“The cavern cracked and groaned. Dirt, rocks, and glow worms rained on their heads. With a wave of panic, Andy swung around and dashed into the next cavern. “Run!” The ceiling collapsed. Behind him, Medusa laughed, her snakes still hissing.”
[A.P. Mobley, The Helm of Darkness]
Finally my favorite season arrived… October is here!!!
Now I can be freaky, scary and dark without being asked if I am ok or being called weird and a freak – not that I do really care during the year, but these days I can feel “normal” *giggles*
So the first one today – kinda my annual brake-free – features some new releases from Salt & Pepper and Nefekalum Tattoos and some of my long time favorites like CURELESS[+], UTOPIA@Design, Avanti and one of our latest releases, as it did fit in so nicely.
First I wanted to do a scary Medusa typical picture and the Salt release her “Guardian” for the Salem event. I t looked so cool, that I could not wait for another post and so I gave myself the challenge to find an idea, how I could use both. The result was the vision of a gatekeeper for an old, mystic cave with lots of cobwebs and spiders.
Recently I love to play with lights and projectors, as well as with new Photoshop tricks a lot. The result is, that I tend to use a plain dark background, to be able to add in some layers and basically try create the background in Photoshop. With additional lights and my new drawing pad it is a lot of fun to play with different brushes and as well even draw parts of it – even if iI really need more practice with that damn pad and pencil. Sometimes It feels even more easy to draw with the computer mouse, even if that sounds ridiculous for those who have more experiences with it.
I always loved strong contrasts. With many of my past pictures I wanted more depth as Second Life had to offer and now finally I found a way how I can do that with some tricks I found in Youtube tutorials. It took a while until they did what I wanted, but for me it was worth the time and I really found new inspiration and motivation with learning new techniques. It felt like unlocking new doors to have more possibilities to achieve what I was looking for a long time. I am still practicing and with every new picture I come closer to what I desire.
I lately was talking to a sweet lady, which I recently feel like a good friend. She does the wonderful sweet and smooth art, which I tried a lot of times but never could do – maybe it just isn’t in me or I did not yet find it… it always feels awkward when I try to do this kind of pictures and moods. She helped me with my tribute for Autumn Rose a lot, as that required exactly that way of art (HERE).
In the past it felt like I would have to have the ability to feature all kind of styles, but the more I turn into my personal favorite direction, the more I feel secure and my pictures do have way more impact – at least it does feel like that!
I am not saying I will not still try other things, but I took the pressure of myself that I HAVE TO do so. For now I will do enjoy the dark season as much as I can and hope that I can get all my ideas done in time, before the cozy Christmas times will start… or maybe the dark times turn into dark scary “Krismus”? *eyes “The Nightmare before Christmas” DVD over there in the shelf*
Clothing
Outfit: Scandalize – “Nicole Harness” (Maitreya)
Gloves: Wicca’s Originals – “Ryn Gloves (Scales)” (Maitreya)
Stockings: .:Avanti:. – “Ripped Nylons V2” (Maitreya Applier)
Shoes: UTOPIA@Design – “Halloween – V2” (Maitreya)
Accessories
Dragon Skelleton & Spider Legs: Salt & Pepper (S&P) – “The Guardian” – NEW @ Salem
Collar: [CX] – “Hell’s Harbinger (Black Out+Gold)” (Maitreya)
Tounge Piercings: LeLutka – “BDYART-TBRBL” (Bento)
Hair & Makeup
Hair: Salt & Pepper (S&P) – “Medusa Head Dress” (Part of the Outfit Medusa) – NEW @ UBER
Faceart: Nefekalum Tattoos – “Shaman Series – Fire” (Omega Applier) – NEW
Makeup: alaskametro<3 – “Impressionist” (Omega Applier)
Lipstick: Izzie’s – “Black Lipstick” (Maitreya Applier)
Body & Tattoo
Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.4”
Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”
Eyes: CURELESS[+] – “Seerees Eyes”
Poses, Props & Tools
Poses: Poseidon
Face Animation Tool: LeLutka – “Axis HUD Face 1.1”
Model & Photographer
Wicca Merlin
