More portraits of underutilized/underdeveloped characters (and just doing whatever I can to keep from getting too out of practice while having zero desire whatsoever to actually draw), this time featuring a one-off Wallakarra female that a friend over on Weasyl seemed to take a liking to.

Find Me On:
Fur Affinity ◈ Weasyl

Drawing portraits like this does give me a bit of motivation to think about world-building and character-building a bit, and while working on this I had two thoughts.

One, I realized that I've never actually updated the lore on this race and their world much--originally I was calling their world "Wallakarra" and this race "Wallakarrans", but as time went on, I decided they share their world (which is basically Space Australia) with the possum/sugar glider-like Petaura species (which I realized I've never given an official name for until now), and the planet has been renamed "Osrulai" (I may alter the spelling or use multiple spellings to reflect flawed translation into Galactic Common and/or the Cygnian Federation and Lightbearer Dominion referring to the world by slightly different names).

The other thing I realized is, I don't know if I have ever addressed the prevalence of bandannas/neckerchiefs/scarves (or any other similar piece of fabric around the neck) across several species from several different worlds, ranging from the red bandannas commonly sported by young Geoterran hyenas (a carryover from the original design from the mid-2000s) to the dirty neckerchiefs seen on many Ysl, Jeroban, and this particular Wallakarra... And there are a couple of reasons for this.
One, aesthetics--I find a simple bandanna to be a good fashion accessory to add a bit more visual interest to an outfit, or in the case of these portraits, give it a bit less of a "floating head" feeling.

And, as I often do when faced with an aesthetic choice I want to justify in-universe with something more than "because I want to do it this way", I came up with an explanation that actually makes a lot of sense... That being the practicality of a bandanna as an impromptu face covering. For those living in arid, sandy or dusty environments where sandstorms and dust storms could whip up without much warning, having something around to keep the sand out of one's mouth and nose can be a literal lifesaver.
For others working as scrappers and scavengers, something to quickly cover their noses and mouths should they stir up a bunch of dust or mold or enter an environment that might contain toxic particles, a simple face covering, while no substitute for an actual dust mask or respirator, can be the difference between life and death.

And, as the Covid pandemic of 2020 taught us, a face covering can just be a good idea in general when in a crowded environment where you don't know who might be carrying what illnesses--an even better idea in a setting where multiple species from multiple worlds might be present, and an infectious microbe that might have no effect whatsoever on a Ysl host might provoke a fatal immune response in a Jeroban.