Community Spotlight – Penguill

As a new year begins, we’re turning the Spotlight towards another creative soul within the Sea of Thieves community. This digital artist and pirate extraordinaire fell in love with Sea of Thieves thanks to a high school friend’s recommendation, and his captivating comics and daring drawings have made him a familiar face across social channels. We thought it was high time we caught up with Penguill!

[Q]: Can you tell us a little about what got you into gaming?

[A]: From what I recall, I was always into gaming. My aunt and uncle showed me a bunch of their games when I was about four years old. I remember playing the classic Crash Bandicoot Warped on their console, and the Need for Speed and Worms games. I also had a lot of games on my Nintendo DS, but I think I got into gaming thanks to them.

[Q]: Were you a Rare fan before Sea of Thieves? Do you have any favourite Rare games?

[A]: I didn’t pay much attention to game companies before, so I suppose that’s a no! Although I played a tiny bit of Donkey Kong Country. As of now, Sea of Thieves is my favourite Rare game.

[Q]: What other games are you currently playing? Any favourites?

[A]: I’ve always been a variety gamer. The first game that comes to my mind is Baldur’s Gate 3, definitely my favourite game alongside Sea of Thieves. I also play Deadlock, Lethal Company and Dead by Daylight. Honestly, there are too many games to count…

[Q]: What brought you over to Sea of Thieves and its community?

[A]: My friend recommended this game to me back in high school. Somehow, I had never heard about it…

He knew that I was into pirate-themed stuff. And so I played it with him, and I fell in love with it right after our first session. I loved everything about it, the adventures, the fights (even though we sank), the beauty of it. It really has a feeling to it.

I played the game for some time, and after a while I noticed the Sea of Thieves community was highly into artistic content. I saw a lot of inspiring artists who initially got me into digital art.

[Q]: Do you remember the first piece of Sea of Thieves art you created?

[A]: Yes! It was a drawing for KaidaWrath’s contest. I got courageous enough to take part and it was so fun! We were supposed to create something that had a burnt pineapple in it.

[Q]: What challenges do you face when creating a piece, and which piece have you found most challenging?

[A]: Stepping outside of my comfort zone and trying new things is definitely the most challenging thing to do but it’s so rewarding in the end.

Which piece have I found the most challenging? It would be either the comic story for how much dedication I had to give, or the ‘Skyfall’ drawing because it was the biggest canvas I have ever worked on and I tried so many new things with it (drawing fire, the dragon, volcanic clouds, multi-plane background etc.)

[Q]: Do you have a favourite piece you’ve worked on? Are you working on anything right now you can tell us about?

[A]: ‘The Conversion’ comic I made a little over a year ago is my magnum opus. It stays high in my favourite works. As for what I’m working on right now, I have a bunch of simple comics and other ideas planned, some even started, but with the lack of time, I cannot guarantee how soon I can share them…

[Q]: What’s the story behind your pirate’s appearance?

[A]: I took part in an art swap and got to see so many skilled artists’ works, and I also received one of my favourite artworks of my pirate (credit to @ShamelessShabby). The theme of the art swap was Trading Companies, and the Companies were assigned randomly to artists.

At the beginning my pirate was supposed to be a ‘good guy’ but when I received this piece, I came up with an idea for a villainous pirate. I was also really fond of the concepts of the Winter Soldier and Kali’s blood from Indiana Jones which turned people evil. I really liked the idea of my pirate being a Reaper as I could come up with so many epic stories. Maybe one day I’ll get to have that Curse!

[Q]: Thinking back, are there any standout moments for you in Sea of Thieves since you started playing?

[A]: There sure are a lot. Getting to meet Jagnar, now one of my greatest friends, during one of my sessions. Becoming part of Happy Pride and Plunder Punks groups where I made even more amazing friends who are basically like a found family to me right now. I love them dearly.

Doing ‘The Seabound Soul’ and ‘Heart of Fire’ Tall Tales for the first time was also a great highlight for me.

[Q]: What are your favourite recent additions to Sea of Thieves?

[A]: The Burning Blade by miles! Getting to helm that beast was like a dream come true.

[Q]: What are your greatest achievements in a game, Sea of Thieves or otherwise?

[A]: I think it would be becoming Race of Legends champions alongside my friends on the SoTFest 2023 stage. That experience was surreal and so fun!

[Q]: If you had to choose a pirate and ship name, what would they be?

[A]: My ship name isn’t exactly serious. I named my main ship Palma Odbija which means ‘Going Crazy’ in Polish. The canon name for my pirate is Andrew and I gave him the title of ‘The Fallen’.

[Q]: What kind of other hobbies do you enjoy outside of gaming?

[A]: Digital art, of course, but also playing Dungeons & Dragons, creating characters and stories. I also like watching movies and reading comics.

[Q]: Share a fun fact about yourself. Anything is fair game!

[A]: Hmm, I love tattoos and I have a bunch on my arm but I plan more, MANY more. I am also left-handed and I hold my mouse with my left hand while playing – CALM DOWN IT’S NOT THAT SERIOUS! Jokes aside, people freak out when I tell them that and it’s so funny.

Thank you so much to Penguill for speaking to us about his art, adventures, inspirations and control scheme crimes! Keep a close eye on his social channels if you’re keen to see more of his future work.

If you can’t wait to hear more from our community, you can check out our previous Community, Creator and Legend Spotlights. Or to see what else our players have been up to and some of the wonderful creations they’ve been making recently, head over to our Community Hub. Until next time!