Category: Art (Page 1 of 2)

AI Art and Second Life

April 10, 2023 / gogo / 1 Comment

AI images — Images & seamless textures that I generated with AI

A few months ago, I blogged about MidJourney art in Second Life. Second Life designers are now using AI to create more than just pretty pictures for sale. AI can also create seamless textures, help with logo creations, and other graphic design elements. It can be used as a tool to help with the creative process if used wisely.

SDSL - Gogo — SL snapshot vs Stable Diffusion edit

I’ve been playing around with Stable Diffusion to give my Second Life avatar more realism, but not so realistic that it looks like a morph. I try not to stray too far from the original Second Life image, and that requires trying a lot of different settings. You can view my AI Glow Up album on Flickr for all of the images.

Notes From Cake’s Desk

September 16, 2019 / aemeth / 0 Comments

This is a small update to say–I got a pretty big award this weekend!

This One Simple Trick Will Save the Linden Endowment for the Arts

July 29, 2019 / aemeth / 1 Comment

As most people who read the news know by now, the Linden Endowment for the Arts is closing. LEA provided a space for many artists in Second Life to express themselves. For them to shutter is something truly sad, but I’m also happy to note there’s an effort to begin again–a LEA 2.0, possibly! A group in-world has formed pooling suggestions on how to change the arts program so that it lasts longer this time. I’m so happy to hear of this!

As someone who’s gone through a serious roller coaster with the last LEA council, I’ve seen the uglier side of their machinations. Hazing, bullying, and power struggles are what I experienced and saw in the short time I’ve sat on their roster. After quitting, I wrote up my experiences here on this blog. It was met with both praise and criticism, but you know what? I spoke my truth in an earnest effort to bring about change, and there’s no way I would ever let anyone invalidate my experience. And as we all know, it’s the truth that will set you free in the end.

So what’s the one simple trick I think that can save the Linden Endowment for the Arts? It’s one I’ve suggested all along.

Linden Endowment for the Arts, and Hazing in Second Life

July 5, 2017 / aemeth / 12 Comments

Update 7/6/17: I was contacted by a Linden and told they’re looking into this.

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This post makes me sad. I don’t want to type it. I’ve been trying to avoid it by settling the matter privately or seeking help from Linden Lab on the downlow. But after several tries to get the office’s attention about what’s going on, I think the only real solution is to make this issue public. They simply aren’t responding because what I have to report doesn’t fit exactly into their usual categories.

Everyone knows I’m about art. It’s what I do for a living irl and I’m very happy with it. After a great bout of years in the art field, I got involved with Linden Endowment for the Arts thinking that would be great experience for joining a real, larger panel for an established museum. Unfortunately, that’s not what I found here.

Second Life in the Middle Ages

June 19, 2017 / aemeth / 0 Comments

SL14B is here again! There are tons of sims open to celebrate Second Life’s 14th birthday. This year, I’ve put together a silly exhibit about Second Life if it took place in the Middle Ages.

As you can tell by this picture, I really tried for some of that sweet Monty Python humor. You can grab this art for free, plus other cool art, at the exhibit here.

How To Obtain A Land Grant From LEA

May 1, 2017 / aemeth / 0 Comments

I said I would post again when the Linden Endowment for the Arts’ land grant program was open for another round, so here it is! Round 13 is now accepting applications. Click here to check it out and apply. You have until May 31st to submit your ideas!

In every artists’ life, there’s a slew of grant and residency applications we apply for. Many of those applications face rejections. It’s the game of numbers you run when applying for one seat and a crowd of people who want the position! You can’t always contact the judge before you submit either, so you might not know how to put your best foot forward when pitching a project.

In real life, there are sometimes informational meetings to clear up confusion and allow grant applicants to understand what the judges are looking for. I figure in this case, a blog post might help.

So here’s my advice. I’m separating this into bullet points for do’s and don’ts.

Linden Endowment for the Arts

April 26, 2017 / aemeth / 0 Comments

I’m now part of the advisory board for the Linden Endowment for the Arts! The Linden Endowment for the Arts is a user-run program that uses land donations from Linden Labs to foster nonprofit art exhibits and activities. You can read more about LEA here and learn how to apply for the next round of land grants.

My first interaction with LEA was through one of their projects, Art Farm Co-op. I spent the summer of that program’s duration learning and growing with other SL artists, and engaging in a thoughtful and friendly community. After Art Farm’s program ended, I hung around the LEA public sandbox, constantly checking out what other people were creating.

So now I’m on the advisory board! I’m excited to be here and I hope my insight will make LEA even better.

If you see me around the art sandbox, feel free to ask me to host an impromptu sandbox art tour with my SYZM taxi! I’m always up for that.

What I’m Wearing:
Lelutka Simone Head
[ a.e.meth ] – Eris Skin
Nylon Outfitters – Pixie Hairbase
Madpea – Floral Crown (Freya)

Them Bones

October 16, 2016 / aemeth / 0 Comments

I believe them bones are me.
Some say we’re born into the grave.

I’ve been shambling all over SL in this skeleton avatar! A free gift from Linden Labs, you can grab this skeleton at the Portal Park. I recommend pairing it with RC Cluster’s new Zombie AO. It’ll give it a perfectly creepy effect.

Right now I’ve got two things for you. The first is this mask set I made for Halloween–grab this at my mainstore or on marketplace. These masks are hand-painted and very fun, and are only 100L for the pack.

Next up–Burn2 is back! A digital version of the Burning Man festival, it’s a big art party that lasts a week and is full of fantastic exhibits. And guess what? You can get a free campsite there too. Mine is located here if you want to visit.

Whatever you do this month, I hope it’s fun-filled for you. Lemme know of your upcoming plans and parties in the comments! I want to drop by!

What I’m Wearing:
A skeleton. lol.

Song: Alice In Chains – Them Bones

The 2016 Guide To Skin-Painting Basics

August 15, 2016 / aemeth / 4 Comments

I got a letter in the SL mail from someone asking for skin/makeup/tat-making tips. This post is a response to them, as well as anyone else looking for a boost.

There are many tutorials on the web on how to paint makeup or skin for avatars, however, most, if not all, of them seem waaaay outdated. I would like to create makeup, skin, and/or tattoos for both the default avatar and the mesh ones (like lelutka mesh head or maitreya body)….

I was wondering if you had any tips or suggested tutorials on how to go about creating such things. I don’t quite know where to start….

Book Readers in Second Life

July 3, 2016 / aemeth / 0 Comments

Do you read books in Second Life? There are some authors who sell their books in the grid for the love of sharing their craft with others. I’m one of them! For The Crystal Heart Festival, I launched a new comic series dealing with magical beings, sexuality, gender, and a deadly realm. It’s called The Other World and you can actually buy a copy and read it in Second Life.

Here’s a picture of what the HUD readers look like.

You add the readers to yourself and it shows up as either the tablet or book model, depending on what you’ve chosen. The author of the book can divide up chapters for easy navigation. If you stop on a page and take the HUD off, the tablet will remember where you paused.

If you’re an author who wants to use this awesome system to publish, you can get it on the marketplace here. It’s called Book Builder Publishing System and I recommend it!

So why buy The Other World? Simply put, it’s kickass and it shows a lot of different superheroes than just your typical Perpetually Single White Cis Hetero Male archetype. We’ve got plenty of those out there. My cowriter and I brought a lot of diversity to the table on this and we know we’ll find the right readers who are hungry for it.