That looks like some difficult material. On the plus side it looks healthy enough. It is difficult to tell from the photo, but the swelling at the base could be a design feature, or it could be ugly and unrecoverable.
Getting a local pine is a great place to start, although deciduous material is generally more forgiving. If I had this sitting on my bench, the first thing I would address would be the roots and soil. This is also the hardest part for beginners, but it is better then putting a lot of thought and time into the top off the tree only to have the design not work with the base, or even worse have the tree die on you due to poor soil or watering conditions. Once you have the roots under control, I could either see the top becoming a literati or else bringing a graft down low to start an informal upright, but that would be years off.
It is a fun adventure, but maybe a good idea to go back to where you found this one and pick out a couple more to play with. Pay the most attention to the base and look for what you see in life size trees: nice even taper and radial roots spread would be ideal. Also, some lower down branches make the design easier without having to mess with the grafting.
