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Brachiation

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Last week sucked, and I'm glad it's dead.  Rather than drinking to its passing, I decided to change up my mindset with a carefree romp through the Dayah Forest - personified by the tribe's youngest named members, Nizhoni Owapa'lu and Ayanah.  At six hours' creation time, it's as close as I seem able to get to a speed paint - so it's not as well thought out or detailed as some of my pics, but it was a good way to unwind.

Despite Owapa'lu being a mother of the tribe, and Ayanah being a daughter, the two are very close in age.  Indeed, in terms of appearance and behavour, Nizhoni seems (and probably is) the younger of the two.  That said, time is pretty meaningless to the Dayah, who have no sky or seasons to mark its passing.  Owapa'lu has been given her adult deed name, and is therefore considered the "elder" of the pair.
Not that that stops these two from getting up to childish shenanigans when they're feeling energetic, and here they seem to be enjoying a race-and-chase through a grove of gingko trees.  
Given their arboreal environment, brachiation (swinging arm-to-arm) is an important form of movement for the Dayah.  These two are doing a great job of showing off the acrobatic prowess of which their people are capable, and also the shoulder-power and flexibility needed to perform these maneuvers.  
Being smaller than baseline Homo sapiens, the Dayah have a high power-to-weight ratio in their bodies.  This makes climbing easier (remember how much less trying it was to swing on monkey bars as a kid?) and we can see proof in the amount of muscle on Nizhoni's more petite frame compared to Ayanah's more robust form.
So which is better?  A large, powerfully-built body to muscle through the hazards of the jungle, or the agility to move and dart about?  Well, it might be argued that the small stature of the Dayah is an argument for the latter - but who knows if they have always been this size?  The Dayah themselves claim that their stature has always been as it is, and the grandmothers and grandfathers of the tribe tend to be not larger our smaller than their descendants - so who can say?

Random ramblings:  As I was drawing this, I noticed that the youngest members of the tribe are also the palest.  Nizhoni Owapa'la is an exception, of course - since she's leucistic.  However, with a couple of exceptions (specifically Toko Tuin Ukmal Ichi and Yula Ukbala), it seems that there's a gradient of light-to-dark that corresponds to a Dayah's age.  Maybe they get darker as they grow older?  Also, men seem to be darker than women - though we only have Cranberry and Kiju Kiki (and, technically Da'an Ukli Zhoni) to judge by so far.  It's probably coincidence, but interesting nonetheless.  

Created in GIMP, using a Wacom Intuos Pro Large.
Creation time:  About 6 hours
I don't recall if I used any brushes from www.obsidiandawn.com/category/… this time - but I probably did; I usually do.  
Image size
3000x3000px 4.03 MB
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© 2017 - 2024 Djake
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Exito0154's avatar

While not as richly realistic and detailed as 'it could be' your effort to this idea and it's uncommon poses and the purpose for the energy for those poses is astounding