You may know about my obsession with gaming—in particular, creating stuff in Sims 3. I’ve been having fun developing some Sim artists and my intention is to ‘virtually’ collaborate with them.
Deidhre Artist in Isla Paradiso
Deidhre Artist (that’s her name) is one of the artists I have been working with. She lives in the neighbourhood of Isla Paradiso, on a houseboat. After some reading about the way Sims paint, I wanted to see what a Sim would paint if she was given some traits that made her similar to me. She’s a bit of a swat, but she also pretends to be a rebel. She likes the same colours, music and food that I like, and her life aspirations are to become a renowned artist and/or musician (dancing in Sims 3 is relegated to social activity). She has been to university and has completed a degree in Fine Arts.
The screenshot above shows one of her self portraits, completed when she was living on campus at university. She’s also done a couple of interesting beetle and clock paintings and several abstracts featuring coloured squares. You can see she’s been tagging and painting murals on the floor (during her rebellious phase).
Cogito ergo sum
There are times when she seems to think. I’m waiting until she reaches top levels in painting skill and painting career, and then I might let her have some freedom to do what she wants, then watch to see if she develops further without my help. I’ve also given her a trait of ‘photographer’s eye’ but she still needs to develop photographic experience—best if I send her travelling for a while to do that.
I tried to make her look a bit like me. There’s not a lot of scope for physical detailing in Sims 3. I’m looking forward to Sims 4 where you ‘have the freedom to sculpt Sims with tactile precision’.
Here’s a few more screenshots. I’m (She’s) still trying to master the self portrait and will post some more shots when I (she) get(s) it right.
An artist's practice 