New: Male skins by Chip Midnight

March 16th, 2007 at 10:37pm Ryan Darragh

One of my early, vividly recalled experiences in SL was encountering a stunning Jamaican woman while shopping.  She had beautiful dark skin and her hair was in long, flexi cornrows.  She wore fantastic, brightly colored clothing and was quite striking.  I was looking for suits or shoes or something and she told me, “You need to go to the Deimos Boardwalk.  There’s a good men’s clothing store there that I bet you’ll like.”  I ended up in Barnes Boutique, and the rest is history.  Since then, I have wondered at how relatively rarely I encounter persons of color in SL.  (It’s not my intent to make a sociological observation or generalize regarding the whole SL population; I’m just commenting on my own personal experience.)  Hmm, maybe I’m hanging out in boring areas.  Maybe I need to do more exploring.  But I also have wondered if this might possibly be due to there being fewer options in skins for people who aren’t Caucasian.

It was my pleasure to meet this week with designer Chip Midnight and learn more about his new line of skins for black men (my review appears below).  I was curious what had inspired or motivated him to create these skins.  Was it the relative lack of quality skins for black men?  The creative challenge?  “It was both really.  I think there’s historically been very few black skins in SL simply because the level of difficulty is much higher than for Caucasian skins.  There’s so much more variation of hue and tone across the body which makes it a lot harder to make it look convincing.  So it was partly that I think people who want dark skins have been rather shortchanged, and also that I really enjoy trying things I know will be challenging.”

I mentioned Namssor Daguerre’s new male skin from Second Skin Labs and asked if Chip had seen it.  “I haven’t checked out the whole line but I really enjoy the posts in the forum gallery.  Really beautiful work.  I’m sometimes reluctant to look to closely at what other people are doing.  I think Namssor and I use very similar techniques.  Some people are put off by photorealism…the ‘uncanny valley’ effect.  Personally I love it, both from a technical challenge aspect and as an aesthetic preference.  I try to offer a range so that people who don’t like the hardcore realism can find something a bit less so to suit their tastes, but the serious realism is the most fun to do for me.”

Is this level of realism more challenging, compared to hand-drawn art?  “I think it really depends on technique.  I’ve figured out a lot of tricks with my tools over the past year or so.  In some ways now the realism is easier.  All of my skins start with photos.  How I use them depends on what I want to end up with, and how much good source I have for a particular skin.  If I’ve got pics for most parts of the body I need then I can fill in what I don’t have fairly easily.  If I only have one or two angles then I’ll go for a more painterly approach.  These new skins are probably about 90% photographic.”

We also talked about the custom shapes Fade Dana designed for use with Chip’s new skins.  How important is it to get the underlying shape “right”?  “I think it’s pretty important, but the nice thing about the way skins work is that they’ll look good on all but the most extreme shapes.  I’ve never been very adept at doing them [shapes] myself.  I pretty much focus on what I do well and leave the rest to the other talented designers out there.  I fear I’d end up jack of all trades, master of none.”

Of course there is a dizzying array of skins, by many different designers, to choose from in SL.  Is the competition “good for business,” a benefit to creativity?  “Personally I love it.  I don’t make as much as I did back in the day when I was the only skin maker, but I love seeing what other people create and love to admire other people’s skill.  It often pushes me to try harder.  I just try not to look too closely so it doesn’t end up influencing my own direction too much, probably the way I imagine writers are wary of reading too much when they’re trying to write.  Since I do primarily photosourced work it’s inevitable that various skinners will end up making very similar skins.  There’s only so many good sources [for licensed high-quality photos] out there.  I’m a lot more conscious now of mixing and blending sources.”

I asked Chip if there was anything else he wanted to share that we hadn’t already covered.  “Nothing that I can think of.  :)  I’m really bad at self promotion.  Fade had to poke me with a cattle prod to get me to send out review copies.  I have very little business sense, hehe.  I rely on word of mouth mainly.  I think most people know me as ‘that template guy.’”

At this point Ravi Zuma, who was waiting patiently to consult with Chip as soon as we finished our interview chat, spoke up:  “I think greatness doesn’t need advertising. Over and out.” 

Chip the Template Guy laughed.  “Your check is in the mail, Ravi!” 

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I don’t know how else to say it–Chip’s new black male skins for are really quite remarkable.  Three versions are available, named “Crow,” “Raven” and “Rook.”  All feature highly realistic skin texturing and body hair.  “Crow” and “Raven” include hair on the head as well.

Here you see “Crow,” worn with the “Crow” body shape designed by Fade Dana.  (For comparison, in the picture at the top of this article you see the same skin worn with my usual “Ryan” shape but no other changes.)  I think this plays up just how much difference can be made not only by the skin but by the shape as well.  The skin texturing is absolutely gorgeous, front and back.  Chip has outdone himself on these.

This picture shows see the “Crow” skin at full length, so you can get some idea of the care that has been put into the texturing and shading, literally from head to toe.  The lighter areas of skin on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet are absolutely right and striking in their realism.  You can take a closer look at the palm detailing in the picture of the “Raven” skin, below.

“Raven” seems especially well suited for the slighly bulkier frame of the matching shape by Fade Dana.  “Raven” is bald, with no hair on the head, but the scalp texturing is so well detailed that none is needed–you won’t simply look like you forgot to attach your prim hair.  In chatting with Fade about these shape designs, she indicated that she originally created them just for use in Chip’s ad artwork for these skins.  But they work so well that she received several requests for them, and Chip succeeded at talking her into making them available for purchase.  In the near future, you should be able to find these shapes in the shop next to the skins.

Last up we have the skin called “Rook,” again worn with Fade’s matching shape.  The face on this skin seems especially expressive, with the detailing in the folds around the eyes and brow giving it a lot of character.

The skin on the back is subtly and expertly detailed, with clear indications of the shoulder blades and spine.  I am amazed when a skin looks like you could reach out and touch it–and this one truly does.

These new skins are priced at L$1500 each.  Demos are available in the store, so you can try before you buy.  If these look at all interesting or even exciting to you, try on a demo and see if you don’t take one home.  Available at CMFF - Skins & Clothing by Chip (Freelon 60, 54, 31).

Note to readers: sachi Vixen offers several different skins for black and Asian men in her line of hybrid skins, available at Adam n Eve (Genesis 192, 150, 35).  If you are aware of others worth considering, please post a comment and let us know!

Disclosure: Seen in World: Yes | Review Copy: Yes | Friends List: No

Notes: On Ryan: Plaid Long Shorts by Jonquille Noir (Little Rebel Designs).

Entry Filed under: Chip Midnight, New Items, Skins