You need to wait until the image is loaded before you draw it. Try this instead:
var canvas = document.getElementById('viewport'),
context = canvas.getContext('2d');
make_base();
function make_base()
{
base_image = new Image();
base_image.src = 'img/base.png';
base_image.onload = function(){
context.drawImage(base_image, 0, 0);
}
}
i.e. draw the image in the onload callback of the image.