“Nubble Light”

“Zocalo in Taxco, Mexico”

As a veteran professional artist whose career spans over 60 years, Frank Webb’s impact within the watercolor community is celebrated and respected all over the world.

Following military service, Webb studied at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and began a career in advertising art. In 1980, Webb left his career as industrial artist to pursue full-time his interest in watercolor painting as well as teaching.

Webb’s idyllic approach to art is a synergistic evolutionary process involving thought, feeling, understanding and relation. “A painting is a presentation of shapes and colors,” said Webb. “In the beginning there is a line. The line becomes the bones of the painting. To these bones are added the flesh of the tomes and values. The skin of the painting is color. As the painting emerges from the interaction of these lines, values and colors, it must be animated by the thinking, feelings and actions of its maker. Thus, to live well, a painting should have a healthy body as well as a spirit.”

Webb’s thoughts are saturated with both intellectual and passionate considerations and illustrate his profound respect for the creative process itself. As a teacher, Webb simply seeks to enlighten students to examine for themselves these creative formulas and processes as a means of achieving successful composition.

As an accomplished artist and celebrated teacher, Webb has been an invited instructor and conducted hundreds of workshops throughout the world. In 2006, American Artist Magazine named Webb among the 20 Great Teachers. Additionally, Webb also travels to lecture and judge juried shows. He has authored several books and has produced five instructional DVDs. As a painter and in his instruction, Webb’s subjects cover a broad spectrum beyond the landscapes typically associated with the watercolor medium. Webb’s professional stature is built upon numerous noteworthy vast and varied accomplishments that span over four decades.

Among Webb’s more than 100 major awards are included the American Watercolor Society’s Bronze Medal of Honor, the Walser Greathouse Medal and the Mary Pleissner Award. Other honors include the Sisek award of the Bulter Institute of American Art, the Baskerville/Stary Sheets Award of the National Watercolor Society and the Gold Medal of Audubon Artists. In 2000, he received the Philiadelphia Watercolor Society’s Award for Achievements in the Arts and has earned Master Status with the National Transparent Watercolor Society.

Webb is vice president and Dolphin Fellow of the America Watercolor Society and holds memberships in several art associations. Webb has represented the American Watercolor Society in international exhibitions in Canada, Europe, South America, China and Australia. Webb is listed in “Who’s Who in American Art” and “Who’s Who in the East.” Collectors of Webb’s Art include: the Butler Institute, Institute of American Art, The Baylor Collection, the Tweed Art Museum, of the University of Minnesota, the Palmer Museum and Penn State University, the Taiwan Art Education Institute, the Lakes Art Center and the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art.

"Steadman Farm"	"Falls at Mont Tremblant"
"San Miguel Market"	"On a foreigh strand"

Frank Webb’s work as an artist and teacher reflects his passion for connectivity and personal interpretation. “There are ultimately only three alternatives in painting,” notes Webb. “Either one conforms painting to eyesight or one conforms painting to knowledge. The third and most valid is to combine eyesight with knowledge.”

As a 40-year member of the Pittsburgh Watercolor Society, he has been identified locally as a “Master Visual Artist III,” Preserving the Legacy. To date, attuned to his philosophy that “painting is more caught that taught,” Webb spends much of his time traveling to share his artistic wealth though workshops and lecturing.

When in town, Frank Webb resides atop Mt. Washington with his wife of 58 years Barbara.