Create Something Every Day (#daily365)– 5/16-18

The best laid plans…

Here are my pieces corresponding to May 16, 17 and 18. Following theAlphabet series, I present you the letters “L”, “M”, and “N”…

©2010 rafael armstrong

©2010 rafael armstrong

©2010 rafael armstrong

Create Something Every Day (#daily365)– for April 30

Wow. I was aware I had dropped the ball there for a while, but didn’t realize it had been almost 2 whole months.

That changes today. I’m getting things back on track a step at a time. This is the first step.

I’ve been thinking a lot about my high school years the last few weeks, particularly because of the recently resolved student strike at the UPR (the secondary school I attended was part of the University system), and one thing that came to mind was a sort of unofficial call to arms my class had. So I started doodling and sketching– something I hadn’t done in quite a while, and came up with what would eventually become this:

©2010 rafael armstrong

Anyway, there we are. Let’s see what my brain has in store for me tomorrow.

Create Something Every Day (#daily365)– for April 15

Originally I had planned on doing something related to the Doomsday clock (something about “tax day, deadlines, that sort of thing), but scrapped it doing the “idea” stage. Then I got involved with prepping for a phone interview, and next thing you know, we’re on Sunday and I haven’t done anything for a couple of days. So, once again I need to catch up.

Growing up in the late 70s/early 80s in PR meant that, more likely than not, you were exposed to a lot of anime (Japanese animation), way before it would become fashionable in the US. Local tv was inundated with all sorts of Japanese imports– among them an animated, serialized version of Johanna Spyri’s Heidi, Captain Harlock, Candy Candy, Battle of The Planets, and a slew of mecha.)

My favorite mecha was also the most popular– Go Nagai’s Mazinger Z.

Domo arigato gozaimasu, Nagai-san ©2010 rafael armstrong

Create Something Every Day (#daily365)– For March 10

Still making an attempt to get caught up. I could go the easy route and write off the missed days and “reset” the counter, so to speak. Like C-3PO’s thinking in Star Wars:

Well, I’m not going that way. It’s much too rocky. This way is much easier

Well, I’m not going that way. I’m determined to catch up, and dammit I will, one way or another.

So, that being said, here’s the piece that corresponds to March 10:

©2010 rafael armstrong.

Create Something Every Day (#daily365)– for March 8

I really dig the blues. And I really dig Stevie Ray Vaughan. That’s pretty much all there is to it.

©2010 rafael armstrong

Create Something Every Day (#daily365)– for March 7

So my attempt at catching up has been less than successful, and at this point, I’m about a week behind. So, without further ado, here’s the CSED that corresponds to 3/7.

Some thoughts on the CSED:

I picked up The Kentucky Headhunter’s Electric Barnyard at the library the other day– purely on a nostalgic whim (my uncle had made me a copy on tape a lo00ng time ago). On the album there’s a cover of Norman Greenbaum’s “Spirit In The Sky”. I’ve always dug the original’s fuzzy guitar riff, and I find it amusing and oddly ironic that a Jewish man would be singing about having a “friend in Jesus”– apparently, as I understand it, he added “Jesus” to the lyrics because he felt it worked better in the song. Go figure.

©2010 rafael armstrong

Create Something Every Day (#daily365)– For March 6

So, as of today (March 9), I’m still behind by a couple of days. It’s my fault, really. I set a challenging goal for March, and it’s proving hard to keep up. But I’m determined to catch up on these in the coming couple of days. In the meantime, here’s today’s piece.

Some thoughts on today’s CSED:

The 80s were, in my opinion– musically speaking– a schizophrenic decade. On the one hand you had pop music being put out by the likes of Culture Club, New Edition, Cindy Lauper, and yes, Michael Jackson. Somewhere on the other end of the spectrum you had rock and metal, with hair metal becoming quite popular thanks to bands like Bon Jovi, Poison, Ratt, and countless others.

And then, in ’87, Guns n’ Roses hit the scene, and things changed.

So, I decided to use the band’s debut album as a jumping-off point. Here, then is my (rather quickly cobbled together) take on what has, over the last 20+ years, become a rock and metal classic.

All images used can be found in morguefile.com ©2010 rafael armstrong

Create Something Every Day (#daily365)– For March 5

The catching up continues…

All images courtesy of Morguefile ©2010 rafael armstrong

Create Something Every Day (#daily365)– for March 4

I’m so behind it’s not even funny. Maybe it’s a result of limiting myself to album covers in the “Blue Note” style. Don’t know the style well enough to be able to put pieces together for my #daily365. Instead, I think just working with the redesign of album covers could be fun.

Here’s the one for March 4.

Art courtesy of Morguefile ©2010 rafael armstrong

As always, thoughts and feedback are welcome.

Create Something Every Day (#daily365)– for March 2

I don’t know if, in the process of challenging myself creatively for the month of March, I may have bitten off a little more than I could chew (based on my self-imposed guidelines). These album covers are taking a little longer than I had originally expected. Part of it is the computer not processing as quickly as I would like it  (after all, it’s a little over 8 years– and it’s running CS3 to boot– no small feat in and of itself, I might add). The other part is the research involved, all of which is pushing me considerably past my 30 minute (or so) deadline.

Anyway, without further ado:

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