The Art Fish : Arctic and Snow Leopard

You can see a lot of the pre-amble test shots I do before creating my final images on my Second Life Profile  feed. I find it quite a useful way to keep track of and test ideas.

From Jinx and available at Fair Play

JINX part of MFGC https://medievalsl.wordpress.com

(These are in-store at 50% off until the end of Jan and will also be at Fair Play from 9th Jan - 27th Jan with 50% off at L$75 each. Bargain)

and used to create the following images :

Snow Leopard

Snow Leopard Windlight & Outfit Details

Arctic Leopard

Arctic Leopard Windlight Details

Happy to provide more information for anything you see in my images with credits as follows :

The Inspiration 

JINX - AFK Wearables (Resting With The Snow Leopard)

The Fashion

Axix Voodoo Hood - Blue Tropic Green

Zibska Keallach Pauldron (left)

Pure Poison Manna Armor (Full outfit consisting of body, arm and leg straps) 

COCO Suede Boots (Fur) - these are a group gift and available FOC from their store.

The Doll

Lelutka Simone Head with Maitreya Lara Body using Ys&Ys Teresa Applier

The Art Fish : Art Named Capering by {anc} aki - Tuner Gacha

Tu'na - Inspired by Tuner Gacha prizes from {anc}

There are very few things that {anc} aki creates that I do not fall in love with almost straight away. Being able to use his items for my image making is just a perfect collaboration as I always find them so inspiring. {anc} aki makes quite a few collections of items for gacha - which is

"Gashapon (ガシャポン gashapon^?) is a Bandai brand trademark (U.S.Registration Number.2864782) widely used throughout the world for their capsule toys. It is also referred to as gachapon (ガチャポン gachapon^?)." Both gashapon and gachapon are Japanese onomatopoeia, made up of two sounds: "gasha" or "gacha" for the turning of a crank on a toy vending machine, and "pon" for the sound of the toy capsule dropping into the receptacle. It is used to describe both the machines themselves, and any toy obtained from them. Tomy, another major player in capsule toy market, uses "Gacha" (ガチャ gacha^?) instead of "Gachapon" for their capsule vending machines and toys." - Wikipedia.

SL does seem to have caught Gacha fever, with many regularly occuring Gacha events being held including the Fantasy Gacha Carnival (re-opening for the May season on 04.05.2014) which is where you will find the Tuner Gacha. I would describe the collection as a hybrid exploration of Baroque sensuality in a steam punk hyperballad - featuring beautiful headphones with scrolled headdresses and mechanical speakers.'Spear eye' masks that accompany and match these with closed eyes, lash and screw details. The plat de résistance in the collection however are the stunning Ultra Rare prizes  - Hermaphroditism Chair  (One and Two)

Chair I

Chair II

Other Credits

For Chair I

Model - Nebraska Oddfish Jones

Skin - Glam Affair Luria + Slink Hands & Feet

Hair - .Shi Blown in Monochrome

Props 

{anc} Hermaphroditism Chair One from Tuner Gacha *New Release*

Half Deer + Flower Head Goldfish [fancy]

For Chair II

Model - Nebraska Oddfish Jones

Skin - Glam Affair Luria + Slink Hands & Feet

Hair - Zibska Troubadour  *New Release*

Shoes - Pure Poison Alexandra Heels (Slink Medium Feet)

Clothing - Egg Pastie (Self Made)

Props 

{anc} Hermaphroditism Chair Two from Tuner Gacha *New Release*

Zenith =Z= Kiosk Birdcage Gacha (Tinted Black)

OmarCypher - Raven

A complete listing of slurls to the above shops can now be found here

The Fashion Fish : Goldfish are everywhere

Yulia by FINESMITH

Hedge Deux by Zibska

Flower head Goldfish by Half Deer
Lotus Flowers by Monger Yesterday


SLURLS:
Zibska @ Zenshi
FINESMITH
Half Deer (@Lantern Festival)
Monger (On Marketplace)

The Odd Fashion Fish : Details and things...

