Second Life Artists! Artists Galleries, And How To Create One!

Photo: Landscape screen shot of Second Life.

Second Life is a 3d virtual world created entirely by it's residents. Vibrant, rich and lush, it is an artists paradise.
Second Life's attraction lies in the fact that anything that interests you in real life, can be recreated in Second Life. From artists to architects, any area of work and play is attainable and since the Second life currency, the Linden, can be exchanged for real cash, creating and selling your wares to the residents of this virtual world makes the venture, or adventure, sweeter.

Join Second Life!

Here is a link for Second Life's getting started PDF guide you an download from from their site. Click the link, at the top of the page under "What Is Second LIfe?" a drop down box will open and you'll see the quick start guide to down load to read at your leisure.
Second Life Guide

A Step By Step Easily Understood, Downloadable How 2 Booklet; Introduction To Second Life Beginers
Handbook - Orientation Programme to SL for PolyU Students Originally for university student orientation, but well written, it will work fine for anyone!

Excellent information for new users of Second Life that will save you a lot of grief! This is direct resident insider information, very very useful!)
30 (And More) Things Every Newbie Should Know Before Starting Second Life
Excellent Advice, a must read!
Curmudgeonly Second Life Advice (Part 1/4)

Second Life Statistic Information from: Alexa

Artzine 2.0
News, articles, how 2s, combine with the stories of real life artists using Second Life to create explore artistic expression and promoting their work.., in both worlds!

Read it here! Artzine 2.0

The University of Western Australia has been a HUGE supporter of the arts in virtual worlds and specifically Second life since there launch in October 2nd 2009 and I'm a BIG fan! Offering recognition and cash prizes, the UWA has sponsored and inspired emerging artists from all over the world. If you'd like a taste of what is possible to do with your art follow the link on their website to their location inworld, prepared for shock and awe as the UWA with their themes and challenge contests have sparked some of the most unique works of art and unusual films while educating artists on the power and the possibility of the virtual.
The photo shows the real life painting next to it's virtual recreation.
You can visit the universities website here: University Of Western Australia

Photo: 911 Memorial Competition, Criss Museum Of Contemporary Art, Second Life.

It's always best to get a lay of the land in any new environment. To visit Second Life is like visiting a foreign country. It has it's own culture, language, and etiquette. So you may want to spend some time exploring before you settle on a place for your own gallery. Pick up a gallery hud from resident Sasun Steinbeck and you can start by attending events, gallery openings, and or lectures and meeting other artists. (Inworld, search Sasun Steinbeck, click on profile, click "im" at the bottom, a box will pop up where you can politely ask her to add you to the art and artists group and also, for a gallery hud.) The gallery hud has hundreds of galleries listed, complete with ratings and comments, perfect to see how other creative people have set up their spaces to be as attractive as possible.
When you are ready to find your own place. Check out your art and artists group notices first. Lots of gallery owners will offer space, often for free, through this group. It's a great why to get your feet wet while learning. You'll can also check the classifieds under search, for "For Rent" advertisements. It works almost the same way as in real life. You go and look at the place to see if it meets your needs, and than if you like it, you rent it, deal done except without the first and last, and financial statement you'll need before you even consider renting a real life space for your gallery!

Hey! If you are reading this you probably need a more detailed place to start! Check out my related lens for a step by step guide on how to set up your OWN gallery, Here's the link: How TO:
Virtual World Art Shows

You'll need to learn how to prepare and upload your images into Second Life, (Tutorial links provided under resources further down the page,) as well as very basic building skills to make your art hangable on your gallery walls.
What else? Basic marketing skills, and chances are whatever you're doing in real life to promote your art, will work in Second Life as well. Of course there is always more to learn with any new skill. But that's part of the fun of Second Life, experiencing new things. Patience and persistence will get you feeling like a native artisan very quickly!

Photo: Two very different artist galleries and a fine example of "NPIRL" not possible in real life!

The Art Gallery Owners Group recently hosted a meeting on how to build and manage an art Second Life art gallery. The discussion was led by Sasun Steinbeck and Tommy Parrott both Second Life artists and many new and old gallery owners attended. The discussion was quite long so I've included only a short excerpt of what was said here. However, the questions and answers will help you to understand the mechanics of showing your work in Second Life, managing an art business, which follows some of the rules as in real life. A quick word about language, SL has it's own unique language adapted mostly for convenience, such as "SL" for Second Life, or "RL" for real life etc. You may be familiar with things like LOL; laugh out loud, and punctuation; : )) which is the person smiling. The rest you will figure out over time. One of my favorites is "NPIRL" which translate to not possible in real life!
You can read the full transcript here How To Build And Manage An Art Gallery In Second LIfe html and I strongly suggest you read it in its entirety as it is very informative and encouraging for the new artist to Second Life. Also I cannot stress enough that the Art Gallery Owners group is one of the first you should join as soon as you get your gallery up and running.

Sasun Steinbeck: I was recently asked "What does a gallery owner have to do in order to be commercially successful?" and I have some thoughts to share. I'd love this to be more of a jumping point to a discussion so please chime in!
Skylarian Isachenko: My main gallery is set up for normal folk, but with room on the roof for dragons
Skylarian Isachenko: Isle of Wyrms, the Dragons of Second Life
Sasun Steinbeck: My first bit of advice is STICK TO IT. I can't emphasize that enough. Too may artists get frustrated by lack of sales. There's a lot of art in SL, which could be seen as a lot of "competition" for the art lover's hard-earned money. It takes time and a lot of work marketing yourself, getting into art shows, getting known, getting to know the movers and shakers in the art scene so you get asked to participate in big events more. And that kind of thing can be very difficult for an artist to enjoy doing, I totally understand.
Elese Faulkes: oh yes..
Sasun Steinbeck: I always advise artists, if you are really here to make money, then ditch art and start building sex toys. It's a sad but true statement, you must admit. If you are after the almighty linden, you'll need to sell your soul and go where the money is. But if you create art for the love of it, and you pour yourself into it, maybe the money will come. But you need to be in a position where you just don't care if it does or not, since it won't at first, I can guarantee that! Eventually you can work on the marketing aspects and get help from others to do that, and next thing you know you'll be making some money.
Saiwun Yoshikawa: im not here to be commercial succesful:)
Tommy Parrott: What Sasun says will hit home ;)
Skylarian Isachenko: Nods, I have been here for 3 years now, and I still do not sell a lot, but I get much interest in my work on Deviant Art from my showings here
Van Caerndow: I think exposure is more important than sales
Davideo Zelnik: well said Sasun!
Sasun Steinbeck: Good point Sky, there's a lot of good places to participate like Deviant Art that help fuel interest in your SL art and vice-versa!
Van Caerndow: the artist needs his work to be seen...just like the musician needs to be heard
Sasun Steinbeck: yes exactly
Eli Tauber: making your personal statement is more important than making money
Elese Faulkes: I simply just love that people wish to view my work, thats enough for me..
Sasun Steinbeck: that there are lots of ways to accomplish that, but it takes some hustle
Saiwun Yoshikawa: or hassle:)LOL
Skylarian Isachenko: If you have the resources to foot the bill for sl thats cool
Sasun Steinbeck: I'd have to agree, I get more personal satisfaction and joy out of people sending me random comments then yet another faceless sale
Skylarian Isachenko: in my case I need to make at least expenses
Sasun Steinbeck: random NICE comments lol
Elese Faulkes: yes..I agree :)
Sasun Steinbeck: Also, ask other successful artists how they did it. Start with Filthy Fluno's advice here: http://www.artcalendar.com/article.asp?ID=193
Skylarian Isachenko: fortunately print sales fro my DA shoppe via my sl gallery have kept up
Tommy Parrott: The FRO himself!
Sasun Steinbeck: Learn from someone that's done it, don't reinvent the wheel. There is no one path to "success" which is something you need to personally define yourself
synergistic Merryman: In our gallery - mine and Elese Faulkes - we have found word of mouth - and how much our work is enjoyed is the main draw to our gallery - we have also been fairly lucky with sales as well - smiles.
Sasun Steinbeck: Yes word of mouth will always be a major factor

How To Build And Manage An Art Gallery In Second Life html

Photo: Art Calendar.

Filthy Fluno is probably one of Second Life's most famous resident artists. Here he gives his advice on marketing your Second Life artworks as well as making your Second Life art crossover into real world sales! Notice too that this article ran in a prominent "real world" artists magazine.

Filthy Fluno's Guide To Marketing And Networking In Second Life

Written by the creator of T.A.M.I. Danny Noyes

T A M I, The Art of Mental Illness, is a Secondlife art gallery in development, being established for the exhibition of all forms of art by people who deal with mental illness daily.
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The gallery is managed by founder and curator, Danny Noyes, whose real life persona has suffered with Bipolar Affective Disorder with Suicidal Ideation for over a decade. Being a resident of Second Life since 2006, I have become aware of the value that this place can bring, in gathering people from all over the world with like minds, ......even if they can be, a little unstable at times .
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My real life persona has found that people with such conditions have talents that so often go unrecognized. Sometimes, because of the stigma and misunderstanding these diseases have within our communities, others, because of the extremely poor self esteem or outrageously high expectations. Such is the manner of some disorders.
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Using second life and creating a supportive community around this gallery, will I'm sure, build an understanding, that all of us in the mental health community, carers and affected, should look forward too .This Gallery then is established with this objective. To provide an outlet within second life to exhibit, discuss and support, residents with artistic passion who suffer with mental health issues .To exhibit all forms of the arts at no cost to the artist .To only have original work that may be sold directly through the artist .To encourage artists to provide links and information to their real world art for proper exposure. To seek support from benefactors to improve the real life exposure of the artists with mental health issues .The Art of Mental Illness - Art gallery Is for all of us who feel safe in Second Life living with these wretched conditions. For more information please visit the info desk at the gallery.
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Search for T.A.M.I - The Art of Mental Illness, in world. at the gallery you can pick up our magazine that has more detail of what we hope to achieve. TAMI is a non profit organization and does not take commissions or any funds from contributing artists. All moneys remain with the artist. If you could join the group that would be helpful too...

