2012 Color Challenge: Week 52 - Amazon

I'm late for the last installment of the 52 Color Challenge - the holidays were amazingly fun, of the sort of fun which didn't inspire me to sit on a computer and take pictures - and so I am horribly tardy! Boo me! Amazon is a really fun color, though, and I ended up being inspired by a new release from Wishbox for the final challenge of the final end of the Color Challenge. A few more options have popped up or a replacement, but I'm not sure how many I'll try to do; I try to minimize my stressors, and leave this blog a fun place, but I also really enjoy inspirations to delve into the depths of my inventory and pull out new, fun, and beautiful things. We'll see how the balance ends up finding itself in twenty thirteen. At least I'm starting out in a gorgeous, lacy gown by Wishbox, inspired by the best in Gothic Lolita style - I adore the lacy sleeves. My one complaint, if it can even be called that, is that the sleeves don't bend with my arms; I've been very spoilt by rigged mesh, and it amazes me to realize how briefly it has been used for clothing in Second Life. I paired it with a lovely, simply style from Alice Project - another of her Advent releases. I like how the subtle green and red in the hair catches the green of the dress, and each little bow and ribbon of lace makes me squee.

Going from vacation back to work has been a trying affair; most evenings I find myself incredibly sleepy, and not really much of the energy or temper for photography or exploration. That being said, it's clear the grid itself is surging with secretive new releases - both in terms of releases from a variety of stores, and in terms of changes ot the programming of the grid to try to make it more stable. Stability and speed of loading have long been problems in Second Life, and I have to admit I'm thrilled to hear that they're being addressed, even if the doomsayers are all over saying Second Life is dead and dying. Sim are going away - these pictures are taken among the cottages of Alchemy Immortalis as a sort of swan song to the design and beauty. The store is remaining, but the sims around it are going away - in one way or another. They're a gorgeous combination of rich textures, so take a change to swing through while you can.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De la Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyeshadow: Virtual Insanity, Twisted - Grass
Eyelashes 1: Flugeln Brise, 04-A
Eyelashes 2: SLink, Mesh Eyelashes
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Lipstick: Mock, Mizu - Russian Red
Hair: Alice Project, Hyori (Advent Gift)
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Hands: SLink, Mesh Hands
Dress: Wishbox, Coquette - Green
Boots: G Field, Strap Shoes "Alex" suede

Posse: Glitterati

Location: Alchemy Immortalis and Surrounding Sims
Light Settings: Natural High
Water Settings: Glassy

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

2012 Color Challenge: Week 51 - Madder Lake Deep

Lake pigments are pigments which aren't naturally thick enough to make into paint, and so they have to be combined with something - a thickener - before being turned into some sort of paint using a medium. It has an ancient history - used across Asia and down into Egypt for a variety of tasks, including clothing dye and coloring ceramics, but it wasn't until the 1800s that a thickener combination was found which enabled it to be used as paint. In the late 1800s the first artificial red was created, based off of the chemical makeup of madder, and even that faint remnant of madder vanished when light resistant reds were synthesized in the 1950s. I went with a slightly orange red for my tinting, as I found nothing in my inventory to match, and actually swiped ideas shamelessly from other bloggers this week - Luna herself inspired the necklace, though I tinted mine, and vyoletta guyot pointed me toward the awesome dress to match. I ended up looking into Madder Lake Deep's history for some idea of what to say; it's my first day of vacation, and I'm feeling kind of brainless and stressed (a difficult combination!).

I ended up taking pictures at The Tower, but I'm deeply conflicted about it - and the vast majority of my pictures made use of the environment of the tower without particularly focusing on most of the figures within it. It's a powerful, moving, difficult to parse display. Naked women, their bodies warped, twisted, altered, or natural fill it; with some it's more obvious the inspiration for the women's frozen actions, but others seem to exist in mute testimony of entire realms unspoken. I really need to give the whole display more time - and there's only a short amount of time before December ends and takes these figures with it.

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: De la Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyeshadow: Mock, Phoenician
Eyelashes: Flugeln Brise, 04-A
Eyelashes 2: SLink, MeshEyelashes
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Blush: Schadenfreude, White Blushing Heart
Lipstick: Mock, Lucir LipColor Sunset
Lipmark: Schadenfreude, Langwidere Dark Red
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Joy2 (promotional item)
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Hands: SLink, Mesh Hands
Dress: CandyMetal, Atrium Goth Dress
Jewelry: Zaara, Kaya Coral (tinted)
Stockings: G Field, Button Socks
Boots: G Field, Fur Cuff Boots "Sasha"

Poses: Glitterati

Location: The Tower
Light Settings: Rouge 4
Water Settings: Glassy

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

2012 Color Challenge: Week 50 - Gold

Gold is always a tricky thing to reproduce without the actual metal (and the ability to make things actually glimmer), but I don't think I did half bad.It is perhaps a little yellow for gold, but it was hard to find golds that weren't on the yellow side but still had a yellow hue - a lot were much more brown and dark. The dress is an awesome lucky chair prize from Indigo Oddities - the set she has up now are different, but equally awesome. I particularly like the snowflake detailing in the skirt, especially since they matched the awesome new shoes from katat0nik with snowflakes all over the socks! The ribbon along the top of the socks is totally cute, too, and if you look up close there are tiny white hearts all along the top ruffle. Seriously squeetastic! I matched it with this hugely puffy hair from Wasabi Pills; it has a slightly retro feel which I thought matched the outfit very well. The ribbon around the head is color changing with a HUD, and while it cuts into my ears a little, judicious angling manages that well.

The accessories were all pulled from a search for gold. Firstly, I finally got to use the awesome hair ornaments from Bliss Couture. I picked them up on a whim, but haven't found a look they worked with, so I was glad this one came along. I like how they poof up and weave into the existing ribbon on the Wasabi Pills hair. When I saw the bento box from Falln Angel Creations, I new immediately I had to include it. In addition to being totally cute and matching my hair ornaments, they also drop the cutest snacks all around when I have rezzing rights - snacks which anyone around can buy if they want! Finally, I added a cute jewelry set from Dark Mouse, a sort of mixed together style in the lighter shades of the dress. The cosmetics are hard to see due to the lighting, but I wanted a golden lip and so I layered a yellow gloss from Mock over a darker matte from Damned, and I think the effect was pretty spectacular. Finally, for the lighting shade I kept the red-yellow-blue tints from earlier pictures, and I think the hints of blue here and there keep the yellow from becoming too overpowering or cloying! Let me know what you think, though.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De la Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Eyelashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Eyeshadow: Glow, Crazy eye shadow
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Lipstick 1: Damned, Alice Lipstick Yellow
Lipstick 2: Mock, Lucir Lipcolor Narcissus
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Inchigo Mesh Hair - Golden (promotional item)
Flowers: Bliss Couture, Korin Hat - Gold
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Hands: SLink, Mesh Hands
Bracelet: Kyccie's Creations, Hopeful Flower Gold
Jewelry: Dark Mouse, Found Things Gold
Dress: Indigo Oddities, Nefarious Noel Gold
Bag: Falln Angel Creations, Bento Box Golden (rezzes buyable food)
Shoes: katat0nik, Snowflake T-strap Wedges

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Tiramisu Cafe
Light Settings: TOR, FOGGY Southern Delite
Water Settings: Mirror Water

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

2012 Color Challenge: Week 49 - Cotton Candy

I love cotton candy - the food, not the color.The candy in my hand, I think a Gatcha prize from Saturnine Dreams, and my awesome Skinthesis wings were both rather closer to the theme than I had originally planned, but I ended up really liking them and I couldn't resist being literal! I actually started with this Gothica dress, which I've had in my inventory for a very long time and haven't had a chance to use before now. It was a perfect color for cotton candy, light and sweet but bright and playful. The flower theme was harder to carry over, though - the necklace is included but no bracelets or hair ornaments - so I ended up supplementing the pink daisies with lilies. The one in my hair is from G Field and is a staple of my inventory. The shoes were the most difficult of all, though; I ended up returning to an old staple from Deviant Designs, these adorable sandals with the lily detailing on the side. They are pre-mesh, but still incredibly well made. Finally, I ended up using a cute pig tail hairstyle from Wasabi Pills, but instead of using her jellyfish color (which was way too bright) I took one of her light white shades and tinted it to match the darkest part of the daisies. I also swapped out my usual relaxed SLink hand for the "bag" hand which looks like it's holding something, so that the stem of my cotton candy didn't fall on the ground while I was gallivanting around. I had impulsively bought the fatpack of her hands, but I'm really glad I have the versatility of them all, even if I usually just use casual! I paired a couple of eyeshadows - one a simple blush on the lid from Mock (adding a matching lip) and the other more theatrical and vivid, a heart from Schadenfreude to round out my look, and I think I look rather snazzy!

The biggest challenge of the whole shoot, really, was the location and the lighting. I didn't want to overpower the outfit with a really dark location, but I did want to echo the pink of the outfit in the sky and hopefully on the land a little. I used a variety of lights, this time focusing them on one side of the body using grays and pinks. The gray was to take off some of the edge of the pinks - make it a little less obvious that the light was tinted, and to even out the light across the face and try to minimize the awkward and unattractive mesh shadows around the nose and lips. To get a shadow along the nose without catching the slightly off triangles at the sides of the nostrils is a challenge in Second Life due to the flawed mesh o its base avatars; that being said, I will take the customization of the basic mesh avatar over any mesh avatar any time of the day. I really wish Second Life would expand the options for mesh, maybe allowing a way of combining their adjustment system with fresh, better mesh bases. I'm beginning to think we may get there sometime - Second Life is slowly seeming to become more responsive, and so I maintain hope for a meeting point between individualization and style.

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: De la Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Eyelashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Eyeshadow 1: Mock, Carnivale Cotton Candy
Eyeshadow 2: Schadenfreude, Cotton Candy
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Lipstick: Mock, Glasside Lip - Carissima
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Megumi
Hairflower: G Field, Hibiscus Hair Clip
Wings: Skinthesis, Cotton Candy Wings
Hands: SLink, Mesh Hands
Food: Saturnine Dreams, Home Spun Cotton Candy
Dress: Gothica, Clove Pink
Shoes: Deviant Designs, Beach Baby

Poses: aDORKable Poses

Location: Izzie's Mainstore
Light Settings: TOR, FOGGY Catastrophe
Water Settings: Mirror Water

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

2012 Color Challenge: Week 48 - Tangelo

I'm late for Tangelo, very late, but in my defense it has been a Hel of a week! It seems like once a year there's always a week where I feel a dollar late and a dime short in any possible, and that was this week. I squeaked in under some doors, but this one I ended up crashing through and ending up on a heap of tangerine on the floor, cursing the lack of tangelo in my inventory. I only found it in my hair from Analog Dog - and I'll be honest, I had no idea it was there. I searched, as always, for a word (this time the tang beginning, as I assumed I would have no tangelo) and found mostly hairs, and mostly tangerine. I had some tangerine shoes, but there was not a tangerine dress or outfit in my entire inventory! It blew me away, I had no idea I had such gaps in what I've grown of thinking of as a pit of everything on the grid.

