One last question since you had mentioned it, regarding the UV’s being uneven: Is it better practice to use unwrap since its an uneven surface and gives you more uniform squares, or should I just use project from view, which gives me even UV’s, but when plugged in, the UVs appear stretched? Just a comparison of the two below from my test:
Uneven UV’s, regular unwrap

Appears clean on model:

VS
Even UV’s, project from view

Appears stretched on model:

Im guessing the first approach is better, but I just wanted to confirm.