I am a Junior in highschool looking to paint upon a very old and sun-bleached large cat skull (I think it may have been a bobcat).
I've been googling and researching but I can't seem to find any 'how tos'. I am worried that the skull is too dry, as it is flaking in small white bits and while I think I could sandpaper it into smoothness, I'm still wondering if I need to layer it in some sort of sealer or something..and what sort of paint is best? I have no previous dealings with skull painting, and so I really need a good deal of explanation, please.
Thank you for the information!
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Set your skull on a board where you can paint it. Take regular Elmer's White Glue and paint it with a heavy coat. Make sure you cover it completely, don't worry about drips. When it dries, sand away the drips and repaint it once more with Elmer's. Let it dry for a day or two to insure that it seals the skull well. Then paint your skull any way you'd like. The bone is sealed from the paint permanently.
Regular acrylic paint that you buy at walmart for crafts should work just fine. Watched a friend of mine paint a skull for and that's what she used. That was about 8 years or so ago and it still looks fine.
I paint skulls for costomers using bronze, or chrome spray paint. I first seal them with Fungicidal sealer that I buy through a Taxidemy
Supply Co., such as WASCO or McKenzie. I imagine any color would work fine.