This picture set also feels very off-balanced, off season, of in every way, We're out of harvest season now, a long way from holidays of pumpkins, but the brightness of Rabbit Kiss' orange seemed to fit the over-the-top orange that was characterized by tangelo. I ended up muting it quite a bit in the background, though, so I'm not sure the over-the-topness really carries across; there's a failure there, I feel. I lighted this one a bit unusually, though, using two colors. On one side of me, the facelight tint is a rich red color. On the other side, it is yellow. If you look closely at the highlights and shadows on my face, in particular, you can see the combined effect - but it's relatively subtle. One of the reasons I love using in world lighting instead of adding lighting after the fact is because you can play with color with it; I need to remember to do bisected colors more often!

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: De la Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Eyelashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Eyeshadow 1: Elymode, Solstice Moon
Eyeshadow 2: Virtual Insanity, Spring - Tangerine
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Lipstick: Mock, Lucir Lipcolor Tangerine
Hair: Analog God, ffwd - tangelo
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Hands: SLink, Mesh Hands
Dress: Rabbit Kiss, 2012 Halloween Lolita
Shoes: Eclectica, Garden Party - tangerine

Poses: !bang

Location: *Tatty Soup*
Light Settings: Places, Beach Cay
Water Settings: Mirror Water

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

2012 Color Challenge: Week 47 - Barley Corn

Barley Corn was a difficult color to find by name, though I found a couple of barleys. My De La Soul skin, which I think was a limited edition with lovely snakeskin detailing around the eyes, was a limited edition - but Beatrice is still for sale in her store, and barley is an awesome olive-toned skin a few shades darker than my usual Cream. The hair is also called barley and is a more golden tone; from Truth, it's a delicious updo with a fantastic wavy bang which is what attracted me to the style to begin with. I paired it with Felicity's Thanksgiving release, which is a two toned pair of shoes with multiple lacings. Finally, the dress - an old purchase from G Field - is the bit of sweet in the barley, caramel richness which leaves me warm and satisfied. In a little while I might make a sundae - pure vanilla ice cream with warm caramel and fudge dribbled over it - a combination which always makes me smile. If only I had malt, my sundae desires would be purely met.

Cooler weather is always a blessing for me; I overheat pretty easily, and I enjoy the sensation of snuggling down into blankets and feeling them warm up around me. It also inspires that most pleasing of tendencies in my furry companion - the impulse to snuggle. Over the years I've gotten him from pathologically afraid of blankets to happily snuggling under them with me; even as I type this, he's snuggled up next to me, wrapped under the blankets I have across my lap, purring occasionally when I pet him.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De la Soul, Beatrice, Barley - 2012 Dragon
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyelashes: SLink, Eyelashes
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Hair: Truth, Mayim - barley
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Jewelry: League, Pearls & Lace - natural ivory
Dress: G Field, Classic Dress "Erica" - caramel
Shoes: Felicity, Farah Stilettos - Thanksgiving Special (on sale through Monday)

Poses: D.Luxx

Location: Frisch
Light Settings: Places
Water Settings: Mirror Water

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

2012 Color Challenge: Week 46 - Juniper

Nothing I'm wearing is named Juniper - and indeed, the metallic quality of my outfit (a very old purchase from The Abyss) belies the naturalistic quality of Juniper, an enormous conifer with blue-gray berries that grows in the upper reaches of some mountains. Juniper berries are actually the flavoring gin, though I have to admit I've only drunk a couple gin and tonics, mostly because it glows under blacklight and I loved drinking something that glowed. There is glow in Second Life as well, but due to the rarity of glow offline, I think online it often comes off inaccurately - even unnatural. In a world where we fly, though, and where we can look like anything we want, what really is "natural"? One of the more common, ongoing bits of friction between people is the issue of appearance - both independent of offline reality and in reaction to it. In the case of the latter, many people do and will continue to remark on the dearth of true multiculturalism on Second Life.

I'm as much a part of that reality as anyone, being usually blond and pale skinned in Second Life. This is a reflection of my internal view of myself - my avatar is as close to an internal me as I can easily accomplish - but it is also one which is part of a large narrative about skin and hair color and how that influences culture and prejudice alike. I have a lot of "mes" in Second Life who are auxiliary, though, and their appearances are much more diverse; one is Irish, one is edging toward darker skin - not the Ghanese of Agbala but a lighter cream or chocolate color. This brings up other issues of appropriation, though; with Agbala being from Ghana but spending a good chunk of her life (she's Fae and so her life is quite long) in the Caribbean and having more of a Caribbean accent than a Ghanese one, but with me - her driver lets say - being white and growing up apart from any of those cultures, it would be reasonable for someone from Ghana or someone fromt he Caribbean being less than pleased that I not only named her after an Igbo god, but that I also write ehr with a tinge of accent (usually in an approximation of what I hear when I hear people speak who are from the Caribbean, but not exact).

I have the cultural and financial advantages to be apart from the realities of being prejudiced against; weirdly - or really perhaps not - prejudice and judgement of peoples appearance continues even unto the internet; in fact, some people seem to view that since here you have absolute control over how you look, your personality should be even more clearly reflected in online appearance. I buy into this to a large extent as well; the appearance of my avatar is very important to me - and was before I began photographing it, though photographing it has reinforced that importance. I would say I tend more toward wanting peoples' appearances to be coherent, if not realistic, but I will admit to feeling twinges of annoyance at styles like the Invisible Unicorn Riders, whose hips are so broad the mesh deforms between the legs, and who tend to have enormous pouting lips. I cannot deny, however, that often their looks are coherent - and often clearly thought through.