Finally returning you to your usual programming...

Details

The above :
I really love and admire Zibska's fashion ideas even more so after finishing this nail guard idea that I've been working on the past week. She's a genuine powerhouse of creative vision that continues to inspire me in my image making.

Details :

Peter's poses : Ballerina 6

Zibska Luna Noir at Zibska's Zenshi location 

Goth1c0 Leather Bondage Mask

Lily Nail Guard Charcoal available at Typhoon Haiyan Fundraiser from 22nd Nov - 8th Dec

I'm a creature of habit... a fact that I'm noticing more as I sprint past a few more rez-days...
So forgive me for not updating this blog or my flickr stream as often as I perhaps should do - particularly when I am being creative. I tend to become a sort of building hermit and don't really emerge out of my shell until I have fashioned my malformed ideas into an actual semblance I can tolerate!
I have indeed been quite busy trying to script up and finish a sum total of 60 nails [2+2 x (9x2) x 3 + (3 x 2) - 12 + (9 x2 again) - It went something like that... ], not including the sets I had to discard due to silly errors on my tired part.

I really am grateful that my collection of quirky art nail guard designs have been so well received on flickr as well as in my personal inbox. Thank you all so much for the support and kind comments.

My biggest concern is for those who may find my creations disappointing because they do not fit. I really have tried to be as explicit as possible about the sizes that are available and the fact that the nails are not modifiable in their gacha version for many reasons.

A fully modifiable (but non transferable) version of nails is also sold at the event as a limited edition exclusive.

Lily Nail Guard " Sunshine after the rain"
This version is copy/modify and comes in two parts for each hand.

I have made these things especially for this event which is close to my heart because my childhood memories are filled with Filipino acquaintances. Whilst we have lost touch over the years, I fondly remember and genuinely hope they are all well.

Lastly.

Thank you to my fellow bloggers who have dropped notes to me this week offering blogging services. 

Actually, I'm not really sure I have any products to offer  as I do not really think of myself as a serious content creator or retailer in SL. What I do need though are fellow geekettes and guinea pigs. So if you don't mind being spammed by my experiments, are brilliant at scripting in LSL, can make magic happen with Blender or C4D - lets make beautiful digital noise together!

Being the people pleaser that I am - I have made a freebie!

It's absolutely yours to claim just for visiting the Typhoon Haiyan Fundraiser and my lil vendors.

Some facts about Typhoon Haiyan.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-24899006

Source : UN Report 

11.5 million people are affected

2.5 million people in need of food aid

544,606 people displaced

130,074 houses destroyed

1,215 evacuation centres set up

Something interesting you might like to know :

http://www.shelterbox.org/

Shelterbox provide emergency shelter and lifesaving supplies for families around the world who are affected by disasters, at the time when they need it the most.

One box costs £590.

Thank you for helping.

Dita.

  

Through a Fish Eye Lens : Black Stork - Production Notes.

So if you have been following my flickr you'll know I crashed quite a few times recently. *Sad face*

Black Stork I - Finished composition.

It got so bad that I just decided to abandon that particular set of images instead of re-taking them! However, as promised I have decided to share a few more techniques I use in my SL photography.

In the last crash, I wrote a little about lighting and so in this "crash course" (hyuk hyuk), I'll share a bit about this idea of 'Camera'

Original RAW

Many people have different approaches and philosophies about SL photography and it's all interesting to me. Some people see manipulating photos out of second life from within a third party photo retouching software such as photoshop or gimp, to be 'cheating'. I think, like most things in life - it's all a bit of a grey area. Certainly if your manipulated images are used to promote an item that looks nothing like the actual product itself then I would say that lacks ethics.

For myself, capturing images in second life is only part of the process and it is possible to imagine something further or more than the initial capture. Which brings me to discussing the image below.

Some sims such as China where these images were initially shot , do not allow the rezzing of objects which can make taking images in them something of a guerrilla affair.

