Fashion Fabric Textures Skull & Roses Version 4

Cover Image

Ok, I think I can put this theme to bed now.

They seem to be doing OK on third party websites like Contentparadise.com.

Not so sure about Second Life, with the exception of a customer contacting me in relation to the non delivery of one of the volumes, I  haven't checked the sales.

They have been fun to make and I may continue with more but leaning towards just the floral and pattern themes.

I have been really busy working on a project for Embers Of Caerus (Forsaken Studios) this last week.

Whilst I cannot disclose what I was working on I can say it will be revealed any time soon!
I will link it back and do a post on it.

The task once again pushed me out of my comfort zone and I didn't half kick up a fuss whining to Lee, the Art Director declaring that:
 "I am not the best person for this job...a concept artist would do it justice but I can't hand draw and....but....well....what if....?"

I had a confidence crisis because I was on quite a tight deadline and so after just two hours of trying to get the bits and pieces in place, what I saw forming in-front of me was butt clenching embarrassing.

Lee,  cut me no slack, basically told me he knew I could do better and so to "show me"

I was very pissy at that point lol

I am a royal PITA when I am pushed out of my comfort zone as Lee knows because he asked me if I wanted a tissue lol (brute!)
But as I explained to him later, I was glad he kept on pushing because I actually surprised myself.

What I finally finished after two full days was something I am really proud with mostly because I didn't think I could pull it off but also because if they think its good enough it must be because they don't just "settle"

Its one thing messing about with concepts in your own mind and from your imagination because if you find it's not coming together, you just change the direction.

Can't do that when you are creating something specific to another person or teams goals and visions.
If you can't work with what you know and the skill set you have, you just have to work out another way around the process.

Anyway, as I say all will be revealed very soon and I can show you exactly what caused such trepidation for me.

Back to these Skull and Roses Fashion Fabric Textures, they come as a collection of 25 seamless textures.
The price, as always differs depending on where you buy them from and the License and usage you require.

For use in Secondlife.com you can buy them by visiting the TRU Textures store in SL by clicking this SLurland They are priced 400 Linden Dollars for 25 textures.

They're also available from the SL Marketplace.

For use under an Extended License (Use outside of Secondlife.com) please visit our website TRU Textures - www.texturesrus.net and purchase them with either the Any World or Extended License, depending on your intended use.

They are also available from Contentparadise.com (Textures Category) and our stock website, www.isoucetextures.com

e-cigarettes - Liberro Realis Review

Well, as I posted several days ago, I have stopped smoking "real" cigarettes (Silk Cut Silver) after I purchased a disposable e-cigarette from the local garage.

I wasn't expecting much and it was a lot longer and heavier than a real cig but the actual oral smoking sensation was just like smoking a different brand.
The vapor (smoke replica) exhales looked exactly like real smoke.

I carried on using that for the rest of the day and discovered I could, with very little issue, not bother about picking up one of my "real" Silk Cuts.

As a disposable unit, I knew there would be better alternatives in the rechargeable variety so I did a little research and opted on the e-puffer.com Colibri nano e-cig.
Mainly because the sales pitch was aimed at its size being "like for like" to a real cigarette.

The package, which cost me £59.99 arrived within two days and I was excited when I was waiting for it to charge.

However, the actual experience was really bad.

1) Whilst it is indeed a small unit, it's much much heavier than a real cig,  so trying to switch over in the "hand to mouth" habit of smoking was futile.

Despite the You Tube video of a girl (Who does a lot of reviews on e-cigs) and another from a man who was amazed at: "how small and light" it was, trust me, it's not.

Sure, compared to the older versions of e-cigs like the Screwdriver, (Named based on the fact it as as big and heavy and looks like a screwdriver!) the Colibri is indeed small.
But do not be fooled into thinking it will fool your subconscious mind that you're smoking the real thing, because its just too heavy.
I ended up having to put it down on the desk when I wasn't using it were as a real cig would remain between my fingers most of the time.

That aside, I could have adapted to that if the oral smoking experience was good.

It isn't and that leads me onto the second issue.

2) The pre filled cartridges that come with the start pack for the Colibri were varied in nicotine strength ranging from 1.2mg to 0.0mg.

I used to smoke one of the lightest brands going, Silk Cut Silver,  so I don't need or want a strong throat hit.
But these cartridges (Including the additional two 0.6mg nicotine packs I bought) had little to no throat hit and very little vapor on the exhale.

Now and again I would get a good run and have several draws that tasted good and felt like the real deal, but for the most part the cartridges were poor in taste and even poorer in replicating the inhale from a real cigarette.

3) If that wasn't bad enough, the two days I used the Colibri Nano cartridges, I developed a nasty chemical after taste and the tip of my tongue was numb and sore.

I wrote to them and they didn't really give me any feedback other than to check the ingredients and see if I was allergic or known to have a sensitivity to them.

Anyway, by then I was already moving on.

After more research and actual Facebook user feedback, I bought the Liberro Realis starter kit as well as heaps of different e-liquids from the Liberro brand and also the Johnson Creek brand, which has a very good reputation.

When I opened the pack, the Realis is a touch thicker than the Colibri but the same length and more importantly, half as light.
This was the closest thing to the size and weight of a real cigarettes I had experienced.

Alos, the e-liquids are amazing.
I love the Johnson Creek Black Cherry liquid, it tastes and smells like real cherries and you get a very good throat hit and twice as much vapor on exhalation compared to the Colibri.

The starter pack came with a portable recharger , which I won't use as I just have it plugged into my PC on charge constantly.

It comes with two batteries (The longer part  of the two piece e-cigt, the bit that would have all of the tobacco in with a real cigarette)  so you have one on charge as you're using the other and when one runs out, you just swap.

There is NO chemical after taste and my tongue is no longer numb so I suspect that comes from the Colibri cartridges and/or their brand of e-liquid.

I can hold it in my mouth for the brief period, unsupported by my fingers,  when I am taking a drag, just like most smokers do when they smoke real cigs.

In fact, several times I have gone to flick the ash from it (Even though it doesn't create any) which tells me that my subconscious mind is tricked into thinking I am really smoking and "that" is what every new e-cigarette smoker wants, as close as possible to the real thing only without the chemicals and tobacco that kills you.

It "feels" almost like a real cigarette when I am typing, like now.
I currently have it between my middle and forefinger as I type, which is what I would have done when I smoked for real.

I have not smoked a real cig for 48 hours now and the 3 days before that, I only smoked 3 Silk Cuts.

I honestly feel like I prefer e-cigs to real ones, now I have the Liberro Realis because of the different fruity and sweet flavours, which I was convinced I wouldn't like assuming I would opt for a tobacco option.

Unlike the Colibri, the cartridges are advertised as "refillable" which is a MUST.

The cost of disposable cartridges adds up fast.
Most companies claim they last the same as smoking 10 - 15 real cigs. They don't,  and I don't think it matters which company you get them from on that score, they last about one to two hours.

So having a good supply of e-juice on hand to refill them means you are saving about 85% in cost compared to throwing used cartridges away and attaching new ones.

So, there you have it.

I am now officially an ex smoker and the Realis e-cig is the one to go for if you, like me, are new to vapor smoking.

BTW, I am not being paid for this review nor do I get benefit from referring people to their site.

Forsaken Studios Embers of Caerus - Developer Diary - Dave Belcher

So far we  at Forsaken Studios have been playing our cards close to our chest when it comes to plans, design and game play concepts.

So much so that I haven't dared blog about my ongoing involvement as a texture artist as I have gained an "in house" reputation for revealing too much info here so I stopped!  lol

So anyway, I think it's safe to share this video of Dave Belcher,  the Technical Director and co founder of Forsaken Studios discussing "Siege Warfare" whilst also discussing the plans to go with  "Kickstarter" to raise funding for the development of the prototype we're working on.

And on a "Blow Your Own Trumpet" theme (If you don't blow your own.....and all of that..)  it occurred to me recently that as the only texture artists with Forsaken Studios, I have single handedly textured an entire continent from the ground (terrain) right up to the roof tops...I wish I could provide some kind of visual demonstration of my efforts but I will get tarred and feathered by Lee, my direct manager and Art Director.

Anyway, enough about me...listen to what Dave reveals about our plans and progress for the development of Embers Of Caerus. (EoC)

epuffer.com Colibri Nano e Ciggarette - Review "Size isn't everything"

UPDATE: - 3 Hours after writing this post:

I have just attached a new Coffee flavour Cartomizer to my Colibri Nano e-cigarette and it's wonderful!
I don't have to draw too hard to get a nice throat hit, the vapor on the exhale is thick and white but more importantly, sweet wonderful coffee taste that I can actually taste a little on the tip and no chemical aftertaste AT ALL. 

So I am baffled. If all of the coffee cartridges from e-puffer tasted this good I would be a happy customer but the 3 I tried today (from the same packet) had almost no coffee taste and an awful chemical "petrol" type smell and taste. 


I am just glad I have a huge amount of e-liquid being delivered in the next two days with some new "fill your own" type Cartomizers.....when these e-cigs are good, they're so much more enjoyable than regular real fags... I did not think I would like all of the sweet and fruity options but like most people, I have found I prefer them to the attempt on tobacco flavours thus far

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This was my first re chargeable vapor cigarette
and I picked it purely on the size.

I had tried just two different brand disposables and whilst one of them impressed me with the amount of vapor and throat hit,  it was not cost effective to buy one a day at £6.50.

Also smoking to me is about the hand to mouth actions as I work.
I am used to sitting at the PC with a cigarette in my hand, dropping ash everywhere ...painting a classy picture yet?

