Advice for Skin Designers

[Mayalily]

I didn't know where to put this topic, so I'm placing it here for now.  We need an area about skin and shape, imo.

Okay, if you click on my name here Mayalily, then click on the photo to the right, it will enlarge the photo (don't know how to directly add photo to a thread yet).

Anyhow, I want you to notice the eyebrow.  The eyebrow arches on a human being at the outer pupil line.  If you look at the photo I am asking you to look at, the eyebrow arch is way past the outer pupil line.

Is there a way I can arch the eyebrows correctly?

My main reason for writing this is that the eyebrow does arch at the outer pupil line, not way over the pupil line.  Helpful hint for skin designers?  I hope so. 

ETA:  Just look at my goofy red avatar on this page and notice the browline and it's arch; that's closer to what a human eyebrow looks than what's on my skin I purchased. 

[Jacki Silverfall]

I think a good place for this topic would be under Avatar. :matte-motes-smitten:

You can try going into appearance and seeing if you can fix your brows the way you like.

btw. I think they look great! You have a very nice Avatar. But remember, it is a avatar and not fit to human standards. If tats the right word.

 

[Mayalily]

My thinking to put it hear was I'm not so sure designers have time to read the Avatar area or if they even want too.  We do need a skin and shape area, but that's jmo. 

Thanks for the compliment on my avatar, needs work still. 

Yes I guess we do look a little goofy because we are not human, but more like a cartoon drawing or something.

Anyhow, I'd like better eyebrows and will try to see if I can fix them somehow. 

If anyone has a light colored skin with nice color lipstick choices (no black, no orange, no purple, etc., but good tried and true lipstick colors are for me) and a better eyebrow shape, let me know and I'll have a look. 

ETA:  Also a makeup color guide would be helpful, such as No.12 shows light rose gloss lipstick.  I don't like working with my skin because I can't remember all the makeup colors just by numbers.  A color chart for the makeup especially lipstick would be very helpful.

[Venus Petrov]

There are a number of makeup designers who have created skin makeups as tattoo layers. Do a search and try some of those.

[bee Baroque]

the appearance of the eyebrow is a combination of skin and eyebrow shaper (also known as bald base/bald cap/system hair), so you may run into limitations with your current skin.

even though the skin makers do follow an avatar uv template when making a skin, there will still be (at times big) variations of the placement, thickness, shape and angle of the brow, depending on how the skin makers made them. so, skins from, let's say five different skin makers could look very different if worn together with the same eyebrow shaper.

my advise would be to try on lots and lots of skin demos and different eyebrow shapers (perhaps even make your own) and eventually you will find a combination you are happy with. or settle for... all considering sl's limitations

[Dresden Ceriano]

That may not have as much to do with the way the skin's created as it does with the way the eyebrow settings in SL work. If you have a modifiable hair base on you can play with the settings of your eyebrows, if not make one and put it on.

Right click your avatar and select "Edit Outfit", click on "Body Parts" then click the edit button on your hair icon. Go to eyebrows and play with the last three settings (the first two won't do anything unless you're wearing system skin which you're obviously not). Remember to save copies as you go.

Good luck... Dres

[Mayalily]

Yes I like those; some are great.  In my photo I am pointing to that I downloaded here has a tattoo layer of eyeshadow.  I love that eye shadow, I think it's pretty and I wear that eyeshadow color a lot in RL. 

I haven't seen a tattoo layer for eyebrows.  I wonder if anyone has one?  I also noticed the nice eyebrows Bee has in her avatar photo here; it has nice brushed type eyebrows. 

[Marianne Little]

Hi Mayalily, I am not a skin designer but I would like to comment, if that's ok for you?

I have a lot of skins. As I see it, skin designers strive to give the skins their personal style, that set them out a bit between other skin makers. One way to do this, is to exaggerate features like arched eyebrows. Just like in RL, eyebrows can come in many different forms from flat to high arched, and it is possible to let the arch begin past the outer pupil line. If you read this tutorial, I would say that the eyebrows you show look closer to Angelina Jolie, the line #2 goes on the outer side of the iris, not the pupil. http://www.glamouredited.com/howtos/how_to_shape_your_eyebrow_arch.html

This is why all should try on demos first. If a skin maker does something you don't like, you just try another skin. I am sure there is a market for those eyebrows you showed in your picture, just like some will dislike them and prefer an arch that begin just over the outer pupil. You really can't blame the skin designer, if you have buyers remorse. They picked a style they found attractive, it's up to the customers if they like it. I would like designers to continue creating skins that's different.

You can try to edit your eyebrows. You need to wear a bald base or an eyebrow shaper that is modifiable. You can try to play with height, arc and points.  I think it is possible to tweak them a bit, but you will not be able to change the way the eyebrows is drawn on the skin. You go to Edit appearance, edit outfit, edit body parts, and then find the eyebrows. It is a "head" symbol if you use viewer2. Ignore color and style, and go to eyebrows.

Edit: I see that many others mention editing eyebrows. I was interrupted several times when I was writing this reply, no one replied when I started on it.

[Mayalily]

Oh I welcome all input. 

Yes, by using your guide and then using my mouse to kind of draw that 2nd line, it's just a little bit off.  For some reason they seemed way off to me.

Also, if you look in the first photo, it shows the eyebrow arching by the outer iris (the one in sort of profile of Angelina).   Also, the eye to the left on Angelia looks better than the one of the right; they look different to me. 

ETA:  And yes I'm going to look into editing of eyebrow. 

Sorry I meant iris, not pupil.  Sorry. 

ETA:  Marianne, your eyebrows look good!

[Marianne Little]

Aw, I change skins so often, the last ones I bought has some more natural eyebrows... Bushy ones!

LAQ skins sell eyebrows... but they only match LAQ skins, I have tried them with other skins and it just looks weird, I can't find a skintone that match 100%. Because these eyebrows replace the whole forehead, so the forehead skin tone is "off".

Other eyebrows that's sold, is meant to be worn over skins with no brows. Some sell skins without brows, and you can buy different colors and styles in brows. It's not so many that offer this. If you try to wear these eyebrows over a skin with painted on eyebrows, it will look like they are stacked on top of each other.

[Alaska Metropolitan]

*Shameless plug* I've got some eyebrow tattoo layers at my Marketplace store - because so many people had the double-eyebrow issue that Marianne mentions, I've got a sort of blank tintable mask thing you can try with it to help out. It DOES require fiddling, but the helper layer is free. Or you can find some brow-less skins out there, they do exist. I make those too!

https://marketplace.secondlife.com/products/search?search[category_id]=&search[maturity_level]=GMA&search[keywords]=alaskametro+brows