Virtual Emo

Virtual Worlds are mirroring the real life trends, costumes and lifestyles....
If there is something with a value in real life, it is most probable that you will find that also in your virtual life.....

I invite you to have a look at these Emo Pictures and recognize there all the mood and feeling you have in the real life Emo movement....

Browse all the Emo Pictures on Koinup, here



Image above is by ShayShay

A Windlight sunset by Watcher

Recently featured on New World Notes, this awesome Second Life view by watcher Castaignede (call it: dark isle sunset )
depict a naturalistic detail of the roleplaying sim: Dark Isle located in the Phoenix Prime area in Second Life

As said by Watcher (to Hamlet Au): "The landscape shot of the sunset has very little Photoshop applied to it -- it was taken using WindLight settings and wide screen print screen direct from my monitor"

The image show the potential of windlight (the sky, clouds and sea Second Life editor) for creating fantastic sceneries and add atmosphere to landscapes...

Browse other Watcher works here

Koinup Interviews: The Second Life Photographic album of Eves Rodenberger

Eves Rodenberger is a long time member of Koinup and one of the most appreciated second life photographers we have here on the website!

She is spending all the time in SL, trying to capture all the beauty you have on the grid and she is perfect for that job!

I invite you to have a look at her amazing stream of photos and also inworld, where she is showing her creativity at the Monroe Snook art gallery!

Here's the Interview with Eves

Q: When you're creating new art and photos, where do you draw ideas and inspiration from?
A: That really depends ... some ideas are just spontanuous based on the scene or people I see, some are developing over time based on imagination and inspiration I get from RL and SL



Q: What advice would you give to newcomers and beginners with Second Life art and photography
A: Learn the basics of moving the camera and get familiar with the graphic and windlight settings, play as much as possible and take pictures until you feel comfortable ... I always found a lot of inspiration in the work of Koinup and Flickr friends ... and ask questions, there are many nice people around who can help.

Q: Which are your fav works on Koinup and why you love them
A: Well I am certainly biased but I really love the stream from Panteleimon Aeon and his latest picture "Dream of the butterflies" is just stunning

Another favorite is Carlotta Ceawlin´s "Reach for the Stars", she has such a unique way of using textures in her work which really amases me a lot.
A new artist which really is showing brilliant work is Jenn Villota with "when you get there... tell me how it is", (). I hope to see more work from her. There are so many more artists to mention, the list is always growing.

Q: Which Koinup artists you should recommended for the next Koinup Interview?
A: Ohhh that is going to be a very long list ... and it will keep you busy for long time. Besides the ones I have already mentioned other fav artists are Lano, Tur, Venk, Ariel Brearly, Trixibelle and a newcomer which I believe will add a lot of new inspiration to all of us ... Orlandorunningbear.

Q: If you should make a reportage from the Metaverse, what places you would love to photograph and share with your friends?
A: Las Islas sim with it´s Islands is not only stunning but also shows a lot of shadow rendering which is so important in pictures. Taking photos there is just great and relaxing too. There are so many nice places in SL, the list is endless and growing ... but unfortunately some nice places are disappearing too. (browse second life places on Koinup to see other cool hotspots)


Q: What are your upcoming projects in Second Life?
A: Well I have to update my work in Monroe Snook´s gallery with new pictures and will show some in other galleries too plus my never ending journey of taking pictures keeps me busy.

Q: Are you already exploring other worlds for creative ventures? What have you found there?
A: Unfortunately not as SL keeps me busy .. actually RL too.

Browse more Eves Rodenberger works here or read the others Koinup Interview here

The Avatar Poetry of Magggg

Each week, you know, we feature some cool artworks here on the Blog. Today, I wanna direct your attention to Illuminami by Magggg

Magggg is one of the most popular sims artists on Koinup and he recently started a new artistic venture also in Second Life

Magggg's Illuminami is actually one of the most coolest sims images ever posted on Koinup and you can view it in the top works pages

You can view the other featured works here

The best nature you have ever seen in World of Warcraft

Virtual Worlds are sceneries and landscapes to photograph. We are talking a lot on this blog about the Second Life Photography
(and also Sims Art and IMVU Art)
Today I love to enlighten the fantastic scene of World of Warcraft Photography
Particolarly, there are on Koinup many people which love to share World of Warcraft Landscape and other naturalistic images

Thanks to the World of Warcraft photographers you can discover the most cool Azeroth Hotspots and the secret hidden of the beauty of this mmorpg!



It seems that one of the fav topic is the "virtual tree".
So, here a showcase of the most beautiful world of warcraft trees you have ever seen!

Koinup: Your <a href="http://www.koinup.com/">Virtual Life</a>


(the images above are from Morgana_le_Fay and the widget is featuring several authors

Pathfinder, new round: Sci-Fi Second Life Sims

The forth round of the Koinup Pathfinder Competition is devoted to Sci-Fi.

Discover amazing science-fiction Second Life Sims and win a set of awesome *fresh poses*, supplied by Ana Lutetia

Winners will be the members which will discover and post on koinup more sci-fi sims


Pay attention to the Second Life Places already featured on Koinup, they can't be included in the count of the new sims discovered. So lets go metaverse explorers be the first and discover new sci-fi sims

Need some tips? Well, why not start with looking for "sci fi" in the places tab while you in Second Life?

The Koinup Pathfinder Competition is a weekly contest hosted on Koinup. Each week we select a theme and we ask Koinup members to discover sl places related to the week theme and post them on Koinup! Read the full description here


The competition will start today tuesday 12/23/08 and will end next week, tuesday 12/30/08. The winners will be announced here on the Koinup Blog

The winners will be announced on the blog on 12/30/08, moreover we expect winners to contact us at our official email address: editor@koinup.com for claiming the release of prizes.

The prize of this week is a fantastic set of *fresh poses* created and supplied by the fashionista, poser and blogger Ana Lutetia

(image above is by PaturniaZ)

Koinup Interviews: Katielovelace, A glamorous Imvu Avi Artist

IMVU Art is a quite vibrant scene in Koinup.
There are many photographers, creatives, artists, designers from IMVU and they are sharing tons of interesting works.

Between them, Katielovelace is highly recognizable, because of her unique and glamorous style. Katielovelace is one of the most popular artist on Koinup and she is also widely appreciated in IMVU, where she is known as KLLGraphix



Here's the Interview with Katie

Q: When you're creating new contents and photos, where do you draw ideas and inspiration from?
A: I go by the screenshot generally…what comes to mind at the time. I don’t ever really get inspiration ahead of time. I just see what brushes I have open at the time on photoshop and think of something from there! In some respects I am not very imaginative with my pictures. I prefer to work on enhancement of the actual avatar than creating a scene/background – because most of my work is requested I normally get told what to do!



Q: What advice would you give to newcomers and beginners with IMVU art ?
A: It pays to learn the software that you are using. People are always asking me questions like “how did you do this?” “How do I do that?”
I have no degree in graphic design, I’m completely self taught by reading tutorials, books, watching videos (there are plenty of good video tutorials available online if you search). The best thing though is to investigate what your software actually is capable of by opening up a blank document and seeing what various buttons do if you click on them. If you are thinking of taking up graphic art as a full time hobby like myself then I would recommend investing in a Graphics Tablet of some kind as it’s a lot easier than using a mouse, and is great for hair enhancements.
(IMVU hair is one of the most exciting area in the IMVU Art genre)

My last word of advice is “Patience” - have lots of it. If it doesn’t turn out right the first time…

Q: Which are your fav works on Koinup and why you love them?
A: We have some very talented virtual artists here at koinup and I have several listed in my favourites. Not all of my favourites are IMVU related either.

here are a few:
wrack framed by Andega – I love the colours in this photo. The light enhancements in the water by the hut in the background, the reflections at the front of the water, the sunset behind the boat …I want to be sat up there on the roof of the hut!

One night Stand by Nikalu – what can I say!? I only actually noticed the male avatar in the pic today, like most females….I was just fixated on the shoes beforehand!

Dream on - by Trixibelle – its almost as if heaven has opened up and the angel is going to go back into the skies again…. So dreamy!

International Men - by Tur – come on!!! I’m sure ANY girl would list this in her favs!


Q: Which Koinup artists would you recommended for the next Koinup Interview?
A: Tur – he's an incredible artist


Q: What you most love to do while you are in IMVU? Are there some places/room where you love hangout?
A: My Green room of course!!! I have my green room set as my default room – I also set it up as a public room. I tend not to chat so much on IMVU, I mainly use the client to develop or to take screenshots for post enhancement.


Q: What are your upcoming projects in IMVU and with the Art?
A: In the new year I will be opening a graphics shop in the forums and starting off the year with half price discounts on all my art, so make sure you come and check out my homepage for more details. I will also be making more realistic textured rooms and furniture bundles.

Q: Are you exploring other virtual worlds for creative ventures?
A:I downloaded SL but my laptop just cant cope with loading of graphics and half the time everything is grey as the textures have not loaded properly. I also find moving about quite difficult, im a bit of a SL Noob. I find the IMVU avatar is easier to dress too…SL seems like too much hassle – but I will be proven wrong if someone can show me how to set up my own graphics shop on there!

Browse more Katielovelace works here or read the other koinup interviews here

240 Windlight Settings to download

Torley offered for free about 240 Windlight Settings to all the Second Life photographers and members. You can download them here! Click and Follow all the instructions, to correctly install them (and don't forget to read all the Windlight Wiki to learn tips and Torley suggestions for enhance your sl photos)

Once downloaded, tp in some fantastic Second Life Places and try the settings, while taking memorable shots and then come back to Koinup for sharing the photos!

Windlight is one of the more fashinating area in the Second Life Art scene. I invite you to have a look at most coolest windlight photos posted on Koinup and keep up your great job!

The image above "Aldarian Albatross" is by PANTELEIMON-AEON

Christmas in Second Life. Explore the best snow covered sl sims

The snow is covering virtual worlds and Second Life and many of you are posting on the "Koinup Second Life Places section" the most beautiful winter and christmas Second Life Sims.

Here are some of the most recently discovered sims:
Neemrana, plod , Caledon Wellsian,
Carpentaria

We invite you to post more Second Life Christmas Sims. In order to get further inspiration you can have a look at the Second Life Showcase Page that it is featuring some other amazing places.
Now probably you are wondering how could be a winter season in virtual worlds?
Browse all the virtual worlds winter photos hosted on Koinup and have fun with virtual snowmans....

(image above by Eves Rodenberger)

Subscribe to Koinup feeds and stay tuned with all the amazing stuffs!

A lot of people use to browse koinup stuffs using feeds and rss. Because of that we have deployed all the tools you need for staying updated with the koinup flux!

Here you can subscribe to the latest Koinup Works (here's the rss)

Here you can subscribe to the latest Second Life places (here's the rss)

Here instead you can suscribe to the initiatives launched on blog (here's the rss)

You can also subscribe to the feed of each world featured on Koinup:
Second Life (here's the rss), IMVU (here's the rss), The Sims (here's the rss), World of Warcraft (here's the rss), vSide (here's the rss), There com (here's the rss)

can't not mention that you can also subscribe to the rss of your fav members
here's the coolest to pick (click on them and subscribe to their rss)

Discover the Second Life Sims of the Week

Weekly appointment with the Second Life Places of the week. Each week as you know we review the sims most popular (and most photographed) on the Koinup Places section.

As pointed out by Hamlet Au the top 10 Second Life sims of the week are:

Kuai hele, Unintended Water, PORT JEFFERSON, Banyan, Vine, Livingtree, Xhale Isle, Aquitaine Coeur, cwazy, Samhain

You can stay updated on the new Second Life places posted on Koinup here or you can subscribe to the feed with this link. Subscribe the latest places using your blog feed and help us to promote the Places!


Reminder, you can read all the Hamlet Au Koinup articles here

(image above by Thesswriter, shoot taken in Unintended Water)

Koinup Interviews: Cienega Soon and the Second Life Artistry

Cienega Soon is one of the most authoritative Second Life Artist

She won the the Exotic Contest and recently got the third prize in the Winter Photo Hunt

She run a gallery in Second Life, while also managing personal website and a cool blog. Now she is also opening a new gallery, called Juicy, that will serve as an experimental place for Second Life Artists

I invite you to keep your radars on this fantastic artist, browse her koinup works and read also the Interview
(previous Koinup interviews are here and here


Here's the Interview

Q: When you're creating new contents and photos, where do you draw ideas and inspiration from?
A: Inspiration for me is the moment. Everywhere I look there is something to capture. Moods also bring about themes as well, exposing my emotions in my work can be seen from time to time



Q: What advice would you give to newcomers and beginners with Second Life art and photography
A: Have fun, explore, try all the settings and begin posting some work on Koinup in the mentor program. There are many wonderful artists that are willing to help or give some great tips to creating with our digital SL photography.
If you can shoot in a high resolution your post work will be easier. Really there are no rules so try everything. For the most part this is a new place, a new medium to create in. But as will all photography the original shot is important. Explore angles and lighting when you shoot, the rest is experimenting. For me many shots that I've done post work on were happy mistakes that were not planned. Have Fun!

Q: Which are your fav works on Koinup and why you love them?
A: There are so many fantastic artists on Koinup ... the list can be endless.
I am drawn to darker, deeper colors and depth. I love seeing all the virtual worlds pictures being displayed, how each artist exposes the best of their world so well. The Human need to create everywhere they go is fasinating to me. I am drawn to that alone. There are those that create with very little, making a very big statement to drink in and those that use much detail causing long moments of exploration deep into their pieces of art. I am very impressed by many artists at Koinup

Q: Which Koinup artists you should recommended for the next Koinup Interview?
A: I have two that make me stay inside their work:
first choice: Sion567.
Absolutely beautiful expression with each capture. Moods that tell stories, I am moved by all that I see in that stream (browse Sion567 Photos here)
second choice: Carlotta Ceawlin
A darkness rich and velvety. She has awesome beautiful work (browse Carlotta Ceawlin works)

Q: If you should make a reportage from the Metaverse, what places you would love to photograph and share with your friends?
A: This list is endless because I mostly map hop. I am always surprised by what has been created on the grid. Artists created the whole of it. Passion is what brings about our Second Life world. This world changes almost daily. I do collect lists of great places to see and shoot. The list is never complete and I have found that list is obsolete at the same time as some builds don't stay up long. Explore Always. Remember around every prim is more that someone spilled their passion with. Buildings, terrain, textures, all just waiting to be caught in your artistic eye. Go to your Search at the top right corner of your SL screen and type in any description your wanting to shoot; forest, snow, winter, urban, desert, beach, buildings, city, and so on. You will be surprised at what you land in and the settings are usually picturesque. Start shooting "-)

Q: What are your upcoming projects in Second Life?
A: I am opening a new small gallery called, "Juicy". It will house a few of my newest unseen artwork, but most importantly it will serve as new SL artists exhibit room. Once a month there will be a week long showing of one new artist. January 3rd, 2009 will open with a new artist .... I am keeping my eyes open for the first "-)


Q: Are you already exploring other worlds for creative ventures?
A: I have much to do in Second Life at this point with Cienega's and her travels, so all other worlds are not on my list at this time. My websites keep me busy as well ... and somewhere RL needs attention ... Great Danes require walking and zooming :)
Second Life Photo Artistry is my thing!

Browse more Cienega

Virtual Winter. What places you should visit these days in Second Life

What Second Life Places you should visit these cold days? On the Places Area, you can find a lot of lovely travel suggestions.

It seems that Cu Mara is still one of the most cool places to breathe xmas atmosphere. Amazingly created by Cuwynne Deerhunter is a perfect naturalistic landscape ideal for photographers. Cu Mara, recently hosted the SL Winter Hunt made by Orange Island and Koinup

A sort of winter mood you can find also in the wonderful ReZoNe, that is actually one of the SL coolest places of the month.

Samhain recently discovered by Ravenelle, amazing Second Life artist and Torley's wife is one of the most cool hangouts to immerse in a winter mood and atmosphere

If you instead want to reside a hot chalet in front of a welcoming fireplace you should give a try to Holidays ad dAlliez

Browse now all the (from all the virtual worlds) virtual winter pictures on Koinup

(the image above is by Torley)

Winners of the Winter Hunt

Some days ago, Orange Island team picked the three winners of the Second Life Winter Hunt in Cu Mara

Have now a look at the three winning photos!



Third Place: Flurrrries by Cienega Soon (image on the left)







Second Place: Fire and Ice by Monroe Snook (Msnook) (image on the left)











First Place/Absolute Winner: Peace at Last by Cala Rossini ( Trixibelle ) (image on the left)

Enjoy all the Winter Hunt entries here!

Winners of the Avatar Art Realistic and Pop Art Section

This is the third post dedicated to the winners of the Avatar Art Contest
(Here, you can read about the post kitsch here and the NPIRL Art section)

Today, instead, I wanna direct your attention to the winners of the Realism and Pop Art Section: and so it begin..... by Lisa (image above) and Life is a cabaret by Magggg

Both the artworks are featured on the New World Notes report on the Avatar Contest

Lila is a crossworld photographer and explorer. You can browse her Second Life and World of Warcraft snaps here and here

Magggg is a cool sims 2 artist, she has fantastic visions and some her works are between the all time coolest pictures on Koinup

Below you can admire Life is a cabaret, the Magggg winning entry

Second Life Winter Contest. The Winners

The winners of the Second Life Photo Hunt organized and sponsored by Orange Island are available on the Winter Photo Hunt Page
Read more here


Reminder: Next days we will feature the winning photos here on the Blog!

The image above is by Hallie Larsson

Traditional and Post Kitsch Section. GTXXTG and Marty86

The Winners of the Avatar Art Contest come from three categories. Yesterday we spoke about the NPIRL Art winning photo by Winter Wardhani

Today, I'll enlighten the winners of the "Traditional and Post Kitsch Section" picked by the art critic and journalist Mario Gerosa

They are:

GTXXTG with the work: Barragan collection No. 2

Marty86 with Everybody Hurts

GTXXTG is an avatar artist using IMVU as his own platform for digital expression, whyle Marty86 is creating goergeous sims art

Have a look at their stream of works, here are the Marty86 photos and here the GTXXTG pics

NPIRL Art. The Winner is Winter Wardhani

As promised we will devote several blog entries to the Avatar Art Contest Winners and to the whole Avatar Art Project.
Today I wanna remember the winner of the Surreal-NPIRL category: Winter Wardhani also known as Winter on Koinup.

Winter Wardhani has been picked by Bettina Tizzy blogger, art critic and founder of the NPIRL groups in Second Life.
As rightly explained by Bettina on her blog: "While there were hundreds of photographs to choose from, I selected Winter's image because she strayed away from the "beautiful human" look and did something entirely different, and fun." Read all the Bettina Tizzy comment on the NPIRL blog

Beside "Kaylee Linden at the Mentors' Graduation Party" (the winning photo)on the Winter Wardhani Stream you can browse amazing photos and excellent landscapes

Meet now Winter Wardhani on Koinup!

Here's the direct slurl to the Avatar Art Exhibition inworld

Koinup Interviews: The Second Life Creativity of Raul Crimson

Raul Crimson is one of the best known Second Life photographers.
He is a acclaimed Metaverse Artist and he is sharing his creativity on Koinup since some time. Some Raul Crimson photos are camping in the coolest sections of Koinup. He's also managing a cool blog, that I suggest to have a look

Koinup interviewed Raul about his art, tips and projects. Continue to read it....



Here's the Interview


Q: When you're creating new art and photos, where do you draw ideas and inspiration from?
A: Normally all come from my imagination, or the things I'm interested in, or fascinated by... Some other artists inspire me too, some modern photographers like David Lachapelle or Pierre et Gilles are really an inspiration to me lately. Also some "classic" artist, like Bronzino, Velazquez, or even El Bosco or the Old Dutch masters are really inspiring. Watching at their works always give me ideas or inspiration. Don't use to "pre-draw" my works, I have them in mind and work on them, mainly because sometimes the concept grows or changed during the process, so i prefer to work "on-the-go".



Q: What advice would you give to newcomers and beginners with Second Life art and photography?
A: First, watch and learn... learn new techniques, watch to see what others do helps a lot to learn...
Then, experiment, don't be afraid to try new ideas, the important is to express yourself, to create the images that are in your brain.
For me the most important things in an image are light, composition and story, techniques, filters, brushes.. are not an end themselves, are tools.

Q: Which are your fav works on Koinup and why you love them?
A: Oh! I have a lot! But will talk about some of them:
Tattered Memory by Bkiddo
This one is wonderful, is not only wonderfully done, has story, is evocative, full of sensibility.
Tandem by Prad Prathivi
Lovely work on light and composition, also evocative, even melancholic.

Lash BlueGirl by lashxevious
Another jewel, just wonderfully done, inspiring, imaginative...
Self Portrait by Pilgrim
Really good concept, and lovely work in exploration of the "dark side".

I have a lot more... but well, don't want to bore you.


Q: Which Koinup artists you should recommended for the next Koinup Interview?
A: Well, is hard to recommend when you see so much great creators, but I think to interview Ryker Beck would be a great idea, she is great in sharing her knowledge and techniques with people. Also Kimberly Mirabeau, who has a wonderful sense for beauty... and also Lano (Lano Ling), he is just someone full of sensivility and with a wonderful technique.

Q: If you should make a reportage from the Metaverse, what places you would love to photograph and share with your friends?
A: Oof! Hard one too! Well, I love some places around, I specially remember Las Arenas Doradas, Crimson Shadow or Creamshop as beautiful places, but I think I'd love to portrait also welcome Areas, Mainland, Infohubs... they are Second Life for many of us. It is always great to go there and see the imagination people have with their avatars.

Q: What are your upcoming projects in Second Life?
A: Projects... he he he... well, I'll just tell a bit, I'm part of the team for a new magazine for SL, a really new concept with a great team, but can't talk much about it for the moment... is a secret!
Also some projects of working a new line of furniture with someone, mainly for photography, and also have a plan for a new art and creation area, but this may take a bit...

Q: Are you already exploring other worlds for creative ventures? What have you found there?
A: Well, I'm exploring some other virtual worlds or MMORPG like World of Warcraft, vSide (download here), or the OpenSim new grids (download here), but for the moment I'm more exploring than creating them. I feel comfortable with the tools I have in SL, so for the moment I'm creating more here.

Follow all the series: Koinup interview here or have a look at the conversation with ViolentDoll:
The Dark Sims Visions of ViolentDoll

Avatar Party and Winners Showcase at the Museo of Metaverso

dear readers,
Koinup and uqbar.media art culture invite you to attend P_art_Y #2 the Opening and Winners Party of the Avatar Art Contest on Sunday, December 14th Dec 2008 at 01:00 AM SLTIME
Join us at this slurl

Together with the party, all the participants will have the chance to visit the art exhibition featuring the winners of the Avatar Art Contest at the Museo del Metaverso The exhibition will take place from Sunday, 14 Dec 2008 to Sunday, 11 Jan 2009 (this is the slurl)

And the winners are.......

Read here the Avi Art winners and discover also what are the special mentions!

You can also have a look at the Avatar Art Project and all the works submitted for the contest!

Discover Avi Art Winners and Special Mentions

dear readers, we are glad to announce the winners of the Avatar Art Contest
As previously announced the three judges picked the winners for their sections:
Mario Gerosa for Traditional Art and Post-Kitsch Style, Hamlet Au for Realism and Pop art, Bettina Tizzy for Surrealism and NPIRL Art


The New Realism and Pop Art winners picked by New World Notes Journalist Hamlet Au are:
Life Is A Cabaret Magggg
And so it begins... by Lila

Traditional Art and Post-Kitsch Style winners picked by the Virtual World Expert and Journalist Mario Gerosa are:
Barragan collection No. 2 by GTXXTG
Everybody Hurts Marty86

Surreal and NPIRL section winners picked by the blogger and founder of the NPIRL movement Bettina Tizzy is:
Kaylee Linden at the Mentors' Graduation Party by Winter

A special mention has been deserved by:
Self Portrait by TanaRobbiani

The winners will be showcased at the Museo of Metaverso. More info here

Their works will be moreover showcased on the blogs of judges: Mario Gerosa, Hamlet Au, Bettina Tizzy

Reminder: Today we will gather at Museo del Metaverso for the Avatar Party and Winners of the Avatar Art Showcase. You can read further info here

For people not use with the SL Time.
You can consider the Second Life Time (SLT or SL Time) synonimous of Pacific Standard Time (USA % Canada)

So the party will start at 01:00 AM Pacific Time
(what does it correspond respect to your time zone? look here )



Thanks to all of you for taking part in this great showcase of art and creativity,

and remember; next days, I'll blogspot all the other coolest entries of the contest (so many and so beautiful for only a single blog entry)

Koinup Interviews: the dark sims visions of Violentdoll

Dear readers,
we are starting a new community project, The Koinup Interviews.
The aim of the project is to enlighten the works of the coolest, most active and applauded Koinup members. Each week we will publish one or two interviews and we will give avatar artists, virtual worlds photographers, metaverse explorers the opportunity to express their ideas, showcase their works, announce their projects!

The first artist we interviewed is Violentdoll, a long time Koinup member using The Sims as her favorite art platform. She has vivid, dark and literary visions.

Here's the Interview

Q: When you're creating new artworks, where do you draw ideas and inspiration from?

A: Usually I found my inspiration from different things. Sometimes from a vision I got in my mind, or from other pictures I have found online, that have something to inspire me. Of course, I never copy all the pic, but I only take some ideas or concepts, but my major inspirations come from music: usually I've been inspired by the lirycs and what the melody suggest me.


Q:What advice would you give to newcomers and beginners with The Sims Art and photography

A: I don't think to be so expert to dispense advices, I just want to say that the most important is to have fun, while creating and improving artistically. Follow your ideas and insist with your art also if you can't find an initial consensus

Q: What are you favourite tools for editing? Is there some cool secret about editing you'd love share with friends

A: I don't have a lot of secrets, but I often use some tools as Blur matched with Soft light. Pictures comes more soft and shiny and I think they're more pleasant to look at. But, it always depends from the work I want to do.


Q: Which are your fav works on Koinup and why you love them?

A: My God! My favourite Koin-up works are too much! But I can say that there are some artists I particulary love: Sour Tea, Magggg, Kady, MedeAthena, Kira87...and many more, but these are the people that have impressed the most.
I really consider them artists. But there are really too much good artists and pictures in the KoinUp Community, too much to be resumed here.


Q: Which Koinup artists you should recommended for the next Koinup Interview

A:Obviously you need to interview the artists I've named before, they all deserve to be known and loved for their works.


Q: What are your upcoming artistic projects?

A: Really I don't know, I use to follow a momentary inspiration. I'm having some images in my mind and I hope to realize them soon, but I know that they'll never come as I want. Sometime it happens that I start with an idea, and I end to make a completely different thing, but it's also good and funny.

Browse all the Violentdoll Arworks here

If you have suggestions for the Koinup Interview please don't exhitate to write us

Second Life hotspots of the week

Hamlet Au published on New World Notes the list of the Second Life coolest places of the week.
You can browse them with your eyes here

Anyway, here's the 5 top sims:
ReZoNe
Chronos
Five Sisters
Spirits of Serenity
Mybase
You can read the complete list here

the image above is from Liqueur Felix (shooted in Mybase)

The Second Life Winter Hunt: Take the Perfect Shot!

