Panda Dog (Brain Bank 6/30)

I stumbled upon this photograph in an article about a zoo in China that has dogs dyed to look like different animals. This image is of two Chow Chow dogs that are dyed to look like pandas. How absurd! When I saw this image I couldn't help but laugh. It made me imagine the absurdity of having a pet that looks like an exotic animal, but in reality is a dog.

Kite (Brain Bank 6/29)

This is a photograph that my girlfriend showed me, it was taken by a friend of her's. This is a photograph of a kite against a cloudy sky. What intrigues me about this photograph is how small and insignificant the kite looks against the huge sky, and yet without the small kite in this photograph, it would be a completely different image all together. I also love the clouds themselves. They create a great pattern that has many really interesting designs.

Face Your Fears

Fears of creativity:

1. Timidity / fear of speaking openly in public about anything
2. Fear that others will not like what I create.
3. Fear that what I do create is not good.
4. Fear of failing a project or not being capable of completing it.
5. Fear of embarrassment or ridicule.

Why the fears of the last post are unfounded:

1. It's okay to put myself out there, people do not judge others as harshly as I judge myself.
   
2. I'm creative so as long as I like what I create and I can be proud of it, that is okay.
   
3. It will be good as long as I believe in it.
   
4. I will only fail a project if I allow myself to fail
   
5. I don't care what others think, it is not worth being embarrassed over.
   

Fears

The 5 biggest things keeping me from being as creative as I'd like to be:

1. Timidity / fear of speaking openly in public about anything.
2. Fear that others will not like what I create.
3. Fear that what I do create is not good.
4. Fear of failing a project or not being capable of completing it.
5. Fear of embarrassment or ridicule.
   

10 Things Kids Do Better Than Adults

Here are 10 things that children can do better than adults:

1. Fit in smaller spaces.
2. Tell stories.
3. Dream.
4. Hope.
5. Get out of trouble.
6. Walk through small doors.
7. Wear wacky outfits
8. Eat.
9. Be optimistic.
10. Get motivated after a failure.
    

Creepy B&W Pics (Brain Bank 6/28)

I read an article today that showed some very creepy looking black and white photographs. This is one photograph in particular that I found inspiring from that article. It shows an abandoned fishing outpost over a cloudy and foggy lake. What I love about this photo is the emotions that it invokes in the viewer. This one image can invoke such strong feelings of eeriness and creepiness. It is a very powerful image. It seems to me that this image could be a still from a suspenseful and scary film. It gives that feeling that it is an image that could be a part of a longer story. It seems still and yet it gives the impression that something big could happen at a sudden instant.

Problems

Ten Goals:

1. Gaming project for DIGM 265.
2. Gaming project for DIGM 345.
3. Group project for Social Psychology this semester.
4. Winning the championship with my hockey team.
5. Write/Illustrate a graphic novel.
6. Make a painting of my aunt's labradors for her.
7. Create children's book for my nephew and niece.
8. Create my hockey team's website.
9. Write a novel.
10. Build my custom art desk.
    

Socotra (Brain Bank 6/27)

What inspired me today was an article in Time about an island off the cost of Yemen in the Indian Ocean that is covered in alien looking unique vegetation and animals. This island is called Socotra. This image to the left was my favorite photograph from that article. I am always inspired when reading or hearing about secluded spots on earth with unique plant and animal life. This tree is amazing to me for a few reasons. It seems like it is from another world. The bark and branches have an odd orange tint to them that makes it seem weird and amazing to me. The shape of the foliage is also very unique, it seems like it would be at home as a sculpted shrub.

Chapter 6: Slice and Dice

My challenge is to come up with an improved hockey stick. Here are the current attributes of the average composite hockey stick:

1. Made of a composite material (graphite, metals, Kevlar, etc.)

2. Shaft

3. Blade

4. Long

5. Slender

6. Lightweight

7. Expensive

8. Flexible

9. Two hands

10. Hollow

Here are my analyses of each attribute:

1. Find lighter and more durable materials that can still maintain a good amount of flexibility out of which to make new hockey sticks.

2. Make shaft slightly slimmer or thicker to make the stick more durable or flexible.

3. Make blade more easily manipulated to be shaped to the player’s specifications.

4. The length of the stick can’t really be affected because the length is usually determined by the player’s height or position.

5. I touched upon this topic in #3. A change in the thickness of the stick could improve it’s design

6. Possibly make the stick lighter or heavier; I personally prefer a heavier stick, but many players prefer a stick that is extremely light as a feather.

7. Design the new stick out of materials that could possibly reduce prices for the consumer.

8. Increase flexibility for sticks of certain players who would benefit from taking heavier shots, or reducing sticks for certain players who need a stiffer stick.

