and use it for reference as you mount your next deer. There is also a great profile shot showing excellent muscle detail. If you need more good reference of whitetails check out my two different sets available. Good job and good luck.