Making pictures can be tough...

negko takes a picture2, originally uploaded by That's Ms. Benelli for you.

.... when friends make shots of you at the same time.
the bottom line is:
if you don't want to look like a zombie, always take a pixel shower before going out ISL.
Thank you Cutea for having chosen my best profile!

Some great picture

an exception to the SL rule, thi sphoto is just great.. I think.

Blacklace vendor: sweetness

Blacklace vendor: sweetness, originally uploaded by Negko DeVinna.

Illustrating a new product from Blacklace.
Shot made at Tempura Island.

models:
Anessa Stine
Gemini Galatea

client:
Mariska Simons

Fall Blacklace lingerie contest: second submission

Fall Blacklace lingerie contest: second submission, originally uploaded by Negko DeVinna.

Viola Bentham models for this photograph.
Viola has been photographed in a studio with a black background when I shot the forest separately (Tempura island).
I also added the pumpkin afterwards.
I focused on model geometry and skin details, the decor set is accessory here. I tried to make it more abstarct by adding some ornament pattern and playing with opacity.

Fall Blacklace lingerie contest: first submission

Fall Blacklace lingerie contest: first submission, originally uploaded by Negko DeVinna.

VIola Bentham models for this photograph.
Viola has been photographed in a studio with a black background when I shot the forest separately (Tempura island).

I post-processed her shoulders, feet, and hand geometry, then modified the all shadow/lighting balance to increase the feeling of light falling from the sky. I did not try to warm up her skin, in order to detach her from the decor set.
Finally, a few layers of different blurs for the depth of the composition.

Halloween @ Virtual Ability

Halloween @ Virtual Ability, originally uploaded by Negko DeVinna.

While my laptop guts get fixed (I curse Nvidia up to the 7th generation), I try to keep my hand warn with some photoshop tricks. From a picture of a building made to celebrate Halloween @ Virtual Ability, I adjusted the lighting, added some lightning, and played with some blurring. Intersting?...

Status update

One week now...

The Nvidia GPU of my laptop burst into tiny little flames, making my main tool useless.

For the second time in less than a month, and for the same reason, I am computer-less.

This morning, a call to the maintenance center gave no hope of a quick return to SL. They run out of motherboards and have no idea when they have new ones (BTW we are in 2008 and supply management apparently is still an issue, even when this GPU problem has been forecasted and budgeted by the guilty companies).

Meanwhile, I will try to keep designing stuff as an offline creature. I tried to make a decent portrait but this picture is already old, my face does not even look anymore like that.

Let's go back to some tats then... for a next blog update?

Tales of the arabian SL nights

My oh my, what a beautiful place I just discovered. I always feel idiot when I see such places, I tell myself 'what a waste of time, why did you not discover this place before?'.
Kingdom of Sands is an RP arabian/persian themed sim. Needless to say (ahem, based on the picture above ^^) it is one of the most awesome places in second Life.
Again, more to come later :)...

Cyberpunk Sims...Insilico

There are a few cyberpunk themed sims ISL. Midian city is one of the most famous. But this is not the one that held my attention. I discovered Insilico (find it thru the search engine you lazy visitor). General design sticks even more to Blade Runner atmosphere. This first pic shows how sense of detail is important. This motorbike is a prim extravaganza. More to come soon!

Skin review by men's second style

The Orphée and Créon skins have been reviewed by Ryan Darragh. Needless to say I am happy of such interest for my work. Needless to say also that an Orphée skin on Ryan's shape is rather 'original' ^^.
Many thanks for the review Ryan!

skin review after the jump

Custom work: Rose trap

Based on a previously designed tattoo named Lotus trap (note to myself: one day, try to release it), here is Rose trap. pink/white roses, two designs of flowers and a full black rose on the lower back. This version is an average/light ink.

... wow, what a week, slmen.com now

I had given Ben Vanguard some samples of my latest collection for his wise judgment. And he was kind enough to also make a review of my work on his SL male fashion blog, slmen.com.
I encourage you to visit it, as he proposes great combinations from many SL designers. Ben, Perry, and their friends, spend hours combining shirts and pants, watches and neko ears, making photos, checking every detail on skins. They do something I could not do. That's why sometimes I just entirely copy some of their combinations to dress myself correctly (except skins, I like mine!)
Woot! Thank you Ben for that! and... nice silks!
(Note to myself: are we supposed to wear a thong under silks?)

/me happy...

Ryan Darragh (yes, you read right, THE Ryan Darragh) of second-man.com published a review of the Kamate collection. Not only he spent valuable time on testing them and writing a post about them, but he also LIKED them, which does, I have to say, make me happy.
Many thanks to Ryan and my dear PR Viola!

Review by second-man.com

Elysium strikes again...