You can see the magazines here: The Art Of Mental Illness

Click the photo to go to the website

Still uncertain? More and more universities now offer courses on art creation, promotion and sales through the Second Life venue. Let The Massachusetts College of Art & Design, show you the way with it's hands on and easy to understand course "Creativity in Second Life."

The Massachusetts College of Art & Design

A Sophisticated insightful blog encompassing various aspects of art in a virtual world created by Professor Nettrice Gaskins and various guest bloggers, a must read! Art 21

Make a deeply introspective film about your art in Second Life and you might become the next Second Life machinima superstar like Molotov Alva! Use a popular game video capture program such as Wegame or Fraps, (iShowU HD for Mac) to document your artistic process or show off your gallery. Wegame is software you download and install. It hooks into the Second Life viewer. No nonsense, very easy to use, you select a key as your record on and off button. (I use Wegame and the equal (=) sign as the record button.) and tell it where to store the video it records. Fraps I am unfamiliar with but is said to be the standard for Second Life and well worth learning. Than you can use Windows Movie Maker, software included on all PCs or Animoto to put it all together. Post it to Youtube, Vimeo or any other video sharing sites available on the web.

Here's a quick tip; To hide the SL viewer, Ctrl+Alt+F1 Toggle on and off.
To hide all your HUDS (Heads Up Display if you have them) all at the same time: Alt+Shift+H

In depth Explanation:
VizWorld

Movie Making Tutorials:
Wiki On Machinima
Eric Linden's Top Ten Machinima Tips

For Inspiration:
Second Life Machinima

Photo: Second Life 3D Vendor.

You don't actually need ANY gadgets to start selling your art in Second LIfe, but some gadgets do make your life easier! There are usually several makers of any particular gadget so your choice is usually determined by preference, however here are a few you might like and some of my favorites! Note: at the time of this writing the xstreet policy changes were announced. So some Xstreet items are still listed here. As I find inworld or other sources for these gadgets I will post them here. Thanks for your patience.
Susan Steinbeck's Gallery Kiosks A tool to for art lovers to rate, comment, and FIND your Second Life gallery and others inworld. You can view the list online at:
Sas tech Kiosk Net
Get the kiosk on the MetaLife Marketplace:
Meta-Life.net Gallery Kiosk
Want to offer your artists info in multiple languages .
Language Kiosk
Portrait painter? DJ? Off your personal service with this vendor!
Service Vendor
In Second Life unlike real life, you are not limited by language! Use this gadget and instantly speak and understand 56 languages. You didn't know you were that smart did you!
Language Translator
Business Essentials, a notecard and landmark (address) giver, a donation box, a gift giver, a mailbox, and much more!
Business Essentials
A vendor that lets you show your works in 3d! Without taking up space in your gallery. Paratech Vendors
Let your customers interact with you!
Ez-Note Board
Hippo Groups make a lot of very useful gadgets. Here is a group inviter that lets you invite people to a group online, versus inworld. Hippo
Modern one prim furniture! It's one prim and looks really professional. One Prim Furniture

Advanced
Scripts are snips of code that you can put inside your creations to make them DO things, which can be useful and fun. If you'd like to try your hand at making your art change color, like up, or give a note to someone, you can find a box of them to experiment with here:
22 Advanced Full Permission Scripts
Like to make a catalog of your work to give away? This gadget will help you make a simple picture book or photo album, you drop the pictures in and you're good to go. You can use a graphics program to write the title and/or price on the photo itself, or the book gives you the option to give out a notecard with each photo.
Book Template

Details
Shadows, yes shadows, you'll have to use them to add detail to your space if you want to make it look realistic and add depth. But you don't have to make them rez a prim and slap a shadow texture on it, find them here:
Shadows
Prims are the building blocks of Second Life and every piece of land has it's prim limit. When you've reached yours, you don't have to put your items away, take a picture of them and put it along with the item into this vendor and continue selling them!
One Prim Vendor

Photo: "Mikon" Camera.

To sell your inworld artworks to other residents you'll need great product photos! Here's the link to the wiki on everything "snaphot" in Second Life. Follow these simple rules and your images will always look gorgeous. You can also use props like walls, furniture and/or other items to make your artwork pop!

Snapshot Help!

Photo: Front of 19, in Second Life.

You're welcome to stop by anytime! I love new artists. Let me know if there is some knowledge that needs to be included in this Squidoo that I missed. In the back of the gallery on the left side of the vendor I've left a box of useful artists items. Feel free to take a copy, it will help you get started on your artistic adventure!
19 - NIght Gallery, Second Life

I'd love to hear from you so PLEASE! Sign the quest book below!!! Have a great Second Life!