Space pirates are cool, and I wanted something to stand out from the tech and look a little pirate like. But skulls and cross bones are a little cliche, so the next best thing is ram's horn. I'm not religious, but I think it's pretty neat that sculptors and painters throughout the ages depicted Moses as being wise by giving him horns. If I wanted a space pirate helmet for a salty pirate captain, this is the direction I would take it.
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Does it lead away from the theme of SL? Up to you, I suppose, but I see it more as an additive than a distractive concept. I certainly understand both sides of the fence.
Anyway, yeah, I draw for a living, so my pictures will be above average. But concept always means more than execution. Looking back at other contests, I drew a really cool hammer wrapped in vines from the Dark Forest who's head was heated by Silknight's fire. Cool idea in my book, but nowhere near as cool as using the head of Meathead for a hammer(which very rightly won). So, don't ever get dazzled by sugar when you are looking for meat, certainly don't be intimidated by it, either.