Drawing on the Way to Watercolor

Graduating from the University of Illinois as an architect with an emphasis in design, Benno Philippson realized that he had taken so many art courses that he was only two credit hours short of an Art Major!  He was introduced to all sorts of media, but the one he liked best was watercolor.  His pencil sketches and ink washes made this medium very fluid after doing value studies in pencil, marker pen and ink. Teaching drawing and perspective has also been part of his life, at Portland State and in the Architecture in the Schools Program.

Benno writes, “Travel memories in small sketch books are transformed into value studies to make paintings. This is a joy for me to do. Abstractions of various subjects also give me great pleasure.  Watercolor is also a medium where one is always learning.  There is about it a fluid creativity.  Making something beautiful with color allows me to recreate what I see.  Just the process of understanding what happens when water is added to color in all its many variations gives me a whole range of tools for extemporaneous fun on paper.”