9. Change the stick’s attributes at different parts of the shaft depending on which hand will be at each part to maximize the potential of the stick.

10. Keep the stick hollow, but change the thickness of the layer of material to maximize the stick’s potential.

Tonight, I worked on this thinkertoy exercise in my living room chair at about 10:30 PM. My source of light was a 100 watt lamp a few feet to my left. I had my television on and watching the show Leverage on TNT and I can hear the hum of the air conditioner a few feet to my right. Also in the room are my girlfriend and my older brother. I worked on this exercise from the Thinkertoys Google-book and typed it into Microsoft Word before copying and pasting back into blogger.com. It was pretty easy to keep my focus on this project while taking frequent breaks to watch television.

Smoke Art (Brain Bank 6/25)

Similar to yesterday's brain bank post, I discovered this image today while surfing through a gallery of a specific art niche. I discovered this image while looking through a gallery on the site oddee.com about amazing smoke images. This image really amazed me for several reasons. The way smoke floats and dissipates into the air always creates the most amazing swirls and designs. This image is no exception. It immediately reminds me of the old Japanese printwork of the large tidal wave. Another thing that really strikes me about this image is the color. The contrast of the white smoke on the total black background makes this image even more amazing. I also love the black and white aspect with almost no grays. It's such an amazing popping image.

Light Graffiti (Brain Bank 6/25)

I came across this image on the Web Urbanist. This was from a specific gallery that showcases a newer trend called light graffiti. Most examples of light graffiti are created for the purpose of photographing and then are disassembled. This particular image I found extremely creative and inspiring. My favorite part of this image is the time of day at which the photo was taken. The color of the sky works as a perfect backdrop to the light blue color of the light graffiti. I also am really inspired by the way this particular piece of work reflects off the water's surface. And the shape itself is also particularly inspiring. It seems to be like a large light-spider with glowing starburst eyes.

Green Sea Turtle (Brain Bank 6/24)

This is an image that I saw on the National Geographic web site. Images from this site are often very inspiring. The most remarkable thing about this photograph to me is the perspective. This low point of view image of this sea turtle and his surroundings seems to be a story told from the turtle's point of view. The colors are another thing that really catches my eye about this photograph.

Beach Sand (Brain Bank 6/23)

Today, I spent the day at the beach in Wildwood, New Jersey with my girlfriend. The entire day, from the drive on the Atlantic City Expressway to the time spent on the beach and boardwalk, I kept a keen eye out to find anything inspiring. Sadly, I believe I was looking too hard because nothing much jumped out at me. However, one thing that did make me stop and admire it was something that I didn't expect.
I found that when standing at the edge of the beach near the water where there is just about a half inch of water covering the sand, you see the most interesting shapes and designs in the sand under that thin layer of water. The best of these shapes and designs appeared in the early afternoon while the sun was high above the beach. It is mesmerizing to just stare as the water flows back and forth and these shapes and designs change and morph into anything your imagination can create.

Clouds (Brain Bank 6/22)

Earlier tonight as I was driving home from my hockey game, I saw a very inspiring cloud in the sky. It had rained about an hour and a half earlier then the sun had come back out so the air was still very heavy and muggy and huge clouds were still in the sky. There was a particular cloud over the horizon directly in the direction I was driving that seemed monumental. It seemed as if it were sculpted from a block of marble. It was pure white, but it had highlights of deep deep red along the upper portions of the cloud from the sun. This cloud was in the distance and I believe a storm was still going on there because the bottom of the cloud had an occasional flash from lightning strikes. These lightning strikes all flashed the same deep red color on the bottom of the cloud so at times the cloud seemed to be all red with light white highlights.

My Ultimate Desk

My ultimate desk would be made of a durable solid black composite material. the surface area would be very large as I tend to use multiple books, sheets of paper, media, materials, etc. There should also be a very high amount of storage capability included because if I cannot be completely organized, I tend to be completely messy and unorganized; there is no middle ground for me. My desk would also come completely equipped with a dual monitor computer system as I tend to get very cluttered on my computer space just as I do on my physical desk space. A relatively quiet environment with access to a radio and/or my iTunes library is a must as I tend to work to music, however access to a television would also be necessary because I like to work while I watch TV from time to time. It is important to also include strong lighting and be adjacent to a window so I can work by sunlight during the day and still have strong lighting during the night; there is no specific time of day that I set aside to work, although I generally get most of my work done at night.

Why Am I Here?

Whenever I sit down to come up with anything creative, I find that it is hard to force myself into creating anything. I am hoping this class will teach me ways to harness that creative power without it feeling forced. I am also hoping to develop habits of capturing moments of creativity that occur during everyday life, not only during the moments that I need them to happen. Hopefully by the end of this Term, I will have a methodology to my creative process and bring more efficiency and quality to the work that I produce.