In reality, they put pressure on my own internal values, both of beauty but also of cheerfulness and a certain modesty of presentation which the more colorful and extreme presentations belie. The same goes for those with the watermelon butts (which also has some troubling offline implications; while IURs tend to be pale skinned, Watermelon Butts tend to be dark skinned and watermelon is strongly associated with US black culture), who often have matching enormous chests and torsos without room for organs to exist - this is the internet, though, and no one needs kidneys or stomachs, so why does it bother me so much? Part of it is philosophical; the objectification of women is a major issue in self-created media and extreme exaggeration of secondary sexual characteristics is a part of that in media-created media which often seems to move into our minds and settle there, like shadows. My realistic-except-for-wings avatar is my attempt to combat this internally, but I've been considering playing around with it more in my alts - perhaps even making an Invisible Unicorn Rider or Watermelon Butt avatar and seeing what it feels like to put on those shapes, what it calls up within me. Our prejudices, and our assumptions about those we are prejudiced against, often reveal uncomfortable truths about who we are which can only be understood through acceptance.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De la Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyelashes: SLink, Eyelashes
Eyeshadow: Virtual Insanity, SPRING Cockatoo
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Lipstick: Mock, Micare - London Glitter
Hair: Secrets Hair, Cristina - Blonde (promotional item)
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Hands: SLink, Rigged Mesh Hands
Jewelry: Eclectica, Manhattan - topaz
Dress: The Abyss, Hydrogen
Shoes: G Field, Mesh Long Cuff Boots "Willow"

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Tryst
Light Settings: TOR, EUPHORIA smokey blue skies
Water Settings: Mirror Water

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

2012 Color Challenge: Week 45 - Bittersweet

None of my outfits are called Bittersweet, but I think I matched the color pretty well! I actually started full sized, then remembered one of Skinthesis' Flights petites I had gotten at the fantasy faire, and that the dress I was wearing from Evie's Closet came in a petite size, and I simply couldn't resist going tiny once more. The green of the dress is echoed in the butterfly - this is the Monarch one but it comes with five different shades - which I thought was a nice effect. Setting up a look around a color is really an area of strength for me, but even this week I struggled - orange is my least favorite color, and this was an odd pinky-orange shade which very few people make. The hair was the final holdout, but luckily Alice Project's fatpack gives me shades of red. I'm not regretting passing up on her limited edition flamingo color set for Collobor88, though! I had seriously considered it at the time, and I think the pinky-orange of Bittersweet was better matched from that set, but a highlighted red works out well enough. I thought finding a place for pictures would be even harder, but when I saw the name claudia222 I had high hopes, and when I teleported to Mesh Mellows I was hooked. Like a lot of her art, this is bigger than it first appears; the tiny island exists as a starting point to a hundred other views I could insinuate myself into even easier than usual, since I was so tiny. I adored in particular being one of a flock of tiny, orange birds which made up the better part of hair and clothing for a woman frozen in time.

One thing I noticed this time in particular as well, claudia222's art is always full of faces - most of them female but with the occasional male - something else which simply makes my own face and body fit in, albeit as much less Gigerific. Her art is always such a mix of the beautiful and the disturbing that I find myself lingering, time and again, watching the tiny movements of figures and the flexing of aspects of their body without being able to look away. The tiny insertions of normalcy - an old fashioned car, a Victorian house - just seem to highlight the bizarity of the trees and watching faces even more. While there, try to sit on things. I ended up riding around a rather charmingly disturbing vehicle, dangled beneath an enormous bee, but I'm not sure exactly what I sat on to get there! You can also fly about on your own, but somehow the vehicle makes it even more engaging. I'm not sure I actually reached the top of it - I know I didn't in this set of pictures but I kept going afterward. claudia222 is always good for hiding things and making you hunt, though - and it's always worth the effort. I don't know how she does it, but I'm content to watch until I figure it out!

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Body: Skinthesis, Flights - Persimmon (promotional item)
Eyes: Skinthesis, Dollie - Salmon (promotional item)
Hair: Alice Project, Petite Namie
Outfit: Evie's Closet, Bugaboo Fairy - Orange Sorbet
Jewelry: Elemental, Moonglow

Pose: Glitterati

Location: Mesh Mellows
Light Settings: TOR, FOGGY Chouchou Rockets
Water Settings: Mirror Water

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

2012 Color Challenge: Week 44 - Charcoal

Charcoal is such a perfect color for this week - the week angling into darkness, when the veil between the worlds thins. I've been sinking into the podcast of a dear friend, the Burnham Society, and it suits the uneven texture of the night - particularly Talafiera's story - the Winter Queen telling the tale of how she became the Winter Queen. It's a time of fear and wonder both - and I have to admit I tend much more toward Dia de los Muertos than Slasher Flick in my tastes. Give me actual death far before screams and bloodpacks. It's always an odd offset, navigating a world where contrived horror has become normal, even expected, when one wishes to avoid it as much as possible. The fires are being tamped down, though, and the horrors the world holds are far more compelling and powerful than those of any fevered imagination. Imagining New York City, dark from 42nd street down, the terrible toll of the sea and the sand over homes, the hungry licking of fire above sea water - the combination of fire and water not tempering each other, as they normally do, but instead only expanding the damage done. In coming days it will be the time of coals, of mold, of the dull gray of hopelessness facing an uncertain future, only the faintest ember remaining in the dust.

last ember fades, though't clung valiantly to life,
glowing whitish-gold in deep'ning twilight strife
the logs are but half burnt, and still the ember fades;

a building broken down was built with just-born logs,
but still there is a rafter cracked, wrapped well within the fogs
that curl around its dying bones like new-born, healthy skin;

some seedlings pass away within a violent frost
claiming their slim lives to join all other's lost
instead of gaining bloom to continue on with life;

in spring a tree lies dead, bereft of all its bloom,
locked within a cycle that brought it naught but doom
as slowly half-dead leaves are blown by bitter winds;

within the earth there is a grave of a babe who knew no breath;
the mother, weeping, lies above, for she has nothing left;
last remnants of a well-loved man followed him to death;

the light is fading fast, leaving me with night,
around my shoulders he has curled, removing all my light
as last ember falls away, and is covered up with ash,
and on my back, like bite of snake, I feel my heart-ache's lash.

Stillbirth, by Deoridhe Grimsdottir

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Eyeshadow: De La Soul, Inked
Lipstick 1: L.Fauna, Black
Lipstick 2: Mock, Vitrail Lip Glass - black
Mask: Spyralle, Fractal Mask "Rage"
Hair: Magika, The - Charcoal
Hairflower: G Field, Rose Hairpin - gray
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Hands: SLink, Mesh Hands
Dress: Wicked Dollies, Pretty Pleats - Charcoal
Shrug: Elymode, Facil Shrug - black
Lace: Silent Sparrow, Vertnoir lace shirt
Jewelry: Eclectica, Vintage Glass Series
Stockings: G Field, Button Socks - ash
Shoes: Bliesen + MaiTai, Morticia

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Netherfield - Eclectic Desires Hunt
Light Settings: Places Wiccan
Water Settings: Mirror Water

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

2012 Color Challenge: Week 43 - Ghost White

I'm getting Ghost White in early so that I can focus on a few other things on my plate, but I really had a good time with it! I set it at MadPea's latest hunt, the Praying Mary hunt, which goes until the end of the month, and what I was aiming for was a ghostly figure in the darkness - an attempt at in-world, unedited chiaroscuro using a combination of windlight settings and body lights. Chiaroscuro is the purview of one of my favorite artists of all times, Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn,and the idea behind it was of things rising out of the darkness, highlighted by the halo of humanity which illuminated his subjects. My favorite of his works is Lucretia, a moment poised while she's still contemplating the actions she will take; I'm unsure what I find so compelling about this (and I admit, on the computer screen it is significantly less inspiring) but I would linger by it every time I went to the National Art museum, leaning close to see the scraping of his pallet knife across the canvass, singing into the expression in her eyes, the slight smile of her lips as if she found some peace in a desperate act, the luster of the pearls and heavy weight of her gown. You can't see it on the screen, but in person the contrast between the smooth, soft texture of her skin and the harsh, angular, scraped texture of her dress is all but tactile. I adore his other work, but Lucretia transfixes me every time.

In my own, paler imitation of chiaroscuro, I shifted to a feathered skin from Fallen Gods and paired it with a similarly feathered dress from Angelwing, complete with little details along the sides and feathered fans for dancing. In the absence of anything more ghostly, I felt the effect of the feathering was reminiscent of a snowy owl, often the ghost of the evenings - but a violent ghost, moving silently through the night until he prey is spotted. The hearts of that prey are transfixed on my horns, from Rue, which were part of the Twisted Hunt sometime in the recent past. More ghostly hints come in the form of my wings, a lucky chair win from ni.ju a while back; the effect of them, when angled correctly, is really impressive - fading from light to shadow in smooth lines of demon wings.The only other detail was my hair, an old release from Wasabi Pills in a perfectly pale white. I felt like the final effect was a little demonic, a little owlish, and a little uncanny all at once.

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: Fallen Gods, Feathers (Promotional Item)
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Ears: Illusion, Seelie Ears
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Cookie (Promotional Item)
Eyelashes: SLink, Eyelashes
Horns: Rue, Horn'd Marchmaker
Outfit: Angelwing, Feather Fairy
WIngs: ni.ju, Glow Dragon Wings - Ghost
Floater: katat0nik, Freebie Ghost

Poses: Glitterati

Location: MadPea: The Case of Praying Mary
Light Settings: AmbientDark
Water Settings: Mirror Water

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

2012 Color Challenge: Week 42 - Cosmic

I am so late on Cosmic! I blame my short attention span. I kept meaning to put together and outfit, and remembering halfway through another photoshoot, and then I spent most of Saturday taking shots at Fallen Gods' Fifth Anniversary Party and went to sleep late. So this is a day late! Bad me! I'm hoping to get it in before the Flickr week restarts, though! Sometimes having only three pictures a week can be such a trial. Speaking of the pictures, you may notice that they seem a little contained this week - and that's because I literally took everyone one inside and around a store, using the small decorative touches around Rebel Hope Designs. Tiny fountains, planters, and vases of flowers all became my backdrop, because when one is a petite they are actually rather huge in comparison! That is one of the things I really love about being a petite - how it affects how I view the world and what becomes a beautiful background to some tiny pictures. Full sized it is more difficult to use a store as a playground, but when one comes up to everyone's knees, one really can make a playground out of anywhere!

I also bought this outfit for this color, less because I couldn't find it in larger and more because I really wanted to be a petite again for a while, which necessarily means wearing petite clothing! I had remembered a color similar to Cosmic among the selection at Evie's Closet and went hunting, and found she's converted many of her more fae outfits for petites in all of their colors. The hair, from Secrets, is part of their new petite line and has some wonderful details - like the braiding and ribbons of hair on the ponytail. I love those kinds of details, the small touches which make something unique. The jewelry is off-color, but I liked the blue as a break in the Cosmic monotony, and Elemental also has converted many of her jewelry from full sized to petite, which means a wider variety to draw from when getting gussied up.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Body: Fallen Gods, Pale (promotional item)
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Rainbow (promotional item)
Hair: Secrets, Kristeen (promotional item)
Outfit: Evie's Closet, Damselfly
Jewelry: Elemental, Butterfly Kisses

Poses: Long Awkward Pose

Location: Rebel Hope Designs
Light Settings: CB's Rouge 1
Water Settings: Mirror Water

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

2012 Color Challenge: Week 41 - Antique Brass

I'm squeaking in Antique Brass right under the line, despite having a decent amount of free time - mostly because I used that free time on other things and forgot completely about the challenge until yesterday~! I've been pre-occupied, and really have a growing awareness of how critical something that simply isn't found in Second Life is to me and how I form lasting memories - scent. Some of this is a relief; I can only imagine the stale wax smell that Linden Labs might provide as a default, and a gathering of noobs could send a person down in a welter of vile odor. Imagine being able to smell a garden, though, or the damp, slightly metallic smell that might accompany these pictures, with a hint of wood and grass on the wind. The scent that's been most disturbing me recently is a scent I never imagined to smell in my own home - the smell of my grandparents' home.

