New World Notes

Photos From Cica Ghost’s Charming New SL Art Installation, "Garden"

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

Isabel Hocken is adventuring around Second Life. Recently, she stopped by Cica Ghost’s new installation Garden [teleport link here] and brought back some gorgeous pictures. I love the way the big flower fills the left hand third of the picture. It forms a sort of frame. It’s an excellent picture. 

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Nadej Dae Turns Second Life Screenshots Into Otherworldly Imagery

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

Nadej Dae’s photostream is otherworldly. “Even trees have wings” is an excellent example. It’s a shot of a tree, a magnificent tree, but still just a tree. However by making this a duotone with bold light and shadow it seems foreboding and spooky, an alien tree from another planet perhaps. 

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Today's SL Flickr Pick: Foxi McCalister's Cleverly Composed Avatar Portraits

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

Foxi McCalister has a way of presenting something completely incongruous as though it is the most ordinary thing and why did no one think of it before. Take “Numb….” for example. Of course someone can walk across the keys while the piano floats in the air, where else could it float? Her skin is dirty and scratched, as though she were still three and playing in mud puddles. Combine the roughhousing dirt and scratches with the genteel elegance of the ballet shoes and you get an illustration of the athleticism behind the dancer.

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Tab Tatham Takes Interior Design Photos of Second Life Homes More Sumptuous & Detailed Than Real Life Photos in Dwell Magazine

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

Tab Tatham is a Flickr microblogger whose style is maximally appealing. Whiskey Monday pointed me her way with this comment, “I LOVE it so much. I'm a maximalist and this just makes me want to move in.”  

I’m not a maximalist and this makes me nervous, but that does not mean I don’t think it’s gorgeous. I admire the exuberance, the abundance of color, texture, and layers of elements to catch my eyes, but every item on the floor makes me think of Dorothy McHugh calling that she’s fallen and can’t get up. [Click here for hilarious compilation.] Thankfully, trips and falls in Second Life never leave a bruise. 

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Today's Flickr Pick: Wren Alcyone Depicts SL Avatars Like Art Nouveau Paintings

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

Wren Alcyone has a lovely stream full of beautiful and fantastical portraits. Recently, she created a four-part series that reminds me of Art Nouveau painter Alphonse Mucha (if he could have worked with neon). With “Ducky” she uses his motif of a frame adorned with vegetation that reflects her outfit. I love it when someone does an homage to the artists of the past. I love it even more when it is a cheeky homage like a neon frame. So much fun! 

For more Muchaesquerie, click here:

Today's Flickr Pick: Incredibly Dramatic Avatar Photos by Klint Kord

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

Klint Kord has the capacity to create very romantic and sensual images that are emotionally powerful while being perfectly safe viewing. I love this one. They aren’t even kissing, but there is such tender intimacy between this couple. Their bodies gravitate toward each other, their heads touch as they look down. It’s beautifully evocative. 

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We Love How This SL Artist Depicts Avatars in RPG-Style Trading Cards

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

Artemis Fate and her action photos were featured just a few months ago [click here] but yesterday’s column about magazine covers reminded me of her Avatar Trading Cards [for full album, click here.] She wrote about her project beneath this picture of some of her card collection.

This is a project I'd been working on for a bit now. Even though I don't RP much, I like creating characters and thinking through details that help make them come to life. I had been thinking of ways to show them off easily which was the idea behind the "Usual Suspects" photos, but they were a bit tough to deal with and didn't give much personality or info in themselves.

When I was a kid, I used to collect these sorts of Marvel Trading Cards that just highlighted a character's biography and stats. I realized it might be fun to replicate that with SL characters (especially since a lot of them were originally made for a superhero themed MMO), so I set up this series. Going to try and keep them up to date when I redo avatars or make new ones.

For examples of her cards, click here:

We Love These SL Fashion Photos Cleverly Incorporated Into Classic Magazine Covers

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

Morgan Incognito has a fascinating photostream full of various projects. One of them is creating fun magazine covers featuring friends and models. I love the humor. She does a good mix with the model and the magazine. Esquire loves the suave metrosexual look and Hethwen Collinwood delivers. I love the surreal jacket design. 

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Cajsa's Choices: Incredible Avatar Action Imagery by Kou

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

We are on the wrong side of Kou’s weapon in 234. She numbers the pictures she uses for her microblog, using the Twitter description space for credits. I love her use of the CMYK colors (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black)  used in printing. They are such bold colors and from those four come all the glorious colors seen in magazine and color photographs. I love how she presents as a threat with a smile on her face. The contrasts are delicious. 

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Cajsa's Choices: This Artist Beautifully Captures Blurred Avatars in Motion

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

Sophia Reynolds brilliantly portrays the athleticism of dance in A Deal with God, a composite of four ballet positions. While her leotard is barely there, the shadows from the window framing is so solid it seems to clothe her more than her clothes. I love how some of the positions are more out of focus than the others, suggesting movement as well as signalling where her eyes are focused. I love the energy and the commitment she throws into her dance. 

For more breathtaking pictures, click here: