* EDIT: This costume design won third place! Woo! *

I entered a contest on deviantART to design a fursuit Hallowe'en costume. The deadline was today, and this ended up being a little rushed. I'm not happy with how some of the sketch turned out, but I'm really happy with the design.

This is what I said about it on dA:

This is a costume design idea for Rock-Zilla's contest. The winning design will be made into an actual costume for him to wear for Hallowe'en.

Rock-Zilla was very specific about what he wanted. The guidelines were:

1. It has to be male.
2. It has to be a jackal.
3. It must be Egyptian.
4. It must dress in Egyptian attire.
5. It must be holding a blue and gold staff.
6. It must be young (20's-30's, not 70's-90's)

I think I have fulfilled all the requirements. I wanted it to be different from the kinds of Egyptian jackals I've seen before, and since this is supposed to be a Hallowe'en costume, I made him into a mummy. ^_^

I did a LOT of research for this one, especially regarding Egyptian clothing. Everything he's wearing here is a simplified version of something that actually exists. I was tempted to put in a more elaborate chest plate, but I thought that might make it too complicated to build (and I was running short on time).

This is colored in Flash because I am far too tired to work in Photoshop - it takes me hours to color something in PS. I would have liked to put more shading in, but the deadline is tomorrow and I'm not sure what time zone he's in.

OK, about the costume itself:

I've never worked on a fursuit before, so everything that follows would be subject to change if something isn't feasible.

I chose to use a black-backed jackal. I colored it simply here, but the fur part could easily be made to look more realistic.

My theory is that the jackal fursuit would be built, then some linen strips would be wrapped around it as mummy bandages and sewn on leaving gaps for fur to show through. The clothing would be added overtop of the rest of the costume - I was thinking that the character would have risen from his sarcophagus and dressed himself in his regal trappings. :)

Because he's a mummy, I thought it would be cool if the fur was messed up a bit to look worn and/or dirty. Perhaps even sections of it could be shaved down to give it a threadbare, moth-eaten look. (That would be up to Rock-Zilla's preference though.)

Loose ends of bandages could hang off in places where they'd been "torn". (You can see a bit of that on the chest here.) I was also thinking that bandages with velcro attached to the back might make a good way to cover up any zippers.

All of the clothing could be made more or less complicated as materials/time allows. The bracelet and armband could easily be substituted or moved depending on personal preference and what is available.