In Praise of “Painterly” Avatars – Stylization & Personality Over Ultra-Realism

A recent /SecondLife post sent me down the rabbit hole in search of "painterly avatars":

I'm not super into the Extremely Realistic Human Skin style that dominates the [Second Life] market. Don't get me wrong — this style requires a great deal of skill to execute, and I do think the skins are beautiful, but it's just not "Me"… I'm wondering if anyone knows of any human skin makers who have a more "painterly" or heavily-stylized style? I like styles that are somewhat dramatic, mature, and less-than-pristine — think the art style from Dishonored or Bloodborne. – u/Vuhlkansu

Not sure I've seen the term "painterly avatars" in common currency, but it captures a real category worth highlighting. Thanks to excessively detailed mesh bodies, most Second Life avatars tend to creep way too far into ultra-realistic territory for my taste, and paradoxically, feels less believable. (It's like trying to get emotionally engaged by a high-end fashion model in a Vogue or GQ spread.) Whereas painterly avatar stylization evokes more uniqueness, personality, and the implications of a backstory.

Here's some favorites suggested by SL Redditors, these first two here from an SLer with the intriguing avatar name Father Daddy.