The Meme Fish : Black is Beautiful . & ..

..

I came by this challenge from reading about it on Amelie Fravoisse's Flickr ; which I think is superb.

The challenge :

Rules:

• You should take a picture using a black skin, the other components of your look is of your own choosing.

• Name your photo as follows: [Your name] Black is Beautiful Challenge - Photo [1]. You can put this information in the description of the image if preferred.

I wanted to keep the photography simple but to make use of materials and mesh which enables you to really bring out light reflection that is true of real life portraits of this ethnicity - eg :

Coincidentally I could not credit this image properly not knowing where it came from exactly
But having tried to trace its root, I came across this artist

To me that is the beauty of Black skin and it is not something I had truly worked on achieving before although I have featured other similar images in my posts before now.

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Challenge Complete!

See the images of other people taking up this challenge!

Technical Screen Capture

As you can see, what is captured on my screen is highly saturated colour.
All I've done in my final images is simply to tone this down
in order to bring out more contrast between light and dark.

Credits :

Skin by Pumec  (Alsou in September with Brown eyebrows) 

applied over Lelutka Aria Head on Maitreya Lara Body 

Hair  by Emotions (Alison - Brown) was a free gift at the 2013 Hair Fair!

Eyes are by Dead Apple (Sorrow Eyes - Brown) - I really liked these for their reflective quality.

Makeup by Ys&Ys from Teresa Skin and Makeup Applier for Lelutka (Tone 04)

I absolutely adore the makeup palettes from Ys&Ys as they can be worn with many other skin types.

Dress is the Irving Cutout Dress in Black by RAMA

Accessories

ieQED pirate doubloon hoop earrings (pair) and necklace (rare) from ieQED's pirate coin gacha

Nose chain is a Marketplace Purchase from  BLOKC - simple but well designed with the chain part and nose ring made in two separate mesh pieces to help with adjustability.

The Art Fish : Sparkling lights and champagne seas

Lately I've been summer dreaming with:

Beach Dream I - ビーチの夢 1.

  and

Beach Dream II - ビーチの夢 2.

I often complete my image making in Photoshop. It's essentially play for me and I like to experiment with creating effects on my original screen captures as part of my artistic expression.

I'm on Photoshop CC2014 currently and every version adds to my learning curve.

I've been trying out ways to fix the idea of a view point defining that third space ie. as seen from the narrative point of view; wanting to convey a sense of the frame itself through experiments in depth of field.

Feesh Wallpaper

Kingyo 金魚

Production Notes :

For Beach Dream I & II 

Monso - My Hair - Minju (Brown)

ieQED chanel. pearl. Harness + Panties (Black)

All the above is available at Shiny Shabby's current round.

Additionally

Dead Dolls  - Juliet Bra (Black) fits Maitreya Lara 

Props

{anc} I'm Planet - Fish Puddle + Fish School in Pastel and Blue

{anc} Keybirds Y + R

tres blah - Bon Voyage - Vintage Camera

We're closed - Lounge Pillow Blue Stripe (also for pose)

Body

Genesis Mesh Head (Julia in Milk - Sleep)

+ Maitreya Lara (Full)

For Kingyo and Feesh Wallpaper

From Calico Hair for  Fair Play (Magli)

Also :

The Odd Fish : So much to do...

Once Upon a Bath-time

I have quite a bit of news this year and feel terribly guilty for allowing the blog component of my journalistic endeavours to go amiss. I chose today to catch up because over in RL it's a particular day to wake up ponder-some and in the mood to tidy house.

First order of business is some new names that  I need to add to my blog sponsor roll as follows :

Roquai Poses

Although I do create my own poses, I also enjoy using the creations of others in my work and the above image (Once Upon a Bath-time) as well as the following (Creatur) have been created using poses crafted by this designer.

Creatur uses Roquai Pose - Jump 2

ieQED

ieQED by Sigi Faust is also another avant garde fashion brand that designs shoes, accents and accessories.

Sexy Shoes - features ieQED's Puff Mule in Red

Clash 1 - where part of Mikel's outfit consist of ieQED Dragon Pauldrons

L.Warwick Handmade Shoes

Whilst relatively new on the scene, L.Warwick creates some simple but striking shoes for the Slink Avatar enhancement range.

Big Bad Red and the Wolfinator - with platforms (Siren in Ruby) by Lindsey Warwick

Big Bad Red and the Wolfinator aftermath