Black Stork II - Finished Composition

Trying to get a good angle for poses that float your avatar off ground isn't always easy and so that's usually when I make the decision to create a composite image out of a series of images. Thus this blog is really about the infinite capabilities of a virtual 'camera' as limited only by your imagination.

Black Stork II is comprised of three main images.
This is the raw of Dolly Dita on white background.

Primary Background RAW image

Secondary RAW image element used in foreground

Quite often in composites, people will take their images on green or blue screens for the purpose of a technique known as Chroma keying. This is just a way to uniformly mask out a colour in order to replace this mask with a different image. The main rule to bear in mind when applying this technique is to avoid using a mask colour that is repeated in the parts of the image you wish to keep.
My own photoshop techniques come from my own evolving use of the program and while there may be other more efficient ways to achieve the same results, this is how I do it as follows :

How to make a good picture (in second life) :

Part 2 - Mistress/Master your environment

Click here for Part 1

This is a basic tutorial about my technique for compositing an image using White BG with Photoshop CS6

Geekery : I am using Photoshop CS6 extended on a Macbook Pro using a 2.6GHZ Intel Core i7, NVIDIA GT 650M (1GB Video RAM), Running OSX 10.8.5 with a 500GB M4 SSD (Solid State Disk) drive.

I use a white background mostly because this keeps shadow colours untainted

Copy your corrected image with full white background onto your background substitute
Then change the layer properties to Multiply.

Layer 1 is the selected layer in this image and it has been converted to 'Multiply'

Create a duplicate of your pasted layer  and you can either use
Color Range (From your Select drop down menu)
or Magic Wand to select your unwanted areas.
In this example I've used the Magic Wand Tool.

In using a white mask, inevitably you will end up selecting highlights which are also white and within range.
Filling these up in Quick Mask enables you to finesse your final image.

This 'Halo' effect is quite a common result in composites.
When the mask used is not white, I tend to select these bleeders using "replace color"

Multiply overlays your image onto the background like a transparency/alpha.
Placing a white 'mask' underneath a multiply layer creates an area of solid colour.

Unlike erasing surrounding pixels - simply erasing the white mask enables retention of delicate details.

Filling in the gaps of your white mask will restore highlights.

Your layers should look something like this.

Production Credits :
Shot @ maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/China/116/179/51
Wearing : Zibska - Portia Noir (Attachments)
Info: Portia Noir is exclusive to and part of Zibska's mini collection at the Zenshi location called Zibska Noir. Available starting Saturday 02 November. maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Zenshi%20East/219/102/27
Zibska - Severine Earrings

Else : Donna Flora - TANIA hat by the unforgettable Squinternet Larnia
=Z=Kiosk Birdcage (Blue) Gacha from Chapter Four
Etoile Ballet Shoes. marketplace.secondlife.com/p/EtoileBallet-Shoes-Black/353...
La Gyo - Baroque Brows Silver (The Arcade Gacha) - Modified by tinting
Doll COCO - BJD with 001V Doll head + Bodysuit Black

Le poisson du jour : OMG, my $L's have all magically disapparated!

Eye Spy

Wearing:
Zibska Sorren Necklace
Yasum Babe's Romper is rigged for Dollies! (Very very exciting and fits perfect!)
Curio Obscura Abomination Peeper Boots (Witchy)
Remarkable Oblivion - Scissor Hands (Love!) + Magicians Hat (from OMG)
Fairy Hair from Boudoir
Beetlebones Wizarding Puertorican Toad 

Accio Goldfishy!

