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

I apologize for the delay in this posting but I have been under the weather (hopefully I'll be back in good form for the holiday). Here's a look at the latest piece I'm working on. Best wishes to you for a great holiday. I'll talk to you in 2008!

The blue heron painting is toned and drying. It should be ready by Friday for some color. I am also working on two more paintings and hopefully by Friday I can post at least one of them.

Well, the blue heron piece is ready for paint. I have finished the drawing on the canvas and can't wait to start. The painting is large (for me), 32" x 48", and will take me awhile to finish, but I hope to have it completed in time for the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition. Now I am off to Gallery Jamel in Waldorf, Maryland, for the Robert Bateman show tonight. This is supposed to be his largest show ever and I am very eager to get up there and see some of his work in person. For information on the show, visit http://www.galleryjamel.com/

Well, I am back from my research/reference trip to Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge on the Outer Banks, NC. I had a great time and have come back with roughly 950 reference photos. Of course, half of those are probably no good but I think that I have enough to keep me going until spring. The trip started off with a smile. Any of you who go down to the Outer Banks knows that inevitably there will be that person who tries to drive on the beach in a car. I turned off Route 12 onto the beach ramp to Oregon Inlet and what do I see in front of me but a little Mazda Miata dug down to its frame with two people standing outside the car looking at it as if they can't figure out how this happened. So of course I drove up and said, "What on earth where you thinking!" Neither of us had a tow rope but the gentleman had a 100-foot extension cord. Yes, indeed, I pulled out the car with an extension cord. The trip was off to a great start. After getting some reference shots at Oregon I...

Wow, where has the past week and a half gone? I have been busy with a couple of things... working on the new large piece of the blue heron and getting ready for a research/reference-gathering trip. The heron piece is not far enough along yet to show any progress but hopefully by next week I'll have the pencil drawing completed on the canvas. As for the trip, I'm trying to catch the end of the migration period along the coast of North Carolina. I am eager for some new birds to paint and this trip should fill my computer hard drive with some needed reference material. On another note, my friend and colleague Terry Miller is having an open house along with two other artists this Saturday from noon to 6 p.m. If you have the opportunity you should drop in to see some excellent work! You can e-mail Terry for directions at pencilart1@verizon.net . As always, you can see Terry's work at www. terrymillerstudio.com/. Well, I'm off to spend some quality time in the marsh. I'll...

The bird has been blocked in with color and it's now time to paint the final layer. This next layer is my favorite part of painting. It's the magic time when things really start to pop and you feel as though you can stick your hand into the painting and touch the bird. Congratulations to the winning bidder of the Richmond Audubon Society Auction! Enjoy your new piece of art.

The first painting is coming along nicely. It has moved past the stage of frustration. When laying down that first layer of color, the colors on the palette don't always match what is in your head. Then, sometimes, the color that you think is right ends up being color bias to the color that it's next to (for example, you have a green but when you put it on the canvas with a background of blue the green takes on a blue-green tone). When this happens, it's back to the palette to remix the paint so that it works with its neighboring color. I will be working on the bird today, which usually goes really well. Since I try to stay true to the bird, there are no decisions to be made -- it's either the right color or not. The other painting is now toned and ready to have color added. Painting 1, the first layer of color is blocked in except on the bird. Painting 2, The canvas is now toned and ready to start laying down some color.