I recently found the time to unpack the first of my inheritance boxes, this one mostly full of ducks and a goose, and I was astonished at how strong the scent of the house was on the papers everything was wrapped in, and how strongly the mixed emotions and memories of that house returned to me. It is something I am unable to fully capture, and certainly unable to bottle, and it lingers on the edges of my mind. One thing I inherited was a glass perfume bottle my grandmother carried with her. My plan had been to empty it and fill it with my perfume, but having opened and sniffed and experienced the unmistakable weight of memories associated wit that smell, I find myself unable to. She and I never had a close or easy relationship, but she was my grandmother and I loved her; that love lives in scent now, absent a person to carry it.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Ears: Illusion, Seelie Ears
Eyelashes 1: Flufeln Brise, 05-A
Eyelashes 2: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyeshadow: Virtual Insanity, SPRING - Starfish
Lipstick: Mock, Lucir Espresso
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Taylor Mesh Hair (promotional item, Cinema Releases)
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Necklace: G Field, Key Necklace - brass
Jewelry: League, Wanderer - Golden Oak
Outfit: The Sea Hole, Odette Bustier and Culottes
Hands: Slink, Rigged Mesh Hands (New Release)
Feet: SLink, Rigged Mesh Bare Feet

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Black Kite
Light Settings: London2026
Water Settings: Mirror Water

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

2012 Color Challenge: Week 40 - Amaranth

Amaranth was a fun color to find - especially because it's a slightly redder pink than the other hot pinks - which makes it very difficult to find in ones inventory. I ended up going far in the past, to the days of yore when Silent Sparrow still did her limited edition hunts. Not hunts in the sense most people know them - where the prizes were free - hyasynth would put out Limited Edition dresses at their full store price, but she would hide them in different places all over her sim (back when Silent Sparrow had it's own sim). It was a major happening - she would lock us all out and we'd cluster at the side waiting to be able to swoop in and find dresses. Then the selling and trading would start; because they were hidden, you sometimes couldn't find the color you wanted. One of hya's hard and fast rules was no price gouging, though! No matter if it were rarer, you needed to send on an outfit for the same price. One memorable time, a bunch of suits were released and I ended up giving one to all of my closest friends. I had wanted to get a picture of all of us in them, but it never happened.

I'm wearing a new release from Wasabi Pills for FAMEshed - a cute pig tail deal. I ended up tinting the jellyfish just a little to get the richer, redder red; one thing I'm grateful for is that mesh is editable for color. The bangs are actually modifyable too - Wasabi Pills has picked up the trick of combining rigged and unrigged things - but  they fit me out of the box, no modification required. It even fit well around my ears, which blew me away! I added a hat from Forsaken that I think was a hunt prize once upon a time - a cute bone tophat with a little raven inside; just the right amount of macabre to fit a Silent Sparrow gown. Fitting it to my head took some time and attention, since it's thin bones (as befits an avian!), but I think the final effect was worth the effort. My cosmetics are a mix of Mock on the lips in a gorgeous shiny pink, and a barely visible white eyeshadow from Virtual Insanity.

The Jewelry is from Elemental, and is color changing, which makes it so much more valuable in my inventory. Since I can shift between gold and silver, and since lots of colors are included, changing a set to match my overall look in a snap. The one confusion is how Elemental's texture changing menues work; quite a few options remain programmed in, but without anything they are capable of changing - like tinting. It makes it confusing when I'm shifting through menus, though I pretty quickly adapt to just selecting texture change instead of color change. I am also still wearing awesome shoes from G Field, this time recolored to match with hot pink and white. This is honestly why I now just buy fatpacks of G Field's shoes; I know I'll love them, I know the fatpack gives me total versatility; just spend the money and enjoy the shoes! This is especially cost effective when you compare her prices to the prices at other stores; I can get a fatpack of shoes from G Field for what it would cost me to get two to three shoes from a store of comparable quality.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyeshadow: Virtual Insanity, La Ligne - White
Lipstick: Mock, Lucir - Rubyfruit
Ears: Illusion, Seelie Ears
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Izumi Mesh Hair (Released at FAMEshed)
Hat: Forsaken, Fate of the Raven Bones
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Dress: Silent Sparrow, Selador - candy (limited edition)
Stockings: Silent Sparrow, Starbunny Knitty Socks - candy
Jewelry: Elemental, Athena Earrings
Shoes: G Field, Mesh Wedge Bootie "Beth"

Poses: Glitterati

Location: D-LAB
Light Settings: Las Legunas
Water Settings: Mirror Water

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

2012 Color Challenge: Week 39 - Hunter Green

The Gatcha Event at Arcade is all over the feeds and blogs, so I'm sure you've seen things from it, but I was completely blown away by the landscaping around the event. Set on a pier, with beautifully sculpted gatcha machines for all of the prizes, the texturing is completely gorgeous. A lot of it is mesh, but I found despite the crowds which were always there I had surprisingly little lag. Once I headed outside of the main building (visible on the left side), I was barely lagging at all. One positive effect of the mesh is these gorgeous fences with all of the detailing and sculpting on them which is incredibly crisp and clean. I know mesh has had a rocky start in Second Life, but I have to admit I appreciate it more and more as increasingly skills individuals begin to raise the bar even higher. Really, what can be accomplished in Second Life now is simply unbelievable - the equal of any other game on the market even on lower level computers like mine is. I was reminded of a recent post from The Digital Pasture, about how Second Life defaults are unattractive. She theorizes that a major part of this is that Linden Labs doesn't employ designers and artists, nor does it take advantage of the very talented artists in Second Life (with a few exceptions, like the new picture ads). I wonder sometimes if it might be different if more of the builders in Second Life were part of the community, but it's difficult to say that would make a difference given how involved lindens once were and how even then people perceived them as being distant.

