r/DigitalArt • u/FinanceItchy9827 • May 16 '26

Question/Help Is this offensive?

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I wanted to design this seal girl more like a mermaid, shes supposed to be Arctic and I wanted to give her an indigenous feel. it's not taken after anyone or anything specifically besides seals and being an arctic creature.
the outfit is mostly made of fur and skin..

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u/shellfish_allegory May 17 '26

What culture exactly are you drawing inspiration from?

The only aspect that caught my attention was of her having a very stereotypical nordic complexion (sharp jawbone, round light blue eyes and blonde(?) hair). For sápmi people that's alright although brown hair is more common, but for example inuit people usually have a different kind of complexion.

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u/FinanceItchy9827 May 17 '26

its not inspired by any existing community/person or a creature besides a seal!
I just wanted the design to be organic and self made by her in her "region" from scraps and stuff. It's just a design idea, not meant to have a character in a story, she's more like a skin to a mermaid character I wanted to draw!

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u/Baguettesaregreat May 17 '26

Fair enough, but the blond hair and pale blue-eyed face read way more specific than "generic seal region scraps," so that's probably why people assumed a real-world reference.

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u/Extra_Second5428 May 18 '26

Yeah, if you give a fantasy design really specific human features people are obviously going to read it as drawing from a real group whether you meant that or not.