New World Notes

This Flickr Creator Makes Second Life Look Like Paintings You Can Visit

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

Michael Lysios lives in a very beautiful world that he shares with us on Flickr, with pictures that show places in Second Life as we’ve not seen them before. It’s just all so beautiful. And he adds a SLURL so you can teleport to see the place yourself. The sky in “Cherishville” is stunning and I love how the line of the road is accentuated by the bushes and then the fence. It directs our eyes, but so subtly. [Teleport here]

For more of the natural beauty of Second Life, click here:

Today's Flickr Pick: Look How Light Leak Effects Add Realism & Nostalgia to Virtual World Screenshots

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

m●ne ​​​​​​​shoots inviting pictures of herself having fun and living life in Second Life. “When the Sea Meets the Sand” is a great example. She’s enjoying the sun, the fresh wind off the ocean, the sun breaking through. She uses a light leak overlay to suggest the flash of the sun on the film. If you’re interested in using light leaks, this online photo editor has a nice explanation.  

For more gorgeous light leaks, click here:

Friday Fashion: Styles for Male Avatars from Kai Wirsing

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

* SK * Hawat @ Engine Room is a recent post at Blue a blog by Kai Wirsing. I love the steampunk sensibility and the adorable zebra cat. A much more compliant cat than I have. I can barely get her to let me put her collar on. I just love his cravat. It is so lush. Most items are at the Engine Room event which starts on the 20th. For more info on the event and the teleport link when it opens, click here.

At Engine Room

• * SK * Hawat Giani by Bronte Denja
• * SK * Hawat Hat ( Resize ) 
• Blue Blood - Birdskull (Add)  by Cherelle Capra
• [A ] Inuit Shoes Legacy M Fatpack by Mr. Lambert (mister.mercury)
• [A] Steamvape 0.4 W/Hold  by Mr. Lambert (mister.mercury)
• Dirty Rat - Large Telescope [DECOR]  by n0th1ng Ackland

Elsewhere:

• Hotdog - Cravat Bow V2 . [email protected] by Hayden (hot.doge)
• [Rezz Room] British Shorthair Onesie Adult Animesh by Barazor

For the world’s best laundromat, click here:

Flickr So Popular With Second Life Photographers That Flickr Adds a "Virtual Photography" Category to Platform -- Here's How to Use It

If you're among the tens of thousands (hundreds of thousands?) of Second Life users who upload SL screenshots and video to Flickr, you'll want to watch this Flickr video tutorial above from Strawberry Linden, explaining how to add Flickr's new Virtual Photography category to your SL Flickr content. More info on the Flickr blog:

Virtual photography is an emerging art form specializing in photos taken inside a video game or virtual environment... we’re introducing this new category with two types of photography in mind: video game photography and content shared by the Second Life community.

As that suggests, this category was created primarily to serve the huge SL community on Flickr.

"The Flickr community manager was on Lab Gab back in May and she said they were looking to implement this feature for the SL community on Flickr," Strawberry tells me. (Watch that below.)

Ironically, Flickr itself was first created as an image sharing tool for a virtual world called Game Neverending, so it's fitting that another virtual world community has since embraced it as their own.

Flickr even sought SL creators' feedback on before adding it:

SL Image Creators Starting to Blend Midjourney Pics With the Virtual World

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

Loony Perl's “Daddio at PsyLounge” makes me want to go there, even though with a name PsyLounge, I can imagine they play techno and I want my music analog. But where else would you find a human-sized corvid working as a DJ. Real-life corvids are probably smart enough to be DJs if the only had the right-sized equipment. A crow has “adopted” a friend of mine and brings him presents of nuts and found objects such as a button and a rubber band. I love corvids, though I think in real life, corvids like jazz. 

Like other SLers, Loony's been experimenting with Midjourney and blending the virtual world with the AI image generator. Click here:

This Artist Turns Second Life Screenshots Into Powerful Pop Expressionist Surrealist Images

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

Natalia Seranade may begin with a Second Life screenshot but she ends up closer to Pop Expressionist Surrealism, a modern art form sometimes called Lowbrow. (Eric Drummond Smith wrote a primer on the form here.) One of the essential elements he discusses struck me as most closely describing Natalia’s work: “Emotion, improvisation, and immediacy are central ends and means of our work.” When you look at “Plenitude” (above) isn’t your first reaction emotional? A reaction based in part on her color story. Red, black, and white, such visceral colors.

For works that are more explicitly pop and pop art, click here:

Friday Fashion: Swank SL Styles from Khitten Kurka

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

I almost did not blog about this lovely blush-colored dress and earrings because when I saw it was by Khitten Kurka, I was certain I had already blogged about her since she is an OG blogger. Just to be sure, I did a search. How in the world did I not blog about (k)iss (k)iss, her wonderful fashion blog? If you’re an OG blogger or photographer and I have overlooked you because you are so woven into my mental landscape, let me know. The dress is a winner for everyone since it is made with one of the four universal colors  that suit all skin tones. 

• dress – maria dress by beautiful dirty rich / b.d.r. (available at main store)
• earrings – kaya earrings by LaGyo

To see how Khitten dresses for success without being boring, click here:

Second Life Flickr User Posts Semi-Nude Protest Against Flickr's Coming Changes Blocking Nude Images from Unpaid Accounts

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

When I saw this pic from Sparklebottom Lasertits I laughed and knew exactly her point. Flickr has made some unpopular changes in the past year to encourage people to subscribe. As she writes in a long comment attached to this image: 

In case you’ve been living under a rock, Flickr will be making some changes to free accounts soon. Namely, free accounts will no longer be able to post moderate or restricted content. [I.E., images with nudity or porn. -WJA] That will now require a Flickr Pro subscription. There are other changes, but that is the biggest one driving Flickr’s business model from this point forward. This is the change I wish to address...

Flickr needs to make money. I get it. How? I don’t know. Will their current plan work? I very much doubt it. I’d like to see the data in a year or so from now to see the revenue they make from converted accounts compared to how much they lose from members quitting the platform completely. They may think that losing free accounts is not really a loss, but regardless of whether their customers pay or not, losing customers is never a good thing...

Read the whole thing here. I too hope Flickr finds a way to make money because it would really suck if they shut down. I think you can tell from her name that Sparklebottom is not shy. I love her stream but it took a while to find some Google-friendly pics. 

For more thought-provoking pics, click here:

Stunning Second Life Landscape Photos Teeming With Virtual Birds -- And Teleport Links to Visit in Person!

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

Willow Cute takes pictures of Second Life landscapes. They are more than a little cute, though. They are stunning. They make our world come alive with beauty. Take “Flying High.”  This is from The Trace [SLURL to teleport here]. I’ve been there. I’ve stood in the same spot, but did I see it like a “Wish You Were Here” postcard? You can almost feel the adiabatic breeze off the ocean, the squawking gulls. And smell that strange fresh, yet funky smell of salt water, ozone, fresh air, and dying kelp. 

For more stunning landscapes, click here:

Today's SL Flickr Pick: Arresting Avatar Images Inspired by Pearl Jam Songs

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

Krooked is not trying to make beautiful pictures. His pictures are arresting. They grab hold of you and don’t let go. Together with Pearl Jam lyrics, they have more to say than just look at how pretty I am. Take this picture “Just Breathe” She is bent over with her torso twisted and her hands contorted. The title is “Just Breathe” and the song so brilliantly balances different ideas, since it is played at both weddings and funerals. I think this picture captures the breathless passion in the lyrics and the equivocation between celebrating love and acknowledging mortality. 

For more striking pics, click here: