New: “Jack” male skins @ Flesh Peddlers

November 13th, 2007 at 05:53pm Ryan Darragh

When I arrived at Posy Trudeau’s newly built, in fact at the time still-in-progress shop “Flesh Peddlers,” she was lounging before a roaring fire on a chaise covered in velvet upholstery and dressed as if to double for Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft, the Tomb Raider herself.  When I complimented her on her ensemble—it seemed the gentlemanly thing to do—she laughed and said, “It’s all in my ‘to organize’ folder.”  Posy and I have sympathized and empathized with each other in the past over our respective inventory management issues, so I understood immediately and completely.  We’re not always dressed to impress; often we’re just wearing whatever’s handy.  Posy manages to pull this off quite well, whereas I tend to look like I’m in some limbo state between two distinctly different outfits.  “Flesh Peddlers” is a new joint venture of Posy and Vasean Talamasca.  Posy has been working for the past few months on her new “Jack” and “Jill” male and female skins and will be creating some female shapes as well, while Vasean has designed the male shapes.  Unfortunately Vasean and I weren’t able to meet before he left on a holiday trip, but we plan to get together for a chat once he’s back home.

Ryan:  Wow, the shapes are totally reasonable in price [L$200 each].  And moddable too!  That’s awesome.

Posy:  Yes, Vas was insistent on that.  He’s very meticulous about creating shapes.  That’s one reason I asked him to start this venture with me.

Ryan:  So tell me–why skins?  Maybe an obvious question, but still relevant, I think.  You’re well known as a clothing designer–Miau Haus, Civvies.  There are certainly plenty of skins out there.  What interested you [about designing skins]?

Posy:  I noticed some really nice skin lines coming out [for women] at very reasonable pricing, $500 per skin…Lovey and Tete a Pied are great.  What I love about those skins (and Vas mentioned too) was the velvety skin textures rather than the realistic textures you see on the high-end [skins].  And I wanted to give men that affordable option.  [Then] it went from only doing male skins to doing female ones [too], which meant a lot more work.

Ryan:  I had seen and we had talked about your first male skin, which it seems you pretty much abandoned, as this new one doesn’t seem to have much in common with it, aside from the general approach.

Posy:  Oh yes…I started entirely from scratch.  I think I kept only the ears, and belly button.  Oh! and the nipples!

Ryan:  LOL

Posy:  Well…I really liked them!

Ryan:  I liked a lot about that early skin too, but you’ve really gone far beyond that initial effort.  How did you feel about and experience the work itself?  Is it a rewarding thing?   I know you sought feedback from friends along the way.

Posy:  I have quite a few very talented designer friends here in SL.  They all gave me great input which made the skins much, much better.  OMG, it’s very rewarding, especially in the beginning…you’re all excited seeing everything come together.  It’s soooo much work and tedious tweaking though…I must admit a little bit of skin-design-burnout…LOL.  Hats off to all the talented skin designers out there…skins are hard!!

Ryan:  Are these skins the most work you’ve ever done on a single item?  I know you’ve taken your time and done revisions along the way.  Plus time out for “Photoshop fatigue.”

Posy:  Definitely the most time-intensive thing I’ve ever made.  Very, very tedious…and keeping track of all the versions and skin tones and parts…LOL.  And then…you have to do it all over again and make Demos!

Ryan:  Ugh, and a scary computer breakdown right in the middle!

[Posy's video card in her laptop failed and she had to send it in for repair.  Ultimately, she did not lose any data.]

Posy:  OMG, I almost cried.  Well…I cried a little.

Ryan:  I would’ve cried a lot, I think.

Posy:  Back up your important stuff, people!!

Ryan:  Is all the [texture] work original hand drawing?  You needn’t reveal any secret sources.

Posy:  Well, I’m a graphic designer by trade, not an illustrator, so my drawing skills aren’t as good as many designers out there.  But I do have a great deal of photo retouching Photoshop skills that have really come in handy for making skins.  There’s much more hand shading and drawing on these skins compared to my first.  Kind of a combo of photo-sampling and hand rendering…but more drawing in this case.

Posy:  Another thing I really want to mention about the skin line I’m creating…I don’t really want to compete against the big-name skin designers.  I feel like they’ve already done such a wonderful job with realistic skins.  What I want to ultimately do, now that I’ve created a basic set of skins for men and women, is create more unusual skins…fun skins, skins for role-playing…maybe not a skin you’ll wear every day, but one you’ll wear for an event or something.  Right now I’m releasing some dirty skins, fight skins and scarred skins…hopefully that will appeal to role-players. I just think that making skins like those will be so much fun!

Ryan:  Any other future plans for your line of skins?  You mentioned something in passing about different [specifically, lower] levels of musculature.

Posy:  Yes, I definitely want to do something like that.  I’m not really sure what’s out there in that area.  To be honest…that’s what I initially wanted for this skin (Jack).  But as I was putting it together…the abs were starting to look so yummy, so that’s how they turned out.  It’s definitely something I want to explore…I know that I’ve heard friends in the past looking for less muscular skins.

Ryan:  What do you look for in a skin for yourself?  My working theory is that skin preference is so highly subjective because we so identify with what the skin makes “us” (our avatars) look like.  If that doesn’t appeal, in whatever sense, we don’t like (or buy) the skin.  I think that’s very different from, for example, does the skin’s muscle definition look right on my shape?

Posy:  Well, I think that both are relevant.  Personally, I look for skins that fit my shape well, and I’m really picky about noses and the skin fitting to my lips properly.  I used to be more into realistic skins, but more recently I’ve loved the skins with the hand-drawn, less photo-real appearance, like from Lovey…and I absolutely love Nylon Pinkney’s skins.  I tend to like things to look less real here.  Although I know there are a lot of people who prefer the more realistic skins.  I guess I go through phases…I’m usually a blonde, and now I’m liking being a brunette!

= | = | = | = | = | = | = | = | = | = | = | = | = | = | = | = | = | = | = | = | = | = | = | = | = | =

Posy’s new “Jack” skins come in Pale and Tan skin tones.  The difference between the two is noticeable but not great–the Tan is more toasted-marshmallow than sun god, and the Pale is darker than the fairly light skin tones I usually wear.  There are six facial hair options: Clean, Soul Patch, Pointy Patch, Goatee, Scruff, and Heavy Scruff.  All skins are bald, with no head hair.  In addition, all facial options are available with or without eyeliner, for a total of twelve options in each skin tone (so far).  As if that weren’t enough, as Posy mentioned she is also releasing several “novelty” skins with different surface treatments: Dirty, Dirty with Camo, Dirty with Eyeblack, Fight, and Scarred.

The “velvety” skin quality Posy mentioned admiring is something she’s worked hard to bring to this skin, and I really like the result–the detailing is delicately done but definitely male.  As a whole, the skin has a feel that’s soft without being blurry or muddled, a look that’s stylized without being cartoonish.  Another skin that takes a somewhat similar approach is Sezmra Svarog’s “Entice,” which to me feels even more “movie-star soft-focus” and idealized than Posy’s skin.  “Jack,” especially in his roughed-up variations and in spite of his lovingly designed facial features (Posy made multiple tweaks to his lips alone along the way), feels a bit more rugged than Sezmra’s “David” or even “Hunter.”  One of the things I love most about SL is the great variety of artistic expression we see being brought to creative products like these, and the wide range of tastes they will appeal to.

Looking back, I can’t believe I’ve gotten this far without mentioning that “Jack” has dimples.  I certainly didn’t mean to overlook this fact, as I think it’s one of the skin’s distinctive features.  I’ve seen some female skins with dimples, and surely there must be one or two other male skins out there whose designer has given them dimples as well, but as I’m writing this is the only male skin I can think of.  In combination with the delicately detailed features, this results in something of a “boy next door” look that contrasts interestingly with the lean, muscled torso, especially on the more physically abused novelty variations.

The “Jack” skins are priced at L$500 each for single skins.  Free demos are available in the shop, so you can try on and make a closer inspection yourself.  Posy’s new ”Jill” skins for women have also just been released.

Extract your own pound at the new Flesh Peddlers (Maggiore 159, 182, 601).

Vasean Talamasca’s first three shapes–Aidan, Luke and Loki–are also available now for purchase at Flesh Peddlers.

Disclosure: Seen in World: Yes | Review Copy: Yes | Friends List: Yes

Notes: On Ryan: "Nekoge" hair by hiko Nino (Happy Dispatch). Blended Natural eyes by Miriel Enfield (Miriel). Slick Tee by Tsubasa Ferraris (Endeavor). Grease Monkey Jeans by Posy Trudeau (Civvies). Boudoir Boxer Briefs by Shai Delacroix (Casa Del Shai).

Entry Filed under: Flesh Peddlers, New Items, Skins