Think Creatively

I've been keeping my eyes open as to see how I can best utilize this art degree I've got behind me.  It's actually coming in handy much more than one might think...Besides developing posters and registration forms:

2 pictures taken from Google images (Which I really don't like doing) put together
with some filters and such

The image game from shutterstock, but a Lot of editing went
into making it personal and into making it better

Once again, quite a bit of editing went into
this to make it look right

The back of the form--the bottom section
is cut off

Though those are great fun to make and all, I still feel like there's something more on the horizon.  I've found that the greatest gift I have been given was to be able to think creatively.  I honestly thought after my graduation that I'd missed that train and never really was taught to think outside of the box.  The more I get into the "real world" though...I'm realizing just how much I actually did manage to pick up.  To be able to improvise means a great deal.

I also never knew how studying as an artist for four years would affect the way in which I perceive...well, reality.  When I pray or talk about God, I'm naturally drawn to stories of creation and imagery of which I feel best conveys my thoughts or ideas.  I use words like "saturated" and talk of "strokes" of love and visualize lessons and teachings as opposed to seeing them written in black and white.  Where is this all headed?  Who knows, but I couldn't be more thankful right now to be outside the box.  Everyone says it's lonelier...and they're right, it is...but the view is much better.

Nostalgia

So, I got nostalgic last night.  I've been to Africa twice in the past year and a half, but man I miss it.  I used to travel so frequently--settling down for grad school and with a job, even though I like them both, is difficult because I can't take the time away that I would like to for mission work.  It is through mission work, after all, that I've been led down this path I'm going.  In that nostalgia, thinking of my experiences abroad, I unearthed some footage of a few of the worship services we attended and decided to put them to a video.  The video is really meant to act as an article in a journal would; it doesn't tell the whole story, but does just enough to jog my memory.

Anywho, enough chatter.  Here's the vid:

Africa 2011-2012 from Joshua Gale on Vimeo.

The Change-up

As aforementioned in a previous post, I'm starting a new blog.
Go to it to see why and maybe suscribe?

Http://www.joshuagale.blogspot.com/

A little more web design--A rollover tile mosaic

So, for those of you who actually occasionally read my blog, you're aware that I've been working on a website:

http://www.totheleast.com/

I'm actually pretty proud of it.  It's mine through and through from the very beginning.  I haven't used any templates and it's Mostly all HTML--therefore it can be viewed on iDevices.  I don't normally blog about process anymore, but I have a little bit of time on my hands to do so, so here it is.

The problem: I forgot to add a tab on the menu: Inspirations.  Normally not so much a problem...just go in, add it, and wah lah, a new page!  Well, considering I created most of the website using Photoshop, I made my own template from there to work off of, I had to edit the template...and lots of other little things that I won't bore you with.  (The solution!)

The tricky (fun) part came after I created the page.  The problem is that on the previous website of his, the Inspirations page was just a list of random links...which worked fine there because that site was basically just a draft, but this one needed to be a little more up to date.  How could I display links in a way that worked well with the flow of the site but also easily navigated (not using flash)?  I wasn't sure so I took Cedric (my dog) on a short walk and began the brainstorming process.  I finished with the idea that I wanted to do a mosaic of images...but I wanted to overlay an image over all of them that joined together saying the words "Be inspired."  To get an image of what I mean, go ahead and take a gander at the finished product at:

http://www.totheleast.com./inspirations.html

I did the math and decided that I wanted it to be a 4 row, 3 column table and then divided it according to the appropriate dimensions.  You can see here that I added lots of layers on the same small canvas:

This way I was 100% sure that every tile of the mosaic was the same size.  When on the website, each tile takes you either to a different website or asks if you'd like to download a PDF.  So the Stitches of Love that you see here is all in one neat little folder.  If you click it, on the website, it will take you to an article about a group of old church ladies stitching together clothes for needy children.

After this, I created a document with a width of x and height of y.  x=the tile's width * 3 and y=the tile's height * 4.  That way I had a 3x4 grid that I knew was the right size.  (I knew in the beginning that the width of the table could only be 670 px wide, so in the very beginning I decided to divide that by 3 to figure out the width of each "cell" in the table[grid]). 

I wanted this to be what laid over everything (minus the blue lines (slices), those came later):

Note the groups again, they make things much cleaner.

After designing that and deciding I like it, I hid that layer and put all the pieces of the mosaic together and formed this:

And then proceeding to chop each one into slices.  I didn't try to slice manually, though.  If you look closely at the time I have a "Fixed Size" slice.  The dimensions were the same size as each of the little tiles/cells: 222x187 px.  Here I saved each image for web and devices, then I turned on the Layover group again (the one with the "Be Inspired." design) and pulled down the opacity then saved all the tiles as for web and devices again.  That way I had 24 individual files: each slice saved 2 ways, 1 with the layover on top of it and one without.

In dreamweaver I created a table with the right number of cells and dimensions then just added each image in the table as a rollover image and linked each photo to the correct file/destination.
DONE!

So there ya have it, creating a mosaic of tiles utilizing Photoshop.  Woop.

If you haven't seen the finished product yet, click HERE.

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Also I finally framed (horribly) this painting I bought in Ghana--I'm going to redo it...something went way wrong.  I'll tell you the story about the painting on my next post.

Cubism made its way to Winneba, Ghana!

Ketchup

Is gross.

For those who didn't know, I'm working at a church in Chamblee (see the poster below) as a youth pastor.  It all looks a lot different from home up here...

I took my break from creating much art for a while there; for lots of reasons (moving, adjusting to a new area, getting things straight with the new job, figuring out how to take care of my dog...). I just finished a project and I must say it feels good to break out photoshop again--to actually create it for a specific purpose, one that I don't have to explain to the class "Why I chose this subject matter."  It's simple, practical, and straightforward--I needed to advertise an event.

With stars?

Or without...?

What I'm most satisfied about is everything, except the film strip in the background, was all created and designed by me!  See, pops?  I did learn Something in school other than how to stay up all night...

It's not finished, obviously; hence the "Beginning August X," and I'm sure it will get changed around a good bit more, but this is how it is now.  The biggest thing that I'm regretting is the size I've made the paper...it's 8.5 x 11 now, but I have a feeling I'm going to change those dimensions to make it more poster-y.  I guess it's good to have one this size too, though.  That will be work for another day...  In the Bible study, we'll be watching films and TV shows to base the study on--not really a New concept, necessarily, but it will be new to the youth.  When is the last time you based a Bible study off We Were Soldiers or Phineas and Ferb?

I did kick out a quick design for an 8x5 magnet that displays our summer schedule about 2 weeks ago, so I'd be lying if I said that the above image is the First time in awhile I've broken out photoshop, but it's a fun little design that didn't require as much work:



Success?  Sure all the design elements may not be the most perfect ever, but the parents who received these magnets were Ecstatic, so yes.  I consider it to be a great success.

Alright...that's it for now.  I have to go pickup Cedric from daycare (not really, it's just someone else's yard).  The main thing is FEAR NOT, everyone, I'm discovering I've still got lots of creative outlets to explore!

Wilkinson County Newspaper!

A letter to my school teachers

I apologize for my occasional classroom disruptions, for leaving stray fragments of paper around my desks, and for eating Poptarts when I was supposed to be taking notes, but I am slightly older now, maybe a little wiser, and have a short story I would like to share with you:

At the time of this writing I am sitting on the porch of a mission house in Ghana, Africa listening to the drummers in the distance and am trying to remember the last time I had running water and electricity both at the same time—it takes but a moment to realize that was about 20 days ago (when I stepped off American soil).  It is here, in Winneba, Ghana that I understand what those “bare necessities” are that I once sung about, and here that I am reminded of the beauty of a simple gesture.

“Obone” is the title the Ghanaians have graciously given to anyone with light skin—meaning “white man” or “red skin” (it’s blazing hot here!)  Everyday, as I walk out of my room on the top floor of the building where I am living, I am heralded with the screaming of maybe 10 dancing and waving children who are shouting, “Obone!  Obone!”  Normally I smile and wave back, but the favorite is always when I make a paper airplane (yes, that really cool one I learned how to make while sitting in the back of your class) and send it soaring the thirty feet down towards them where it finally lands close enough for them to get it and play.  You would think it was Christmas the way they look up at me and smile.

Yesterday, I took a moment out of my day to walk over to the mothers of the children with a pad of paper.  I was pleasantly welcomed but could tell from their expressions that this was no ordinary occurrence.  They fetched a stool for me and asked me to sit, so I did.  I ripped out a sheet of paper and flipped the pad on its back to use it as a small tabletop.  What started with a circle of 5 or so around me ended up being a small crowd of more than I could count, but I continued to sit there quietly folding my origami creation in front of them.  While jokes were passed back and forth, they sat patiently waiting to see what in the world I was doing.  I unfolded a paper crane and handed it to one woman’s tiny child and they all burst into applause, amazed that a sheet of paper could be turned into an animal.  I smiled back at them and walked home knowing that I had just made at least 20 new friends, with not a single word being spoken.

Having graduated with a 4 year college degree, I realize the importance of knowing how to write a grammatically correct sentence, but, having had the opportunity to experience a world beyond my own means, I am aware now more than ever that supported academic materials without application are simply that, words on a pages.  Like that page I once sat in your classroom, with all potential of being shaped into and used for something.   Some of us get squished into paper balls like those I should not have hurled across your classroom, and while all are uniquely shaped, some standout and become something truly amazing, like a paper crane, and want to fly, like those airplanes did.

So I want to thank you for every time you turned your back to the class or walked down the hall for a short, unexpected appointment, for it is in those moments as well that I sat, being taught by a friend how to make an airplane that would impact the world around me far differently than could be done in any classroom.  So the next time you pick up a paper frog off the floor, before you crunch someone’s creative spirit by putting them in detention, remember this:  we are all called and unique in purpose, it sometimes may just take creativity in your approach to encourage us to fulfill it.

Sincerely, 
Joshua Gale

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A couple more (unedited) photos for the non-readers to look at...

Awesome kids.

This about sums it up, haha.