chris sumption
A native northwesterner who spends his days coding accessible web content and his nights with family, abstract painting, science fiction illustration, graphic design, and digital humanities research.
research
He explores metadata interoperability, space-time tagging, programming interfaces, data visualizations, and historical sandboxes. Find out more
code
Chris works with HTML, CSS, JavaScript, JSON, XML, and PHP to produce compliant and accessible content for the web. See his work portfolio
illustration
Using both digital and analog mediums, his illustrations are heavily influenced by Syd Mead, Edward Hopper, Charles Wysocki and Leiji Matsumoto.
graphic
Working in the hospitality, sales, education, and signage industries, he gained experience working on a wide variety of design projects. View some recent designs
design
Chris conceptualizes with non-photo blue pencil and sharpie marker. These sketches will become larger works, some digital, others acrylic on canvas.
photo
Using his father’s 35mm Argus camera, he learned how photography informs an artist's understanding of the design process. See some of his photos
process
Iteration is Chris's best friend. This process blog is an outlet to discuss the inspirations and decision making behind some of his work.
video
Want to see an artist at work? Need to know how to explain a Digital Humanities API in sixty-five seconds? Visit Chris's YouTube channel
about
Chris Sumption was born in Portland, Oregon. He eventually moved with his family to Washington State where he divided his time between watching airplanes land, playing with Legos, and blowing up his action figures. He received an Industrial Design Technology degree from the Seattle Art Institute and a Bachelor of Science in Informatics from the University of Washington. Chris currently resides in Seattle with his wife Caren, and works in web development, content production, website ADA compliance, graphic design, and illustration. In his spare time he pursues digital humanities research into interoperable historical visualizations, applications associated with archival encoding standards, and abstract painting.
artist statement
From my earliest experimentations with Legos to my appreciation of artists like Edward Hopper, Syd Mead, Charles Wysocki and Leiji Matsumoto, I have always had a strong fascination with geometric shapes and an aggressive use of perspective. I strive to give inanimate objects a life of their own. This is accomplished through the use of conceptual and suggestive techniques, often avoiding total refinement of my subject matter. I use a range of materials from acrylics on canvas to completely digital formats, often combining mediums. Currently, I am exploring two creative directions. The first is a more traditional, digital, illustrative style, which focuses on science fiction subject matter–the second is abstract paint on canvas expression, combining my product rendering background with my love of geometry and perspective.
exhibitions
- Norwescon 36 Art Show (March 2013)
- Norwescon 35 Art Show (April 2012)
- Seattle College Student Invitational (June 2011)
- Norwescon 34 Art Show (April 2011)
- Norwescon 33 Art Show (April 2010)
- Norwescon 31 Art Show (April 2008)
- Norwescon 30 Art Show (April 2007)
- The Art Of Digital, San Diego (Sep. 2006)
- Norwescon 29 Art Show (April 2006)
- Cascadiacon Art Show “Judges Choice Honorable Mention” (Sep. 2005)
- Norwescon 24 Art Show (April 2001)
- Norwescon 23 Art Show (April 2000)
contact
If you would like to contact Chris, please use the form below.
