Creativity...A Daily Exercise

I was feeling like I had done little work this week when I went to look at my Daily Create blog posts.  There were none!  Fortunately, I had participated, I just did not take the time to write up the process (I confess that I don't have a complex process yet for what I am doing).  I will just share what I succeeded at -- and where I failed.  Failure is good.  It is part of the learning process.  I was thrilled when I went to review the Weekly Assignment Checklist to discover that it was suggested to combine the Daily Creates for the week into a single post.  So here it goes...

Take a photo that represents the TDC idea of regular exercises of creativity

This is probably where I got stuck at the beginning of the week.  I wanted to use a rotating 3-D Text animated GIF to use in another daily create.  I was able to create the GIF.  I just did not manage to insert the animated GIF onto the static image.  Despite assistance from Rochelle Lockridge and Christina Hendricks, I did not have the time to stick with it so I let it go.  I ended up using a portion of the GIF for this image.  I never did the Daily Create for this day, but it went perfectly with the title of my blog.  Next time.  

Baby panda bears are happening everywhere! Write a birth announcement for one.

What's in a Name?

需要八個字符的熊貓寶寶名稱

熊貓寶寶出生於2013年8月24日5:32

母親美香和父親是個謎

請幫助我們一起慶祝！

Since I couldn't come up with a pithy little statement that hadn't been done by fellow DS106ers, I decided to use Google Translate for the announcement.  I thought it might be fun for the Zoo to have a contest to name the Panda Cub, because I am fascinated with the importance the Chinese place on the naming of babies (pandas included).

Another custom is to find the newborn baby's Eight Characters (in four pairs, indicating the year, month, day and hour of a person's birth, each pair consisting of one Heavenly Stem and one Earthly Branch, formerly used in fortune-telling) and the element in the Eight Characters. It is traditionally believed in China that the world is made up of five principal elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. A person's name is to include an element that he lacks in his Eight Characters.

Take a photo that represents the idea of clarity

I can see Clearly now...

This is the image that I took that I wanted to have DS106 4Life in a 3D animated rotating GIF. I thought that somehow I could use the screensaver on my computer to capture the image, but that failed.  I did however,  find a 3D Text generator. I also wanted to lift the glass and have it float on a different background, but all the techniques that I tried were hampered by the lack of definition of the color of the glass and the background. I tried many different manipulations and eventually called 'Uncle.'  When I looked at the original image, I actually thought it was quite cool and decided that it was a worthwhile submission. And the bonus is that I have a DS106 4LIFE screensaver.  Apparently, I am hooked.

We predict the next book by @anya1anya is about #ds106. Design her some cover art.

I had this idea at the beginning of the course, and thought that this Daily Create was perfect for it. Unfortunately, I didn't get the entire gist of the exercise and have the image and title, not the whole book cover.  I try not to look at the Daily Create gallery until I have started on my idea so that I am not influenced by others.  In this case, when I saw the other images, I realized that I had totally missed the boat.  I did read with interest +Alan Levine's detailed blog on the creation of his image.  The process and the final image is what DS106 is all about.  

Create an interesting high contrast black and white image of an easily overlooked object.

A Dying Breed

This is the cover of the Maui Wrap which is delivered free to our mailbox.  It is the only print newspaper that I read anymore.  Hence the title:  A Dying Breed.  When I posted to Flickr, I got a comment on the article itself by someone who thought I was referring to the Outrigger Canoes.  I appreciated the opportunity to have the conversation.  This is another attempt at attempting to insert an animated GIF into a static image (newspaper boy in upper left corner over mailing label).  Again, unsuccessful, but with experimentation, I was able to get a negative image which reminded my of the original type presses.  

In looking back over the week, I had actually contributed to 5 of 7 Daily Creates.  While I was unsuccessful in executing many of my original ideas, I learned a great deal.  I also realized the importance of mastering the animated GIF, as well as other basic PhotoShop (or GIMP) manipulation techniques.  I appreciate the time that seasoned DS106ers take to document the process for newbies such as myself.  I appreciate the opportunity to be in such a creative community.  Indeed, I am in DS106 4LIFE.