Props are mostly gacha prizes from all over the grid namely The Arcade, Chapter Four, Fantasy Gacha Carnival etc :
Lark Imaginarium "Sea" Bookcase with Assorted Gacha Books.
Ziganna Branch Light (@ Chapter Four) + Ziganna Packaging (used as book and paper prop)
Antique Book Stacks (Part from FIMA by Flair @ My Attic http://www.flickr.com/photos/whimsywinx/9849571765/)
Elate Wine and Glasses (@ The Arcade June)
orro
("Horror" from Cheeky Pea Bookends Gacha @ 24)

Frogbit : "She hasn't got a really good track record for turning frogs to Princes..."
(from Beetlebones @ Wizarding Faire )

Trickster Pixie : "Take cover people!"
(from Balaclava @ The Arcade June)

Lady Shine : "Think I'll just hide under here"
(from Bryn Oh @ Fantasy Gacha Carnival)

Cauldron (Retextured in this photo but a fantastic freebie on marketplace https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/Free-Mesh-Cauldron/4129386)

Sugar to Monkey Tiki Mug : "Relight my fire!"
Monkey Tiki Mug *saucy saucer nibbling* (Both from Nylon Outfitters @ The Arcade Sept 12/13)

Fortune Telling Ball to Fawn Owl : "You will be going on a long journey..."

The Fashion Fish : AW Fashion Week and Zibska

Strange Bird - Featuring Zibska Gervas Mantle

Go towards the light - Featuring Zibska Bodil Necklace Set (For 60L WE)
and the amazing Alix Hair 

The sentience of being - featuring Zibska Lova in Berries

Limited - featuring Zibska Sybella (Limited to 100 copies made)

Sybella - Details include smoke makeup

Thanks for all the fish - featuring Zibska 's Hella Dress.

The above images were all inspired by the latest collection of couture from Zibska and are available at

Slurl : http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Heavens%20Touch/66/188/1494

See also :

Flickr : http://www.flickr.com/groups/zibska/

Marketplace : https://marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/9483

The Fashion Fish : A season for Zibska and playing catchup...

Winter is coming
(Inspired by Zibska Corvo Couture Gown and Zinovia Hair)

Greetings gentle reader!

Don't all the exciting things seem to happen when you're away?

I came back to a nest of creativity in my inbox! Starting with the above image, inspired by the Corvo gown by Zibska. I found this dress a bit of a challenge to capture because the details of it are stunning though it tends to get lost on itself in various positions. Hopefully this does the creation justice.

I love the idea of being a literal moving landscape and perhaps that may have been a thread in some of my earlier images too. "Winter is coming and the night is full of terrors..." is of course a line from Game of thrones which I have very much come to appreciate! This piece of couture is also just a tantalising tease of things to come as Zibs felt compelled to make it amidst the flurry of creating her Fall/Winter collection.

Other details :

Fingerless Gloves by .Shi (Set 1) - from Sept. Arcade not with an unappreciated twist of irony, actually comes with fingers and rings!  

Renee Skin by Glam Affair - from March. Arcade (Often used in my images because of its editorial quality. Top Tip : The wonderful thing about Gachas is that these items are no copy but transferable and more often than not, because of the nature of the game, people often end up with more copies of these items than they know what to do with. If you're looking for older edition Arcade or Gacha items such as this skin, try doing an SL search for 'Arcade Yard Sale' and you' may just be able to grab yourself an absolute bargain! - More about Gachas in a later post)

Posed using Animare.

Petalicular I
(Inspired by Zibska's Siofra
for L'accessoires September round)

Petalicular II
(Jelly fish or flower?)

For some abnormal reason that I can't quite fathom, the 30 days of Sept. go as quickly as the 28 days in February for me. Perhaps it is the rapid change of season and that strangeness to find I've left the UK in lush green summer only to return two weeks later to a changing landscape of autumnal reds and golds, as well as a distinct drop in temperature.
Over in my second life, it is always any season I want it to be, though somehow art tends to imitate life; drawing inspiration from the colour palettes that I find myself surrounded with, as well as that sort of surreality.

Other details :

It is my first visit to the Designers United event (Sept 14 - Oct 04) launched whilst I was travelling though lucky for me, had not yet ended. The official press release is as follows :


"For over five years, Designers United has shared the visions of different designers as they create exclusive items for specific themes. This results in diverse points of view from each designer, culminating in incredibly creative and artistic results. With a theme of Surrealism, Designers United 5 is a year you won't want to miss."


