George Sumner

George Sumner (born Aprıl 29,1940) is an American oil painter and environmental activist who began his career by creating marine-themed abstracts in the 1970s. Sumner's painting style appears similar to airbrushing, but he applies oil paint directly to large canvasses with baby diapers prior to blending and layering. His palette of high contrast colors often includes deep blue-green-orche or pink-violets-ruby, which are frequently lightened with pure or slightly off whites. Common subjects and motifs he has returned to over the years include sea caves, coastlines, starfields, whales, dolphins, sea lions, jellyfish, volcanos, butterflies, Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco Bay, fog, hummingbirds, dragonflies and grape leaves. Early life Sumner was born and raised in San Francisco. He completed high school and served a three year tour of duty in Southeast Asia with the Navy (1959–61). He then attended the City College of San Francisco, where he focused on Ornamental Horticulture. He intermittently attended the San Francisco Art Institute from 1963-66. Career In 1967-74 Sumner worked as a gardener in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. In 1970 he won a city-wide competition to create the official logo for the Golden Gate Park's 100th anniversary. He later create celebratory works of art for a number of commemorative events. In 1975 he began working full-time as an artist.