Paw Boots...

Posted by Alpha Auer... ;-)

Only the other day I was talking about the lamentable absence of paw boots in Real Life, right? In the meantime I have been informed that apparently some enterprising Real Life designer out there seems to have made something along these lines but in my humble view it wouldn't really add up to much beyond being a sad substitute to the "real" thing...

So, here they are - all of my lovely little beauties...


My Ninja Cat boots are somewhat on the cruel side but, I give you my most solemn assurance that I try not to use those nasty little sticks too excessively and then only on the most objectionable avatars!


Admittedly the Grunge Camp Paw kickers are ever so slightly butch but nonetheless a great favorite whenever I need to climb the Black Mountain at Syncretia to check on all those leaky water pipes...


These Hobo Paw boots have a slight flaw around the ankles so I conceal them with some very lovely, not to mention thoroughly elegant, barbed wire neko leg warmers! They really do think of every little eventuality these neko designers don't they? I imagine the barbed wire would come in very handy at keeping those bothersome rodents trying to climb up ones calves at bay! No?


Yeti paw boots! We pose for these together with my furry sister: Two silly school girls in black and white outfits. Mine is a sailor's costume and she is a striped bunny! Teeeee heeeee....


For the more demanding neko, these jewel studded boots come in a range of fur options for toes, all in the same box. A must have for all of those dressier occasions!


Sakuradawn Lei's name is a byword for high quality paw boots in the metaverse, most of them leaving paw prints as you walk! Unfortunately the loveliest ones are designed for feral furries and thus one needs to have the appropriate leg shape to really be able to wear them - which we, vain, silly, fashion victim women obviously do not have. However, necessity is indeed the mother of all invention, so my furry sister was certainly not going to be put off by a minor little hindrance such as a leg shape! She merely replaced the upper part of the Myth boots with another boot part - and Bob's your uncle! My Trailmix ones are actually designed for human legs so all I had to do was walk around leaving some wonderful feline paw prints. Never one to be outdone, Furry Incognita follows suit with her own - and oh what an utterly lovely mess we have made!

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Credits:
Ninja Cat Boots: Emily Lelouch
Grunge Camp Paw Kickers: Thomus Keen
Barbed wire leg warmers: Minde Mills
Hobo Paw Boots: Blume Boucher
LouRoo Yeti Paw Boots: LouRoo Rau
Jewel Neko Boots: 7ommy Gunes
Trailmix and Myth boots: Sakuradawn Lei
(Please click on the names to obtain teleport locations!)

of caves and wolves: Leben Schnabel

Posted by Alpha Auer

In my long gone days of newbiedom I once went to a classical music concert. Truth be told, surrounded as one is with the VIP crowds at the newbie hangouts, I was just at that point where you begin to wonder if this Second Life® is all that it is cracked up to be? Should I even make the effort? And where were all the interesting people for heaven's sakes? Surely when people talked about creative endeavor in the metaverse they could not be referring to all the galleries with nice little framed JPEG's hanging on their nice little, oh so RL, walls? Or could they? So, as I sat there, pondering my desolate virtual life, this extraordinary figure came along and sat down right next to me. And I went "a-ha! That is what metaverse creativity is all about!". And stayed.



That extraordinary figure was Leben Schnabel. We became "friends", but never really hung out. One day I noticed that Leben was no longer on my friend's list. Which was only what was to be expected in the social turmoil of the metaverse - we had gone our separate ways.

And then, a month or so ago, I was out shopping with my furry friend. Now, she is a difficult one to please: Basically at that point in time, all the combined efforts of all the furry avatar designers out there had not been able to come up with an avatar that lived up to her finicky requirements. And then, finally at AnthroXtacy, we clapped eyes on the most extraordinary wolfess. And lo and behold, when examined, the creator of this gorgeous creature turned out to be none other than Leben Schnabel.




Leben Schnabel's work consists almost entirely of sculpties, which he crafts personally and onto which the textures are individually "baked".

It is very difficult to believe that Leben Schnabel is not a full time professional artist or designer in Real Life, and one of a very high caliber at that, given that the building as well as the texturing of both his avatars and his caves are amongst some of the finest that I have seen in Second Life to date. And not only that: Mr. Schnabel, who manages the development of large virtual game projects in Real Life, displays a most charming modesty regarding his remarkable talent:

"I am nothing but a hobby 3D artist. I needed a creative outlet to accompany my management related profession, and Second Life proved to be ideal for that. The natural grace and overall aesthetics of many predators fascinates me as much as human anatomy. So trying my hand at mixing the two areas seemed like a fun project.




The Lioness avatar is a private creation, designed for a close friend of the artist.

My take on SL art might be a bit strange: I was always fascinated by breaking through the barriers of limited systems. And in terms of 3D graphics SL is very limited compared to recent 3D games. So one of my goals was to find ways to produce SL graphics that seem to be much more detailed than what SL could normally render. Because of that aspect I don’t see myself as an artist so much, but rather as a craftsman. This self-conception might also come from the fact that the term “artist” is used differently in my native German where an artist has to have some kind of artistic vision. I personally don’t want to make any statements about the human condition with my graphics – I just have fun with my obsession for details and the fact that I can give people the means to express a part of their personality with my avatars. That, for me, is a wonderful aspect of working in SL. As fleeting and transient as our work is in this medium, for a while, people relate much, much stronger to it than to, for example, an expertly painted picture. Typically, people look at a picture for merely seconds, of maybe minutes if it speaks to them on some level. Somebody who wears my avatars or has his or her virtual home in one of my caves, might spend months in a close relationship to my work. That is one of the things that I absolutely like about making content for a virtual world."




The caves are beautifully "lit" through the implementation of a range of finely graduated textures of varying lightness values and hue.

Mr. Schnabel also builds caves, based upon commission. While his home cave is closed to the general public, an exquisite smaller, modifiable version can be viewed (as well as purchased) from here. Many different versions of both genders of the wolf avatar can be obtained from here. A collection of large sized photos of Leben Schnabel's avatars and caves can also be viewed on my Flickrstream here.

The four Yip Fashion Blender à la Alpha Auer...

Posted by Alpha Auer ;-)

I totally love dress up games!

Here I have taken it upon myself to play around with four Yip's clothes (with her gracious consent of course). I have added things from my own ridiculously voluminous virtual wardrobe, and left out other items from some of the original outfits - with a particular eye on making these ensembles thoroughly NPIRL.

four's clothes are funny, in fact some of them are absolutely hilarious. And then, they are romantic, whimsical, elusive. In short, they are a treasure for any female to possess. So, my objective here was really not to improve upon what was already there but simply to take a personal look, make an interpretation...
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The shoulder rats and head bats come from four's latest piece lune-acy. I combined them with the hybrid skin by Vry Offcourse (available here), a clock belt by Phantom Kabuki (available here) and boots by LuizHernandez Slade (available here). The skirt actually belongs to four's Happy Hour ensemble, I simply increased the transparency a tad.
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The French Souvenir chambermaid is a lusty wench who is most certainly no better than she should be. Here she is frolicking around, broom in hand, hefting a shiny black scarab jetpack complete with wings (available here) by Ryan Snook. She also sports what I think is one the funniest hairdos I ever saw in Second Life®, a strange breadloaflike appendage created by Sunnivah Jiutai (available here). The roller skates are actually Bett's input, telling me of an old mate of hers who apparently roamed the streets of Real Life, dressed as a chambermaid on roller blades.

And while we are on the subject of roller skates or roller blades, I feel that paying homage to that so totally not possible in Real Life personage, Rollerina is also in order here on this post... NPIRL? It is all in a state of mind methinks...
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No, I have not decided to become a Furry. A close friend of mine has graciously helped me with these photos. She would also prefer to maintain her anonymity, so I will respect her wishes and not disclose her name...

The outfit is largely made out of four Yip's Roly Poly ensemble, from which I used both the skirts, the flower belt and the bird bow, the roly polies on the chest and the flying birdies. The top garment is by June Dion and is part of a Victorian dress called Vanessa, (available here). The furry avatar (of which my friend is only using the head) is created by Miaka Amat and can be obtained here. This is truly one of the most beautiful furry faces that I have seen to date. Instead of obliterating all expressiveness in the usual jumble of prims Amat has utilized the top part of the human shape and added prims only to the cheeks and chin. Finally, the boots are by LuizHernandez Slade and can be found at the Freebie Dungeon (here).
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I have combined four's wallflower skin with a Cherry Tree Hair by Ameshin Yossarian of Curious Kitties (teleport from here), a ladies jetpack by Vincente Shepherd of the Gaslights Emporium (teleport from here) and Steampunk leather boots by Thomus Keen of Steam Powered Nuts (teleport from here). The skirt is something I cobbled together.
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The Happy Hour outfit is I think one of the funniest that four ever put together. I have merely underscored the highly obvious here of course: Mademoiselle Demure whips off the gray two piece suit, only to emerge from under the table as Madame Voracious! Everything else used here comes from four's "four is a bird" package - except for the hair by Lola Marquez of Armidi (teleport from here) and the high heeled shoes by Lost Thereian of Naughty Enterprizes (teleport from here). The Feline skin was created by my newly found furry friend, who has asked for her identity to remain undisclosed so sadly, I am not allowed to share the information regarding that with you.
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And alas even the best of good times must come to an end at some point... So, For a grand finale: I am anxiously hoping that four agrees with me that nobody can possibly be as good as her virtuous white bird. So, for a bit light relief, I am toting that angelic headdress of white feathers, headband and the cuffs from her white birdy wings package - coupled with an ominous piece of lingerie called Innamorata, designed by Devyn Grimm, of Chaospire (teleport from here), Tekelili Tantalus' very aptly named Fleurs Du Mal boots (teleport to Tekelili's shop from here), and just in case I need to do some unexpected heavy duty construction work, a pair of steel paws designed by June Dion of the Bare Rose (teleport from here).

You can obtain all of four's wonderful outfits at one of her two little shops here. You can see larger sizes and alternative shots of the photos that I took for this post here.