For the last Photo Session of 2008, we invite you to be part of our 24-hours Winter Photo Hunt. Come and join us this 11th of December and let’s hunt the best photo!

It’s been already six months that Koinup & Orange Island have been offering Second Life Photo Sessions. We hope that after this time you have discovered lots of new tricks photographywise in Second Life.

Therefore, we would like to thank to Monroe Snook, Bella March , Kee Llewellyn, Kali Meads, Cala Rossini, Don Hosho & Cienega Soon for their support in this activity and for all the tips they gave you.

Participants will have the chance to stretch their creative genius and demonstrate their orginality and innovation during this Winter Photo Session in a winter related SIM revealed at 12PM SLT.

The location of the sim (together with landmark) will be announced on Orange Island and on Koinup. An impartial panel of judges will determine the winners. The award ceremony will be held on Orange Island as well, Monday 15th of december at 1pm SLT, right after our weekly Metanomics Show.

Guidelines, rules, registration and upload of pictures procedures can be found on the Winter Photo Hunt Page

The best pictures will remain on display throughout the months of December and january on Orange Island as well as in an online Gallery on Koinup. The 3 winning pictures will be showcased on Museum of Second Life Photography (here the slurl)(MOSLP) and the winner will also be featured in our Orange Island Photo Sessions 2009.

The Second Life Art of Kimberly Mirabeau

If there is something really hot right now in Second Life, this is surely the Second Life Art Scene and Community. Today I love to introduce readers to this fantastic artwork by Kimberly Mirabeau
The piece is called Magic Mirror and it depict a wonderful woman in front of her mirror.....

The image is a remake of Mirror Mirror by the Deviantart artist Mahmood Al Khaja. All the poses, set and set has been built and created by Kimberly. So this artwork is a proof that Second Life Pictures are not only images but whole creations and a new brand artform.

You can look at the whole KimberlyMirabeau Gallery here

YuNEO Nagy featured on New World Notes

The excellent Second Life Photographer and virtual explorer YuNEO Nagy is featuring on New World Tableau

The New World Tableau is the New World Notes album featuring Residents who've turned SL screenshots into a new art form. Read more here

Hamlet Au picked the splendid shot Arizona (see above)

Say Hamlet: YuNEO took this photo of the sun-scorched Arizona West desert sim in Second Life, adjusting the WindLight color settings to achieve the intensely crimson hue of the sunset.

The photo was taken in the sim Az Arizona West

Az Arizona West is a dry desertic sim ideal for landscape photos or even western machinima!

Here you can view all the Az Arizona West stream

Gorgeous Sims Creativity on Koinup

There are gorgeous Sims Artists here on Koinup, some of them are sharing their works and getting fantastic peer reviews from their friends!
Today I want direct your attention to this splendid example of Sims 2 Art created by MedeAthena
Not alone, anynore by MedeAthena is, since some time, the coolest work published on Koinup! It is getting tons of comments, favs and positive feedbacks from all the community!

You can view other fantastic Medeathena Artworks here, you can also grab a sneak preview over the all time coolest works posted on Koinup

Together with this entry, I'm starting a new series of posts dedicated to the most active-interesting-popular artists and works featuring on Koinup. You'll get updates on this series soon!

The Second Life Wallpapers Project by Shoji

The Photographer and Metaverse Explorer Shoji recently launched a cool initiative called: SecondWallpaperProject. Second Life residents are invited to take part in the initiative and create their own wallpapers using Second Life Photography

What are the requirements of a good wallpapers according to Shoji?

1. Eye-friendly colors and tones
2. Soothing landscape
3. Good icon visibility
4. Compatibility with multi-displays

Some members are following Shoji tips. Hiroko and ClarriceCinquetti have already posted their own attempts. I invite to have a look at the series and take part in the initiative.

I'd like to suggest to people from other virtual worlds to launch similar initiative in their own worlds. Why not creating imvu wallpapers, worldofwarcraft wallpapers, etc.etc...???