New World Notes

Virtual World Tributes to Western Movies by Sergio Leone & Brokeback Mountain

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

Seduce is someone I have featured before back in 2020 but when I saw this shot that could have come straight from one of  my brother’s favorite movies For a Few Dollars More [click here] the second in the trilogy with A Fistful of Dollars [click here] and The Good the Bad and the Ugly [click here.] This pic could come straight from the movie poster. All three films have famous theme songs from the composer Ennio Morricone. The song from the third movie is one most of you will have heard as it’s often used in satiric western spoons. Seduce shot this and a few other pics as a tribute to several great Westerns. 

For more tributes to the wild, wild, West, click here:

Today's Flickr Pick: Alma Creates SL Images Rich With Stories & Ideas

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

Alma has an intriguing photostream. Take this picture. I knew at first glance it was Bonnie and Clyde and if I didn’t, she confirmed it with her song choice, “The World Will Remember Us.” [Click here.] Everything fits, the clothing, the car, the drawn pistole - all suggest Bonnie and Clyde immediately. 

It’s odd how people recall their connections to infamous criminals like Bonnie and Clyde as though they were good people. I knew this old man in real life who gave Clyde an apple. My great-great-grandfather hid the James Brothers in his barn. This very suspect family legend was confirmed by the historical society in Iowa so maybe it’s true. It seems so unlikely. I wish I had a dollar for every time I was told Ma Barker and her gang hid out for the Winter on the big island on the lake where I lived. If that were true, they would have turned themselves in just to warm up.  

For more of Alma's stories, click here:

The Power of Avatar Photos Shot With Dramatic Lighting & Angles

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

Robyn Smith experiments with light and angles to create fascinating photos. For example, “Set Fire to the Rain” as a bright light in high contrast to the velvety darkness of the shadows. It’s a stunning chiaroscuro photograph but I have to page back to March to find something similar. She is an experimenter and you will find blown-out pics that are blindingly white and black and white negatives as well as color pics with and without shadows. While nearly all the pics are of her avatar alone or with someone, there is tremendous diversity in the style of lighting and framing. 

For more examples of her range, click here:

Fantastic Friday Fashion Ideas for Male Avatars from an Annoying Ram

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

Arietemolesto is a blog from Caesar Langer. I am guessing it is really Ariete Molesto which Google Translate tells me means “annoying ram”. Well, I am not annoyed by this blog post The Riding Begins.It’s very weekend casual and perfect for a bike ride if it were not going to be 100𝆩 today. I love the pose which looks completely natural. 

• Top: Unfolded – Rayan Jacket (@ TMD)
• Pants: Unfolded – Ares Jeans
• Shoes: Gutchi – BSKT Sneakers M1 (@ ACCESS)
• Pose and Bicycle: Secret Poses – Bicycle Ride

For a slightly less casual look, click here:

Incredible Second Life Fan Tributes to Music Videos by j-hope of BTS

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

Bulletproof Next is a K-Pop tribute band in Second Life inspired by BTS who have a Flickr account for their band and poster art. Band members include Chiaki xue, kakarot nosantou, and Sopha Portal and many others.  Yesterday they  featured this fabulous recreation of a scene from the percussive Arson video by BTS member j-hope. [Click here] I like how he bends at the waist, curving into the already slightly askew picture. It’s a clever bit of composition that makes this pic even more interesting. This pic was taken by kakarot. I just hope they aren’t too literal a tribute band and don’t go on hiatus. 

For more band pic, click here:

Isabella Rumsford Creates in SL a Literal Rendition of a Classic Movie Line

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

Isabella Rumsford’s picture was inspired by the lines from It’s a Wonderful Life [click here]: “What is it you want Mary. What do you want? You want the moon? Just say the word and I'll throw a lasso around it and pull it down.” 

Isabella made this as literal as could be and it’s beautiful. I love how she balances the moon with her avatar and the earth with the light from the sun or the spaceship. You can see the shadow of the moon falling on the earth which I think is a nice detail. It’s just wonderful all the way around. 

For more intriguing scenes of second living, click here:

Today's Flickr Pick: Ambre Singh Creates Comic & Conceptual Images in Second Life

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

Can I love a Second Life photographer simply because her pictures make me giggle and sometimes even laugh out loud? Yes, yes I can.

Ambre Singh’s picture is cute but when you add the title “Sitting on the Duck of the Bay” it goes from cute to hilarious and memorable. It made me want to do a deeper dive into her photostream. She’s not that fond of clothing, particular bras and shirts, and beach living gives her the freedom to live comfortably au naturel. However, being humorous does not take away from her artistry. 

For a fabulous SL homage to a classic painting and more, click here:

Virtual World Images With Real Feeling Created by Eoleon Elcano

Oh, Eoleon Elcano sure knows how to pluck the heartstrings. This is a picture full of pathos. The person who abandoned the dog did not even leave a dish of water. I’m sure even pixel dogs get thirsty. Eoleon included a link to Annie Lennox’s song “Why?” [Click here] 

For more emotionally powerful pictures, click here:

Today's Flickr Pick: Breathtaking Second Life-Based Images by Drew Lukas

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

Drew Lukas’ “Aberration” is phenomenal. It makes me think of the cover for some James Bond thriller. I love how it overlaid a red version on top of a blue creating a kinetic energy to a static pose. It’s all very sharp and exciting. His stream is also exciting, full of a wonderful mix of tastefully erotic pictures and creative surreal pieces that are breathtaking. 

For more magnificent pics, click here:

Powerful Abstract Imagery Created in Second Life & Inspired by Songs from Lennon, Machairitsas & Sinatra

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

Mihailsk, on his Flickr photostream’s About page writes, “I don't see myself as an artist, I am a passenger with open eyes in this journey of life and Second Life…” 

I wonder, isn’t that what an artist is? Someone with their eyes wide open who can capture those moments of grace and synchronicity that make our lives more beautiful. I love the feeling that this picture conveys, of a spontaneous revelation that just happened. It’s quite possible that this was very deliberately constructed, as many SL photos are, but it has the feeling of just falling into place. Mihailsk chose the song “Cycles” by Frank Sinatra [Click here] as a musical companion to this image. It seems perfect: 

"There isn't much that I have learned

through all my foolish years.

Except that life keeps runnin' in cycles.

First there's laughter, then those tears."

For more extraordinary imagery, click here: