I entered the Creature Exchange on dA again and got TobatoJello and their prompt for February!


They wanted a pirate or someone from a traveling circus or some entertainer for a pirate crew, so I chose the combination of the pirate and entertainer to make this acrobat pirate guy. They also wanted African servals to be incorporated somehow, so I kind of snuck that element in, as well. I went with the "blues/grays" and gold pallet suggested, too.

My inspiration mostly came from the Maasai people. It started out with me wanting the red (red-orange on the design) face/neck paint, cause I wanted to use that and some spots made from the paint to allude to the serval theme. However, after reading a bit on their culture, I think that the acrobat role I had in mind would suit one of them well, especially with how they like to jump when they do certain dances. So, perhaps this particular fellow was either taken from his tribe or left them behind to find a life of adventure. Maybe he started with a circus or just gained the acrobatic skills while aboard the pirate ship, but either way, he ends up on a pirate ship as an entertainer for those long voyages. He's probably also useful in a fight, due to him living in a tribe known to fight and kill lions.

He's got a bit of pirate to his clothing--the eye patch (he probably still has that eye), the belt and sash, the gold--as well as some clothes similar to the Maasai, though not as much red in color (perhaps changed for the blues of the seas).