So I decided I needed an e-cig that was the same size as a real one so I could continue with the physical actions of smoking.

I got my Colibri Nano starter kit fast.

I was excited.!

It comes with 5 different strength nicotine cartridges ranging from 1.2mg down to 0.0mg.

I also got a 5 pack of both Tobacco and Coffee 0.6mg nicotine strength of cartridges, which you screw on to the end of the actual unit when the old cartridge runs dry, about 4 - 5 hours.

I am not going to bang on about size, weight etc, there's a heap of paid for and non paid for reviews that talk about how classy the packaging is etc, I ain't smoking the packaging!

Bottom line, I am NOT a happy bunny.

The  tobacco flavor is just rank awful. The coffee smells nice but it doesn't taste of coffee...but it "is" better than the default tobacco flavor.

That aside, what is totally not acceptable is the disgusting chemical aftertaste I am getting and which remains with me all day. I can taste it as soon as I exhale and it doesn't fade much until I need another drag. Now and again I would get a really full and fulfilling draw on the coffee type but it was once every 20 puffs, the rest just tasted of chemical.

I think in hindsight I ordered too weak a nicotine strength. I got the 0.6mg because it was described as "light smoker" and whilst I used to smoke 20 a day, they were Silk Cut Silver with 0.1mg nicotine and 1gm Tar so I assumed this strength would suffice.
It doesn't.

If that wasn't bad enough, my tongue and in particular the tip of it is numb or kinda sore or tingly...at some point my whole mouth tasted like cigarette lighter fluid and my tongue was sore but numb in places and it made me NOT want to pick the Colibri Nano up.

But I don't (and won't) pick up the Silk Cut Silver real ciggies I have in the same room.

Instead, I have purchased another starter kit from Liberro UK
http://www.liberro.co.uk/e-cigarette-starter-packs/realis-ultimate-bundle and a heap of e-liquids as this model works on you actually filling the cartridges with e-liquid rather than having pre filled ones that the Colibri does.

I wrote to e-puffer about my negative experience. They offered for me to send the non used stuff back for a refund but that's all I have other than the real ciggies in my drawer.

Once you make a mental decision to stop smoking it's not something you can keep making excuses for,
so I will keep the nano unit, try different e-juice in one of the blank cartridges and hope the Liberro has a better vapor, throat hit, taste and no chemical, tongue numbing after effects.

Skull & Floral Fabric Textures Volume Four

Volume Four 

I am really into creating these fabric textures which feature the current trend of skulls and flowers.

The idea is, that at a glance you don't really notice the skulls and just assume is a very bright and bold pattern.

In this collection, I have included most of color options in colours that can be reversed.

Thumbs 

So if you look at the sample below, you will see that it was made in grey and yellow but then then the second option (in the opposite corner)  "flips"a bit like a negative photograph.

Reduced to 512 Pixels for viewing purposes.

I figured that these would work well together when creating a 2 piece outfit.

It's just a hunch. I have never designed digital fashion in my life.

For licensed use in secondlife.com you can purchase this collection for 500 Linden Dollars from the TRU Textures in world store by clicking this SLurl

They're also available on the SL Marketplace

They will also be made available for licensed use outside of SL (Other grids and virtual worlds) from the TRU Textures website under the Any World License

Finally for use in projects not associated or limited to online virtual worlds, they're available to download from the TRU Textures website under the "Extended License" and contentparadise.com

Many thanks for looking.

Free Seamless Upholstery Fabric Texture

Click  - Save As

It's cute huh?

Well, it's on the house but the house rules are the same.

Do not, under any circumstances redistribute it as a texture file for free or profit.

You can however, use it for commercial design providing the texture is not transferred to your end user "as" a texture.

Seamless on both axis.  1024 x 1024

Enjoy :) 

Skull & Flower Print Fashion Fabric Textures

Click to make large

I am so pleased with these. It's something I have been working up to for a week, experimenting with different vectors and editing them in Adobe Illustrator  and Photoshop.

I have picked bold and bright, retro colours for these seamless fashion fabric textures.

There are two different patterns and 15 textures in each. (30 textures in total)

Sized 1024 x 1024 pixels and they tile on both axis.

For licensed and commercial use in Secondlife.com you can purchase them for 500 Linden Dollars ($2.40) from the TRU Textures virtual store by clicking this SLurl

They are also available from the SL Marketplace
For licensed use in other virtual worlds such as IMVU.com, Utherverse.com, Avination.com, There.com etc, you can purchase them under the "Any World License from the TRU Textures website (Under the Fabric category)

They are also available under an Extended License (Projects not associated with virtual worlds such as game development or 3D art) from the TRU Textures website and contentparadise.com and also, as single textures from isourcetextures.com 

Here are some scaled down samples:

Click to view

Click to View