... with another brilliant photograph illustrating a tat.
Although the photo commemorates a sad moment of her life, I have to compliment her for the artwork.
Great job!
Photo following the jump.

3 more new tats for Kamate

... and that makes 6!
To be continued...

Rust: how to kill a big steel guy

Walking around the new Relic for Windlight (The new Relic), I saw a nice pose ball that gave me an idea for a photograph.
As a kid, I liked the super hero drama mythology (I understood later Marvel took it all from the Greeks &Romans, tsss tss).
Generally, it is all about desperate love and (violent sometimes) death.
This pose ball was also the opportunity to wear this great and so desired IRL (^^) Iron Man outfit.
About the photo, I just added a bit of rust to make it more in line with the idea I had of something tragic.
The rest is all Windlight... ok, maybe not the glow of light emanating from his chest.

Three new tats TBR ('To Be Released you fool' Mr. T)

Following previous work on the full body tribal / maori pattern I spent quality time on to remove the seams (did you say 'seams?), here are the first three products that I will launch @ my store @ Midnight Lotus (you can't miss Midnight Lotus, there is a big statue of two people with stone genitals having sex).
For the first time, I make these products 'NO transfer' but 'Copy' and add a demo button for those who want to try it before buying it. Let's see if you people prefer this method :).
About the tats, you will notice I preserve sensitive body areas such as nipples and pubis. This is SL for sure, but just think of an inked needle scratching your genitals... What? you want more?.... tss, you silly SM freak! ;)))
Ah, and also, these products are the firsts of a new collection I named 'Kamate'. Rugby players will immediately understand.

/me blushes

...for two reasons.
First one is I have been reviewed, second is I almost forgot because I was on holidays (RL ones).
I almost forgot... I had my work reviewed by an SL blogger...
That's the fun ISL. You give your work to a friend of a friend without knowing him / her, and you get a nice IM saying that he / she likes your work and has published something about it.
Fortunately, it is positive ;).
Many thanks Elysium for your review!

Project Kamate: making a full body tat seamless...

... or almost.
This project will be to define a pattern work base for further developments.
The picture above shows the step of the seam removal. It is almost ok, I am reviewing now some details.
When it reaches the 'product' status it will have several declinations in terms of body places, ink depth, use as a background or as main subject.
It will also come as a series of skins for Orphée, and with that, I will be able to tattoo the face of the hero.
To be continued ... (my oh my, why is it so long? :))

Another skin tone, another story: Creon

From the skin pattern I have designed, I imagined a darker skin tone.
It also links to a darker story in my mind (!!), and I chose to name the skin Creon.
This is the name of a Greek king who chose to condemn his daughter Antigone to be buried alive because she had not followed his law.
A nasty man indeed...
So, here is the skin with all the facial hairs.
Summer comes, time to get some tan!

Holidays!

The skin project showed me two things:
1 - designing skins is not simple (yeah I know...)
2 - even ISL, you need 'holidays', some time you can do silly things, have fun, stop thinking to birth marks, scars, skin tone, hairs, ...
So these were and are for a little time my SL holidays: sailing!
I bought a Flying Fizz I have a lot of fun with. Of course, as usual and as many, I wanted to customize it to my colors and logo, and so I spend a bit more time on illustrator and photoshop to do so. But now it really looks like MY boat! :)
... oh Geez, I am 7 year old...

Finally, it's here... Orphée.

Weeks and weeks of work and... well not so much fun sometimes :).
But finally it is here and now I can move on other projects such as... tats, photos, and ... well maybe some other skins of course :)
Say hello to Orphée, the french name for the mythology hero Orpheus.
Orphée has been a movie by french director and artist Jean Cocteau.
This release is just the beginning of a story I expect to be as long as possible.
The skins has to improve and it will be done thanks to the ones who will buy it.
So... the more you are, the better it will be!

Skin v22

... and another new version of the skin.
This time, major design work is done for the abdominals.
Next tasks will be on nipples and eye shadowing.
Credits to SDI at Burnt Toast for the photo background :)

Howling wolf: revision b

Extending the faded pattern area on the body to increase the 'layer over layer' effect, and decreasing the opacity of the wolf, moon, and kanjis.
Looks good from here, to be tested ISL...

HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII, NSFW, NSWF, NSFW, NSWF, NSFW, NSWF, NSFW, NSWF, NSFW, NSWF, NSFW, NSWF, NSFW, NSWF, NSFW, NSWF

ok you'll be warned enough...
As promised last week, a photograph ISL of our male model , Mr N... Ricardo Diggler (you can call him Dirk).
The only change in the promise I made is that the skin worn is not the one made last week, but the latest iteration, with new abdominal belt, new legs, new face shading... and that's it.
That puts our account for major skin versions to a nice..; 20 :)
Yeepee! Skin is 20 v old!
Also, as prim attachment, some nice pelvis jewelry that will be released very soon by talented scripter /designer / Midnight Lotus Grande Madame Hasuko Kuramoto.
And I am the one who played some inked needle on it for 'decoration'.
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Okay, if you screen is big enough, you may have already seen the monkey, if not just scroll down a little bit.
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Tadaaaaaa!
oh, if someone wants to know where the pic was taken, it was at SDI beach, sim name is 'burnt toast' (yeah, I know, slurls, yada yada yada,....)

Custom order: howling wolf

Here is a tattoo made 'on demand'.
The main idea was to create something around the wolf theme, tattoo location could be lower back.
As you can see, I went pretty low.
It became more a scene of a wolf howling to the moon (appearing through mist) rather than a usual wolf head, whatever the style.
I added two kanjis representing 'moon' and 'wolf' behind the neck.
As requested by the client, this tat will be unique.

Distance far away

Nothing very orginal here, as almost everyone ISL went to this place to make a more or less romantic picture.
Just an opportunity to make a more 'authentic' sepia tinting picture.
Still, this place is great, well designed, and supports a true charity SL to RL project.
So TP to 'the far away' and buy your acre of wheat field!

Working out...

I got some feedback from a 'real male' about the male skin project I am working on.
To him, it was not muscled enough, especially when it comes to abdominals.
There are two schools that fight each other with more or less fierce feelings about this aspect of texture. Some want the most realistic skin texture with many details and of course the 'not so perfect' male features that go with it. Some others want to be the muscled-nekoish-darkeyed-sexy-slave-o-dom-tattooed-trendy-(I surely forget other adjectives)- male that we see a lot these days ISL.
Bottom line is:
- 2 muscle body variations
- 2 body hairs variations
- 3 face tattoos
- 6 face hairs
.... all right, just 72 skins to release now...
..; oh wait, I forget the scarred versions!

Lotus trap tattoo: and after a bit more more time on it...

... a new version appears.
Many thanks to all those who sent me feedback. They really helped making this new version something better for the shape.
What changed:
- lotus in front splitted in two smaller flowers, over the belly and over the breast
- lotus on the back is now upper right shoulder
- leaves are 'around' the navel
- leaves above kitty moved up
and I think that's it for this version.
One more thing: the transparency is globally the same for the entire tattoo, no distinction between lines and flowers.

Lotus trap tattoo: and after a bit more time on it...

... some new things appear:
- new arms (actually there was nothing before :))
- seams worked on
- transparency effects with several levels
- resized some lotus on the front
- added some leaves above kitty
- ... and I think that's all for now
To me, this one is close to release, so you, millions of readers, can start to preorder ;).

Tattooing lotuses

First many thanks to the designer who gave me these skin files. That makes my previews much more realistic.
Now, here is a first draft of my 'coming soon' tattoo project.
As 'viola's sorrow', it will cover almost all body.
The design is pretty different though. I try to make it 'natural' with curves and leaves.
The lotus comes here in two versions:
- as a 'drawing' on several parts
- as a logo on the lower back
Now comes the funny time of seam removals ;)...

New tan & face tat

The more I work on it, the more I undertsand the Hell of making a skin.
Enough whining, let's see whats new:
- tan: I got feedback mentioning the tan was a bit too 'orange', so I tried to fix that and will submit this new version for comments ISL.
- face tat: a new face tattoo based on tribal / tikki. It's easier for me to work those layers directly on the skin textures. I can try some effects and have more subtle ink edge lines to draw the tat shape.

Next step: The SO terrifying SL texture upload / skin review.
To be continued...

This no sepia

This path to the White House at Midnight Lotus is really beautiful.
Stairs, waterfall, trees, rocks, all the elements are placed with harmony.
So I took a picture of it, and tried a few effects to 'wash' some colors and make it older.
This no sepia photo, but sepia tinting is definitely part of the game. Wha resisted the most is the big kakemono with the logo. Red is definitely strong here.
And by the way, please buy my tattoos at the Lotus, 'cause as you can see on the picture, I kinda ruined myself at Moderno.

Shameless advertizing

Believe it or not but a few weeks ago, I realeased new products.
It's a tattoo collection for females (or pretty aesthetic sensitive sensitive males, your choice).
I named the collection 'Sweetest Perfection' (Many thanks to Martin Gore or Dave Gahan, guys, you rock :) )
The collection is composed with seven tattoos showing leaves and roses, other flowers will soon follow.
I added an 'all in one' box which is a very good money saver if someone likes several products of the collection.
Some tattoos cover torso, some legs and ankles. One tattoo covers all body (torso, back, one leg).
All those marvelous products are available at the Midnight Lotus!

