There are tons of things you can do. It doesn't even have to be pirate related. Try taking a picture, tracing it, then coloring it in! That is sort of what I did with my avatar. It helps you practice with shading and colors. It doesn't have to be a person either. Or take your guild or something that inspires you and just create a signature or a picture.
Take your pirate and change his outfit. Make a story with photos! Once I went into the game and took pictures of different scenes with my pirates.. Then I made a whole story based on the photos. That's actually how my idea for my blog/book got started.