Recently, I seem to have been channeling the color challenges; this week I dressed up in Hunter Green without quite realizing I had until after the pictures were taken. It was harder to work the windlight this time because the sky was textured, so setting up something which looked good but still lit the environment sufficiently was a real challenge; I ended up not doing anything too flashy. The dress from Wishbox and the watch from katat0nik were the twin inspirations, and then I ended up with the green wrap from Schadenfreude and it seemed completely perfect. The dress is a longtime favorite, and I took advantage of Wishbox's recent sale to pick up all of the rest of the colors; the colors on it are so rich, and I adore the shiny texturing on the bodice, and the ribbon around the neck. katat0nik's watches are part of the the gatcha event, though this one was a gift from a dear friend to lure me there. I have further plans for these - part of a conversation she and I had - but you'll have to wait to see what it is! As for Schadenfreude, their style doesn't always fit me - difficult to say why, but it's true - but I really love this fox stole with the button eyes; it's rigged mesh, so it stays with your torso as you move.

The mouse ears are actually tinted to be a darker green, but they are also a prize from the gatcha event but from Auxiliary, and I'm still tempted to thrown more linden their way looking for those rainbow rares! That's the problem with gatcha events; they suck me dry and tempt me to keep going until I have everything!  The hair is a new release from Secrets Hair, and I really love it. It didn't fit right out of the box, but Secrets Hair is wisely mixing rigged mesh with prims and so I was able to shift a bit of bangs to cover my bits of skull. The bit of lipstick to give just a hint of color is a gorgeous offering from Mock; I went with simple cosmetics to highlight the Lolita styling of my dress; Lolitas tend to have very simple or innocent looking appearances. I'm not sure I ever manage innocent, but I think simple exists here! The boots are an amazing offering from Kcreations; like every time I've worn some of her boots I've been pleased, and the fact they are color changing and tintable means that they are infinitely matchable, even for difficult to find colors.

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De la Soul, RooMee Rainbow
Ears: Illusion, Seelie Ears
Eyelashes: *X*plosion, PrimLashes
Lipstick: Mock, Lucir Lipcolor - Vin Rouge
Hair: Secrets Hair, Cristina - Caramel (promotional item)
Mouse Ears: Auxiliary, Gatcha Mouse Ears (Bow) Black
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Watch: katat0nik, Nada Watch - Candy Green (Arcade Gatcha Event)
Dress: Wishbox, Charm - jade (Arcade Gatcha Event)
Stole: Schadenfreude, Green Foxy Stole (Arcade Gatcha Event)
Pet: D Lab, Skunk Arm Black (Arcade Gatcha Event)
Boots: Kcreations, Feline Boots - Leather

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Arcade Gatcha Event
Light Settings: TOR, NIGHT Brighter
Water Settings: Glassy

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

2012 Color Challenge: Week 38 - Papaya Whip

I didn't even hunt for outfits for Papaya Whip. I've been wanting to show off this amazing corset set from Rosal since I bought it, and since I bought the fatpacks of each part, I knew I could manage it. It comes in black, red, and white - and the white is tintable if you edit it; I just have to take a second to say how much I adore being able to tint white things to match a given outfit. In any case - the second I saw this set from Rosal, I was completely in love. I'm actually missing the ballet style boots, going with the stiletto heels instead. There are gloves to match, however, fully mesh, along with the neck and waist corsets. Each has stripes on them along which a flicker of glow moves regularly from and to different diodes on the corsets. It's futuristic and sleek, and I want about ten million of these gloves in various colors please! She just released some gorgeous kimono-inspired styles; if you like corsets for the waist and neck, Rosal absolutely has to be on your list of places to go.

I really struggled with pairing the corset set with other clothing - it is a mid-hip line, which means a lot of skirts won't work smoothly with it. I literally began trying different skirts of different types, finally happening onto these pieces from Bare@Rose, from her Artemis set. The pairing is perfect - unbounded and wild yet still sleek and smooth; curving out from the narrowness of neck and waist and flowing out smoothly in lean lines. I really love it as a total look; it moves as well as it photographs. Choosing the hair was equally difficult, and dictated by the corset set, but this mesh style from Alice Project was absolutely perfect. Her new hair setup is called the "infinity" set; you buy one HUD for coloring it, and then you can color up any hairstyles you want. There's an uber fatpack which is very ingeniously programmed - you select subsets to make them show up, instead of being overwhelmed by a million colors on one page. I've found myself using more tipped hairs now that I bought the fatpack; this, for example, is the blond on blond tips.

