Chris Burrows Portfolio

Two new

Chris — Sat, 31 May 2008 14:14:18 +0000

I got a little bored so decided to create a couple of random illustrations.

The first is of the Bugatti Veyron, a personal favourite car, and probably most peoples. I took a photograph of the car as my starting point and took it into Illustrator to, well, illustrate it. Once I was happy with my outlines I began to add the colours. I thought black and silver would look super cool. When I was satisfied I took it into Photoshop to polish it off.

The second is of what I believe to be the most beautiful instrument ever created, the Fender Telecaster. I used the same technique as the Bugatti illustration to create this, but I found that the Telecaster ended up a bit more real looking and was certainly quite fidgety to create all the elements.

Both images are highly detailed when viewed at full resolution and both make my boredom seem worth while!

A bit of info

Chris — Tue, 27 May 2008 00:16:57 +0000

I’ve been mad busy recently working on quite a few things and haven’t been updating my blog. So, here’s an update! I have a couple of new websites which will be launching in the next week, a personal one called Dream CSS which will showcase beautifully designed websites and one for a modelling agency in Germany. I’m very excited by the prospect of both of these websites and can assure you that they will be awesome!

I have sort of finished my Work section, there are still a few things which I think should go on there and I will be putting new stuff up periodically.

I will be making it a priority to update my website more often also. Cheers for the support

Money, success, fame, glamour

Chris — Wed, 07 May 2008 08:47:16 +0000

I have created a new piece of artwork based on the theme of the film Party Monster, which is “Money, Success, Fame, Glamour”. The media portrays being famous, having money and being glamorous as the be all and end all to life. I however differ somewhat so I decided to produce an illustration to in a way mock this idea.

I took the words from the film and created a “glamorous” image using vivid colours on a black backdrop, which, I see quite often in popular art and used one of the most famous glamour models in Britain, Keeley Hazel as my focus. All of the work done in the illustration was done in Photoshop.

Quick ramble

Chris — Mon, 05 May 2008 02:14:44 +0000

I just want to start off by saying a big thank you to everyone who has commented or linked to my website. I didn’t realise I would get such a positive response, it means a lot! My site has been featured on quite a few galleries and I thought it only fair to link back to them. If anyone is missed, please let me know.

Regarding my website, there is a lot of tweaking that will be done over the course of the next week or so. Also, I still have a great deal of work to put up and a lot of new work. I am currently working on a new mixed media illustration, which should be finished within the next week and will be popped on here. Stay tuned!

6 Funny football videos

Chris — Mon, 05 May 2008 00:30:38 +0000

As an avid football fan I think I should share some YouTube videos. I found several videos which I find rather amusing. Especially the Chris Kamara one. What a legend!

New design & fresh start

Chris — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 05:27:43 +0000

I decided that my website needed a thorough re-design. I had a long think about my current self, thoughts and generally where I’m at in life. It was quite a mad contrast between serenity and darkness, so I decided to mix the two together.

Purple has always been my favourite colour so this was a must in the colour department. I fiddled around with colours which complement this using blending modes and the like. I had already partly done the illustration I wanted at the top of the website which incorporates sky. I then had an idea to blend a sort of purple sky colour right down to black with many other colours in-between. I think the result is great! I just can’t wait to get a load of content on here.

If you notice any problems, please let me know, I’m still in the middle of testing. I know about the slight problems with Internet Explorer and I am working on a secondary stylesheet to use with IE.

Useful software for Mac

Chris — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 05:10:19 +0000

I have recently stumbled upon a few rather useful programs for OS X, well maybe only useful for internet geeks.

Flickr Uploadr (Also for Windows)

If you have a Flickr account, then the Flickr Uploadr is a must! The software interface is very clean and simple and fits seamlessly in with OS X. This software allows for easy multiple photo uploads directly to your Flickr account. There are all the features incorporated which appear on the flickr website but with this software everything is quick and simple.

Transmit

Transmit has just become my preferred method of FTP. For me it blows every other FTP program away including Yummy FTP, which I had previously been using. As well a being beautifully made, its cram packed with features. Even ones you didn’t know you needed! A few of the features it boasts are:

iDisk / WebDAV - Get files on your iDisk, faster than the Finder!
Dashboard Widget - Upload faster than ever.
Column View - At last: browse the way Mac OS X intended
Tabs - Many connections, one window.

And there are loads more! Why not download the trial and you will see what I’m talking about.

MAMP

If you are a blogger, use Wordpress and own a Mac, get MAMP, your life will never been the same again!

“The abbreviation MAMP stands for: Macintosh, Apache, Mysql and PHP. With just a few mouse-clicks, you can install Apache, PHP and MySQL for Mac OS X!

MAMP installs a local server environment in a matter of seconds on your Mac OS X computer, be it PowerBook or iMac. Like similar packages from the Windows- and Linux-world, MAMP comes free of charge.”

Musical ramblings

Chris — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 02:04:09 +0000

I’ve started playing the guitar again, this time quite intensely. I picked myself a Fender Telecaster which has made me start some serious playing. I’ve become so engrossed in it that I have actually started trying to write some lyrics and match them to my guitar playing.

At the moment the lyrics are just ramblings and feelings, but I do hope at some point I can make sense of them and put them together to make a song. Be it a load of trash or not, I am determined!

Here are a few of them:

With our bodies entwined in bed
I feel our hearts beat as one
The covers so thick and soft
Keeping us warm and snug
Your hair draped over my cheek
Is cool at touch helping me sleep

I don’t really know what I can do with them, but meh! I’m sure something will come of it all.

I’m listening to

Chris — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 01:43:14 +0000

Well, currently I am very musically influenced at the moment and seem to listen to it none stop. My general preference is beautifully made rock music as opposed to the new wave rock which has hit the shelves. Recently though, I have found myself wandering into different genres.

I thought I’d share some of the artists and albums I am listening to, in no particular order.

Jeff Buckley - Grace
Gomez - Bring It On, Liquid Skin, In Our Gun
Kings Of Leon - Because Of The Times
Air - The Virgin Suicides, Talkie Walkie, Moon Safari
Boards Of Canada - The Campfire Headphase
Eric Clapton -461 Ocean Boulevard
Incubus - Make Yourself, S.C.I.E.N.C.E
Kate Nash -Mad Of Bricks
Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti
Massive Attack - Mezzanine
Nick Drake - Five Leaves Left
Richard Hawley - Coles Corner
Tosca - Dehli9
Ulrich Schnauss - Goodbye

If you get chance, try some of these albums out, they’re great!

New flyer

Chris — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 09:21:38 +0000

I recently created a flyer for a 21st birthday party at Lounge 31 in Manchester. I was given a rough idea of how the person wanted it to look and took that idea and created something which everyone involved really enjoyed.

I used Photoshop to create the flyer which was then printed onto glossy card and really looked the part!

You can also view this along with the rest of my portfolio in the work section