This blog serves as a place for Chris to display sketches and write about his finished works. A native northwesterner, 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 his action figures up. He obtained his first degree in Industrial Design read more...

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Burlesque by Chris Sumption - 16" x 20" - Digital (using Painter)

Burlesque (Initial Sketch) by Chris Sumption
This was a piece that I did in 2006. It's one of my robotic / construct beings as a burlesque dancer. I was trying to create a sense of awkwardness on the part of the robot. Like it only had four programmed moves and it didn't really understand what it was doing there.
What seemed to work was how the organic flowing cloth elements of the curtain and torn cape contrasted with the sharp mechanical features of the robot. Also, I liked how the robots legs are very static. It sort of looks like the torso and appendages are moving, but the legs are set. I think that's what makes the robot look awkward. Looking at this image again I noticed some messaging I did with the robot. It kind of looks like the robot might have wings or the skeletal parts of wings, or it might be holding its robotic equivalent of a wing or feather. I think I did this on purpose. My first memory of a burlesque dancer was from the movie "The Right Stuff" (1983). This kind of reminds me of the Sally Rand fan dance scene.
Of course there are ten and half million things that didn't work for me on this one, but that's art.
Other examples of my work can be found at: