In the studio with artist, photographer and instructor Robert Louis Caldwell

“Why such a detailed drawing for under your painting?”  "Behind the Shed" - Under drawing I am always asked why I draw such a detailed drawing for my paintings on the canvas (board) before applying the paint. Actually I don’t consider them so detailed, if you put one of my “under drawings” next to one of my “finished drawings” on paper they are nothing alike, in my eyes. Simply put……………. this is how I taught myself to paint!  "Behind the Shed" - Toned Canvas (Board) I have been drawing since I was two, as my mother will tell you, and I just recently started painting in 2005. I had wanted to paint for a long time but just couldn’t figure it out; color adds a whole different level of creativity to the picture. Don’t get me wrong, my passion is graphite pencil but there is just something great about a nicely painted image.   "Behind the Shed" - Blocking in layer one of color In high school I tried several paintings and quickly trashed my attempts and...

   Happy Holidays everyone! "Snow woman (Cardinal)" Graphite drawing 6 x 8   The gift of love. The gift of peace. The gift of happiness. May all these be yours this holiday season! Best wishes for a happy and prosperous New Year!   .

   These are two small portrait pieces of a male & female orangutan that I have had stirring around in my head for awhile now. I have been wanting to create another primate piece ever since I finished "Contemplation (Chimpanzee)," you can see so much emotion in their expressions and that makes a lot of fun to draw or paint. The female orangutan is the same little lady that so graciously posed for my "Jojo" drawing -- she's such a ham, she actually poses for pictures! Initially I had planned to do these as paintings and as many of you know I always start with a detailed drawing first but I am on the fence right now whether or not to call these finished or to move on to the next step and start painting them. I have only created one other graphite on gessoed board before, "Backscrather," and I really liked the way it looked so I am giving it some serious thought to not paint these. .

Presenting... "Keystone King (American White Pelican) " Graphite pencil, 6 x 10 I finished this drawing up early this week, sealed it, matted it and got it into its frame. This drawing is slated to go to Lovetts Gallery in Tulsa, Oklahoma in March for my Solo exhibit and painting demonstration, ironically the reference for this piece came from my visit to the gallery last year. I have not created a graphite drawing in awhile and it was nice to do so, as you'll read below as soon as I saw the reference for this piece I knew it had to be a black and white piece. I really wanted the extreme white of the pelican to pop off of the paper so I had to push the background back some to accomplish this. I did that by making the water darker than it was and taking away all highlights in the water. Off to start the next piece! In March 2010, I was visiting Lovetts Gallery in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for a painting demonstration and was fortunate enough to take a drive through the cou...