As the owner of a gallery and an artist in Second Life, I am often asked how can one get started in the Second Life art scene. The answer to that question is no easy task, as it is a combination of being ready to show and finding opportunities.

This is the start of a new three part series and I hope all of you budding artists out there find this series useful.

The first thing to do in order to get started in the Second Life art scene is to start preparing your work to be shown in galleries. You may already have a ton of photos on Flickr or some other hosting site. Review all your images, simply do not select a few photos here and there. It is helpful to have another set of eyes to also view your work.

The point at this stage is to build a collection that is ready to be shown and a collection that will be memorable to the Second Life public who will view your work.

While you may think quantity is the key to showing and choose a ton of images, I have to say rethink this train of thought. Most people may look at an exhibit for a few minutes or even seconds if you are lucky. You would want to choose a few strong pieces for your first showing. Keep in mind also that most galleries in Second Life are also showing other artists and space may be minimum. Try to select 5 to 7 strong pieces. Your goal is to have people remember your artwork and for you to stand out among others.

After you have chosen your pieces, look to make sure they are cleaned up. By this I mean to look to see if any object is chopped off or if there are spots that need touching up. If they are of Second Life places, look at the years. Mesh is almost everywhere in Second Life and you may have taken images during a time when prims dominated the Second Life landscape. Many places look really great “meshed” out.

If you have chosen images of other avatars, consult their permission before you decide to add images of these people in your show.

For our next part in this series, I will discuss how to find galleries to show in.