Always excited when I find new prosthetics to wear with my Doll Coco Avatar - the stilts and skirts are from Maitreya out of this event.

Posed using Animare + Body Behavior (Model Pose Sets)

The SLURLS :

Zibska  : maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Heavens%20Touch/59/173/1491
L'accessoires : maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Neo/58/230/567
Designers United 5 : http://secondlife.com/destination/designers-united-5

The Fashion Fish : Zibska's Alcmene

The Flute Player

The Alcmene necklace for TGGS features 18 colours for main and accent bits, re-size and shine control and is copy/mod. Also included are two coordinating cuffs
Available now thru 13 October.
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Zapico/29/186/775

Details :
Doll COCO Snow Body + Head (Is completely free from Doll Coco and most recently , all the various heads that co-ordinated with this body was given out as a group gift. )

Alcmene (Set) by Zibska
from TCGS (Sept - Oct)

Hair is from Sept. Arcade Round - Max Duo (23) by Tulip

Flute + Pose by Me.

The Fashion Fish : Sound and Vision.

Over on Flickr, I've just discovered Spartin Parx's amazing photostream and their group called  Art and Sound magazine, as follows :
"ART and SOUND is about your images that are inspired by or shared with Music"

My muse is sometimes musical too though often times the music is as accompaniment to an already formed idea. I decided to make the following bright images to counter balance the moody dark visuals I've been obsessing with of late.

One of my favourite bands of all time is the Sugarcubes whose punky offbeat lyrics never fail to lift my mood. In making these images, I almost certainly began to think about their Music!

Universe & Me
"The Universe it is so big I feel
Dizzy when I think about it
My head swims
I get giddy
Still I realise that long ago
It was so small I could have kept it
Underneath my little skirt
Atleast untill that big bang happened...

Sun, planets - the Universe and me.

Eat The Menu!
" I'm just a maid, but yes to food is yes to life..."
"I don't want to eat Lobster..."

Kudos :

Zibska  

Arden - Dress, Orbits, Hat

Mouthies : 

Down Down Down sweet gacha.

Love Soul sweet gacha (The Arcade)

Skin - Lulu 01 Glam Affair gacha (The Arcade)

Hair - *Dura* The 3th year Anniversary hair (aqua blue) < FREE with group join
Eyes - Ikon Ascension Eyes (Glacier)

The Art Fish : On clones, mechanoids and the premise of Art.

Embryonic 1

It's funny to myself, how a change in ones own mindset can result in a burst of creativity or inspiration. I suppose it should have been obvious to myself really; given my main occupation is about branding and rebranding for the matter. Anyway I digress...

One of the new things I'd like to blog more about is my own personal explorations in using virtual media to create valid art. Over on my flickr I mentioned a little about how intrigued I am by the idea of identity and the homogenic. This also spills  over to wider ideas that swim around the central theme of intellectual copyright and original thought. (Yes bear with me - my mind makes those sorts of connections!) I'm likely to blab about that now and again too!

So this series echoes a lot of varied ideas.
Creatively - it went something like this :

D thinks .o(Hmmm I wonder what embryonic dolls dream of...)

Later that day...
This idea of android dreams are something of a penchant and based in part on my recollections of things I used to dream up in childhood. The mecha-doll fish also has some reference to my fondness for Michael Manning's Hydrophidian

Embryonic-2 : Mecha Amonite I

Embryonic-3 : Mecha Amonite II

Embryonic-4 : Mecha Kraken

Embryonic-4a : Mecha-Amonites in Tank

I thought it would be nice to share some personal techniques in the form of a PSD formatted file which you are free to use, remix and redistribute (non commercially). I created the glass marble sphere in Embryonic 2 from a number of hand drawn layers and composites which I am placing here for you to play with. Have fun and don't forget to let me know if you found it useful.

<3 The Dita fish.

Loosing my marbles. PSD

Original PSD for free use