The brilliant shininess of today's pictures combined with this weeks Depth Perception theme for Single Frame Stories got me thinking about how we perceive depth. Usually, deep people are morose and solitary, quiet, and what they see into is dark and deep, often murky and full of the crueler and more horrid sides of peoples' natures. There seems to be widespread acceptance that to be honest is to be cruel and harsh, and to be deep is to be solemn and dark and say things with three or more syllables. I do find my deepest thinking seems to be in stillness, but I have a strong desire to find the depth in the brilliant things, the honesty which leads us to be kinder, the depth which is of a brilliant and shining nature rather than something dark and murky. I want to find loving and noble basic truths to human nature, and when I use words of more than three syllable, I want them to resonate with power and meaning while lightening the load of all who hear them.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De la Soul, RooMee Rainbow
Ears: Illusion, Seelie Ears
Eyelashes 1: *X*plosion, PrimLashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Eyeshadow: White Widow, Dragonfly Silver
Lipstick 1: Mock, Micare LipGlimmer - Dusted Contessa
Lipstick 2: Mock, Lucir Lipcolor - Midas' Kiss
Hair: Alice Project, Momo II
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Corsets: Rosal, Viron-M White
Gloves: Rosal, Viron-M White
Top and Skirt: Bare Rose, Artemis
Boots: Rosal, Viron-M White

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Antennaria
Light Settings: Sim Default
Water Settings: TOR, Atomist

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

2012 Color Challenge: Week 37 - Royal Blue

Royal Blue is a gorgeously rich color, and I fell into it quite by accident as a group gift from Dressed by Lexi; I suppose you could say I'm Lexidressed! The usual alpha issues of dresses with semi-transparent fabric show up here and there, but Lexi did something very clever when she built the skirts and made them multilayered and highly textured - which means often the alpha occlusion disappears in the layers covering layers. Combine that with the bias-hanging skirt, and you have a dress that is beautiful to watch move. This is a dress to dance in; Photographs of it in a static state really don't do it justice. The jewelry was made to match - I took the easy way out - and both are nearly free; the dress is a group gift and the jewelry and shoes are on sale. I paired it with this adorable hairstyle from Wasabi Pills, with it's cute over the ear style. No real closeups, though! It's often hard to pair hairs with ears and make it look good, so photography angles and shadows become very important. The little tattoo on my throat is from Belleza; all of the zodiac symbols were made for 50$L Friday but don't seem to still be available (sorry!). It comes in dark and faded (I'm showing dark) along with heart and star tattoos. I accidentally bought Capricorn, so I know the heart and star aren't just for the most important sign, Pisces.

I got really into Cristina Rad this week, who's a vlogger through Free Thought Blogs. I am not an atheist and I'm only halfway a skeptic (with the other half being mystic) but I really like her perspective even when I disagree with what she sees. The same goes for a lot of the bloggers on Free Thought Blogs; Pharyngula was my gateway drug, but I'm also a huge fan of Butterflies and Wheels and Greta Christina's Blog. I spend a lot of time reading blogs and very little time responding, but often what I read is carried through by me into larger, broader thoughts to try to encompass more of the world in a more accurate way. Now and then, there are dismissive comments made about how 90% of the population is a consumer instead of a producer; a similar perspective shows up in Second Life, where several bloggers have expressed horror at the people who come into Second Life, wear clothing, go to clubs, talk to other people, and never create anything. I personally think that the consumers are the other half of the equation; part of talking is having people listen, and with no one to listen, talking becomes more of an internal process rather than something which may have any meaning outside of the individual. Likewise, created clothing without buyers just sits on shelves unworn. Rather than the consumer being parasitic on the creator, I believe it's much more of a symbiotic relationship which has echos across human culture.

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De la Soul, RooMee Rainbow
Ears: Illusion, Seelie Ears
Eyelashes 1: *X*plosion, PrimLashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Eyeshadow: De La Soul, Inked
Lipstick: Mock, Micare Lipglimmer Hypoxia
Tattoo: Belleza, Picses Zodiac Dark
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Gloria Mesh
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle Wings
Dress: Dressed By Lexi, Dangerous Beauty - Midnight (group gift)
Jewelry: Dressed By Lexi, Dangerous beauty Jewelry
Shoes: G Field, Lady Rose Shoes, Blue

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

2012 Color Challenge: Week 36 - Hot Cinnamon

Hot Cinnamon is an amazingly orange color - I was expecting red from the name, but the orange really stuck with me after, reminding me of the lighter side of cider in the winter. One of my family traditions is a wonderful mulled cider that we always make, which I consider a cure for the common cold. Hunting down suitable ciders is a full time job, and always well worth the effort. The bright, fresh, warm smell is always palpable in my memory; comforting and soothing. Comfort food is one of those interesting things, sometimes a moving target, sometimes clear as a bell in the memory, bringing one back to simpler and happier times. Those times are always an illusion created if one had loving parents; I don't know what happens for people without those hazy, golden hours when they are adult and alone in an often overwhelming world.

Origami is the simple folding of paper - no cuts, no tears; complicated fold over fold which results in something wholly organic. I've done some basic origami, but the stunning complexities of that and it's near cousin kirigami live outside of the realms of my faltering fingers. One thing I admire about traditional Japanese culture is the emphasis on the moment, on the process of doing something, on the meditative repetition of the same movements moving through clumsiness to boredom to transcendence. I don't think it's a coincidence that Zen, the Buddhism of emptiness, arose when Buddhism reached the shores of Japan. The beauty and peace found in emptiness is something that I, growing up as a cluttered USonian, find both deeply appealing and strongly outside of my nature; it is, perhaps, the sheer difference which attracts.

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: De La Soul, Candace - Cream - Sakura (Group Gift)
Eyes: De la Soul, RooMee Rainbow
Ears: Illusion, Seelie Ears
Eyelashes 1: *X*plosion, PrimLashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Eyeshadow: elymode, Autumn - rust/gold
Lipstick: Mock, Micare LipGlimmer - Santa Fe Gold
Hair: Secrets, Athena II - Platinum
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle Wings
Dress: Earth & Sky Design, Sandy Ruffle Dress - pumpkin
Jewelry: EarthStones, Burst Necklace - Hot
Shoes: Dilly Dolls, Dasha Pump Shoes - White & Light Buckled

Location: LOL
Light Settings: [NB] Sepia 0800
Water Settings: TOR, Coral reef

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only