Literature from Plato - PowerPoint Backgrounds

Recently, I had to create a PowerPoint for my literature class. Our topic was literature from Plato. You can scroll down to the end of the post to see the backgrounds for the PowerPoints. These two images were composed of several different images edited to fit my purpose. Working with greens is always refreshing to me.

We had to analyze the Symposium by Plato. The Symposium is an interesting story. According to the story, Plato did not actually attend the party the story references. The story matches it's name's Greek meaning because it was a famous drinking party between distinguished Athenian men. The men decided in the Symposium, to give speeches praising Eros, love, instead of drinking more that night. Each character had their own pagan opinion on love. Overall, it is quite an interesting story and encourage mature readers to take a peak at it if they have not. 

In class, my professor contrasted their opinion's on Eros type of love to the more modern, "Ladder of Love".  He stated that the ladder begins with Eros, physical desire. Eros is the most shallow form of love because it is not based on anything but fleshly desire. Next is the love of friendship. Some might call this love the love of companionship as well. Less shallow than Eros because the two have begun to care for each other but it is not completely selfless. Family love is the next level in the love ladder. The love shared within a family is deeper than either Eros or the love of friendship. Blood is thicker than water, after all. The last love on the love ladder is Agape love. Of course, this is another Greek word and not a wrong use of the word agape. Naturally, God is completely unselfish. He gives everything to those he loves. Even to the point of giving His own/His Son's life for mankind. As we grow throughout our life, we work up the love ladder and strive to be more and more loving like God. 

Hearing so many different opinions on love was interesting. Each member of the class was able to give their input and share their opinions. Some people's views matched the Greek versions of love, others agreed with the Ladder of Love, and a few had different opinions. Each person was able to express their view on society's look on love as well, which was interesting because the consensus was that our society has become much like Athens. Overall, this was one of my favorite class sessions this semester.

And, yes, Platonic love was mentioned. Ironic. 

Free Phone Background - Love in the Air

Lately, I have been experimenting with creating clouds in Photoshop and here is the product! It is a vertical phone background and it will work for iPhones. Today, I am going to share how I made this background. Although I usually just post the backgrounds for everyone to share, today I feel like writing a more lengthy post.

To create the appropriate blue hue for the sky, I started with a light blue and a slightly darker blue. Not too different because the difference would have been obvious. The background is a gradient of the two different blues. I wanted it to be the same hue of a Texas sunny day.

For the clouds, while they appear white, they are actually a lighter version of the sky blue. It is close to white but not quite. All clouds are pretty unique so I tried to make each cloud as unique as I could. Except for the cloud hearts above the, "I"s in the words, "is" and, "air" because I wanted those to match.

Lastly, I added the words on top of the picture. This time, they started out white. To get the cloudy color on the words, I faded the words until they looked as desired. Placing the words was a bit more challenging because it was difficult to read the words when they were placed on top of the clouds. I also wanted to keep in mind the iPhone tool bar at the bottom of the screen. If placed too low, the words cannot be read. To finish the picture, I added my logo and faded it a bit to ensure it doesn't distract from the whole picture.

The inspiration from this picture actually comes from all the engagements, weddings, and babies that have been happening in the lives of my friends and family. (Well, no babies in my family... yet.) Seeing all my friends and family grow up, move out, and start families of their own has made me think that there must be something in the air.

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1 Corinthians 13:4-7 "4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance."

Art and Resolutions for 2013

Happy New Year everyone! I hope everyone has had a wonderful break! I wanted to share with all of you just a few goals of mine for the New Year. If you'd like, you can share your New Year's Resolutions by commenting. 

Some of my goals for this year:

• Go at least a month without a soda. (1 day down and 30 more to go!)
• Do more art and graphic design and share it here!
• Keep my good grades up.
• Spend more time reading my Bible.

To close this blog post, here is a Bible verse to meditate on: Psalms 37:4 - "Delight yourself also in the LORD: and he shall give you the desires of your heart."

I just want to live, laugh, love, and learn more this year like the poster says. May you receive the desires of your heart in 2013! God bless all of you this year!

First Phone Background - Jesus Loves You

Today, I have felt really inspired to do art and graphic design. So, I decided to work on some projects I promised my readers.

Without further adieu, here is my first ever iPhone background! Feel free to download it and share it! All I ask is that you do not claim my artwork as your own.

Remember Jesus loves you!

P.S. - If your friends like the art, please send them here for more!