A more Seductive Mata Hari

Let's move on with our portrait 'photographs' (hehe) and see what we can get from a new picture of our dedicated cute pose volunteer Viola :)

This picture come from the same series I made of her for her first profile photo (link here).
To have less subject distortion, I close my camera angle. The result is a more realistic face shape with normal proportions.
In motion, the standard SL camera angle is not disturbing,as it gives us a better view on left and right. Extremely useful when shopping :).
For a full body or face photograph, the result can be disastrous, especially if you make a close up and your camera is not horizontal.
I really like this photo because of the composition, the angle, the pose of the model, and the way she is looking at the camera.
The result gives a feeling of mystery and seduction. Because the camera is over her, we feel like we dominate the character, but the fact she is not gacing us, and the way she is looking at us send some sort of challenge message : 'are you really sure you are going to win this one?' she seems to say.
So now, let's try to enhance this image.
I won't spend lines to describe what I do but here is the aim of the photoshop job:
- detach Viola from the background
- highlight face / eyes / left hand
- boost hair color a little
- add some 'mystery' diffuse glow :)
This said, after some photo torturing Potter witchcraft, here is the result.
To me, a better color composition than the previous work I have done, her skin is not 'burned' (sorry V., I won't take pictures with a flame thrower any more again).

Sarah Connor?

I had 10 wonderful minutes ISL yesterday to try 6 times to upload a texture and make these pictures. SL is pure magic, Linden is Dumbledore, we all know that.
I'm pretty satisifed of the result, as the prim eye follows the movement of the 'regular' eye, making the character realistic.
Next step will be to work on cyborg Body parts, and ultimately, we will know the answer to this question we all asked to ourself: Does a T800 have genitals, and if so, are they 100% flesh?

Youuuuuuuuuuuu could be miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine

ok, if you're a bit sensitive, you already came back from the toilets after watching the pic above (sorry Miss V.).
I used SLCP for this rendering and added the terminator and standard eye textures I designed also.
I find the reslut pretty convincing, I now need to see it with the SL lights and the 'jolies lumières' of Windlight. Not sure the result will be good.
Results and SL shots for the next posts!

New playlist

A new ecclectic playlist for your ears, including new stuff and old things I really like.
And yes! I listen to Rihanna too!

Lazy day...

... and I did not have time to make the pic I wanted to, so it will be a link to a Midnight Lotus post!
Yeepee!

Article following this link

Profile photo

Thanks to all the blogs about SL, I discovered that people use and overuse a photoshop technique to enhance photos they publish on flickr. Yes I know, I am dumb, but I can't know everything about everything :).
This magic filter is diffuse glow. I used it yesterday on the midian picture I took and you can see it is pretty effective to 'dramatize' a photograph.
So today, I try that on a profile picture project I started with a friend. To preserve her privacy (she might not appreciate I publish 'tortured' visuals of her face), I will name our subject 'Viola' :).
The aim is to create for her not only one profile picture but a set of different profile pics expressing several moods.
Needless to mention she had to sell an eye and half a kidney to pay me for that.
Today, we'll try to express a bit of mistery with our subject.
Lets' start with a photo! The lady gets her fav clothes, jewelry, tat, makeup on....
ok , shoot!
All right, pretty decent picture. I took it as I liked the neutral face expression and the 'evasive' eye direction. We can then ask ourselves 'What is she looking at? a friend? An enemy? Is there danger?'.
The idea of mistery is more present because of the background behind. The screen and the cushion make a colorful composition that is not obvious.
We will separate them from the foreground with some nice blur.
Then, we will put some lighting to strenghten light direction and highlight our subject (aka international feale of mistery).
FInally a bit of diffuse glow to turn Viola into a source of light that will attract our eye.
There.
In blog life, it took one minute and two lines. In Photoshop life, it took a bit more :).
Auto-criticism: diffuse glow gives a boost to the face, that's a fact. It almost makes the face 'surreal'. The bad side of such work is that it 'burns' the skin a bit, as Windlight (booh) does. I also enhanced the hair, the original was too dark to me.
Still, I think we now have a pretty good picture of Mata Hari asking herself how she could get more secrets from this austrian-hungarian ambassador.
To be continued...

Happy New Year!

Ok things to do for 2008:
- eat less
- more sport
- shop less
- create more
- talk less
- act more

Hmmm, I can already say I'll do that when hell freezes... Woosh, it reached Midian CIty.
Amazing what you can say with a picture?
Just a few settings and brushes, to move from the icy, cold, frightening picture above to the colorful, warm, Christmas like picture below.
(things to do for 2008: improve Photoshop skills).