Monday 2 August 2010

Third iteration...

Greetings once again from Kalli Land...

OK - last post I mentioned that I was working on some new braids; and that I wasn't going to save the big releases for September the 4th this year (as so much of it gets lost in the crush of Hair Fair - and let's be serious, how am I ever going to compete for attention with the likes of Truth, Exile, Ploom, Fri.day and 120+ other designers dropping on average 4.3 styles apiece (plus freebies) on the one day?) So like I said then, I'm throwing evidence of progression out here.

The textures on the braids themselves are still to be refined - so doubtlessly they'll look a little different come release; but for now here are some shots of two forerunners to the 3.0 braid line.



OK... what you see here I've tentatively called Trine (the top one) and Astrid. One is a traditional (for me at least) whole head braid - but this differs from anything that's gone before insofar as the braids themselves are now infinitely more bendy than they ever have been. They're a joy to work with as a result, and allow for more complicated twists, twirls and so forth without looking forced or awkward.

One positive bonus of the new braided sculpties are they allow me to create workable braided buns for the first time, as can be seen in Astrid. It's basically a "double Bavarian knot" (or as a rather crass friend of mine once said "Danish Pastry hair" - I slapped him for that one...)

I hope to have the time to create a few more mixed braided and non-braided styles. I've done it before to limited success, but I think I've got the kit to actually do it reliably now...

Either way - expect these, and the previously mentioned dreaded style Aeshna, live shortly... certainly in advance of Hair Fair.

Until next time,

Kalli

2 comments:

Masha said...

Hello Kallisti.

I love your work and have many of your braided styles to prove it.

My AV is Haitian and I always wear tight curls (Analog Dog) or braids (DD). The ONE style I have yet to find is a loosely braided style made for CURLY hair. A single long braid in SL always seems to have straight bangs.

If you were every interested in creating styles that show tight curls amidst the braids, I think I would be adding a whole lot more of your work to my inventory!

Thanks much,
-M

Anonymous said...

Thanks for getting in touch!

A long braid with curly bangs? I'll be certain to bear it in mind in the future, although curly is something I've not really ventured a long way into as yet...

Most curly solutions involve the judicious use of alpha textures on repeated planes - which is a technique I don't employ due to its inherent alpha issues (particularly with lighter colors.)

I'll have to see if there's a way of creating it without these, while *still* looking reasonably natural.

I'll add it to the experiments list...

Thanks again,

Kalli