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

Notes from Day 1 & 2… Capture, Compose and Create Workshop Minnesota 2014 Day 1 What a great experience not only for myself but for the students as well, I saw smiles all weekend.  There were 12 workshop participants ranging in all skill levels and mediums.  The first morning started off bright and early with our first photo shoot and even though it was overcast and lightly raining, everyone was excited to get several hundred images of a beautiful Grey Wolf. They overcast wet conditions really made for some highly saturated colors with great contrast. One of our other subjects for the morning was a young black bear that really pushed our limits with understanding the use of our cameras. There was a lot of adjusting of the ISO, shutter speed and aperture settings to accommodate for the darkness of the bear’s fur in the low lighting. Nevertheless there was many, many oh’s and ahh’s as each artist looked at what they were seeing on their...

Here is a sneak peek into the current painting that I have on my easel. Most of the reference for this particular piece came from a visit to Tulsa Oklahoma around two/three years ago. I was out visiting and exploring the country side with a collector friend of mine when he told me about this old water pump he had and after seeing it I knew I wanted to paint it! Progress to date... I am currently on the second layer of color, background is finished and I am currently working on the galvanized metal textures of the pump. This painting will be unveiled at an upcoming show at Lovetts Gallery in Tulsa, Oklahoma during the first weekend in November.

"Three Princes (African Elephant)" Oil on 1/2" prepared maple 36 x 48 The painting, “Three Princes (African Elephant),” is the first painting that I actually searched for in the field. The idea and inspiration for this piece came from what I believed at the time to be the loss of the opportunity to travel to Tanzania, Africa, for the first time in 2012 -- a loss that was soon corrected by what I perceived as serendipity. In order to get to Tanzania, I was attempting to presell paintings and/or drawings to my collectors, which when you think about it, you are asking someone to purchase something sight unseen. The deadline was fast approaching for me to put down the deposit for my trip and I hadn’t received any bites on my advance purchase promotions. I had come to the decision in my head that my trip would not happen. At the time that I was making this choice and getting ready to end the promotion, I was working on a drawing of an African elephant from re...

Fresh off of the easel, not even dry yet... "Black and Green (Black-crowned Night Heron, juvenile) " Oil on 1/2" prepared maple 12 x 24 Available exclusively through Lovetts Gallery in Tulsa, Oklahoma - www.lovettsgallery.com I started this painting awhile back and it simply went off and on the easel over several months because of other commitments but last week I was able to finish it up. The reference for this piece came from a visit to the National Zoo in Washington DC where I was looking for my friend and fellow artist Paul Rhymer's Hippo sculpture that was installed at the zoo. While looking for his work I stumbled on to an exhibit that a bunch of Black-crowned Night Heron's apparently live at - no they are not zoo animals but birds that have chosen to live there. I was very taken with all of the green reeds and the herons that were creeping through them. I hope you enjoy the painting!   

Draw Realistic Animals wildlife, pets & more Instructional Book by Robert Louis Caldwell Forward by  Terry Miller Published by North Light Books Released June 2014 Pre-order your autographed copy of Draw Realistic Animals wildlife, pets & more  10% off all Advance autographed copies until April 1, 2014 $25.00 plus shipping (Sales tax will applied to all Virginia, USA residents) Shipping outside of the United States please email us at  art@rlcaldwell.com  for shipping estimates. (Click here to go to webpage for ordering the book) Pre-release orders are being taken now, the book is scheduled to be released late June 2014. Your copy will be autographed by Robert and made out to the person(s) whose name(s) you insert into the box above. All orders will ship in early July 2014. If you are ordering multiple copies made out to different individuals simply click on the "Continue Shopping" button on the cart page which will bring you b...

WIP - "Three Princes" Oil Painting, 24 x 36 Painting notes: I happily started back to work on my painting of the three bull elephants today! This painting has been composed and on the panel for several months now, mocking me from the corner of my studio - not anymore! This was actually the first piece that I composed when I got back from my Tanzania 2012 adventure and it was inspired by several events that lead up to my securing that adventure. So when I went to Tanzania I had this painting in mind and was extremely pleased to have captured the needed reference for this painting on the very last  day as I literally was driving out of the Tarangire gate. Currently the painting is in the under drawing stage, this is where I completely draw in the composition establishing all of my values of the finished piece, I will cover this with color. I find myself looking for a quicker way to get this stage done especially since it is a large pi...

“Call of the Wild” Southwest Art Magazine February 2014 Issue  Written by Norman Kolpas . Robert and his work have been featured in the February 2014 issue of Southwest Art Magazine which should be making it's way to your local newsstand now. The article covers the road that brought Robert through his adolescent years, through college and to his current position as "a rising star among wildlife artists." We cordially invite you to pick up a copy of the February issue of Southwest Art or by clicking on the link below to read the PDF of the article . "Call of the Wild" "How fortunate that the spell nature casts upon Caldwell harmonizes perfectly with his other calling: art. Over the past decade, his love of the outdoors and his talent with graphite pencils and oil paints have combined to make the selfdesribed "traditional realist," now 41, a rising star among wildlife artists."