Renowned artist Foster Caddell shares the unique methodology which he brings to his paintings, no matter what the subject. In this, his third book of "keys" to improving your work, he stresses the fundamental of seeing analytically what is before you so that you can it render realistically and beautifully in art.
Foster Caddell devoted his entire life to his art, beginning with developing a sophisticated drawing technique while in high school. He was employed as a lithographer before serving with the US Army Air Corps in World War II, documenting life in the Pacific Theater with his sketchbook and watercolors. Upon returning to civilian life, Caddell continued working in lithography while engaged with freelance illustrating and portraiture, and he began teaching after being approached by local aspiring artists eager to learn his techniques. From these humble beginnings, Foster Caddell soon became the founder/teacher and CEO of the largest private art school in southern New England, located in Voluntown, Connecticut.
Using his own artwork as a visual aid, Foster Caddell begins Keys to Painting Better Portraits by introducing his approach to portraiture, explaining his studio environment materials and procedures for painting in oil and pastel. For Caddell, "A good portrait . . . must please two different types of viewers: those who expect to see a satisfactory likeness, and those who do not know, or particularly care, who the subject is but want a portrait to be a good solid painting and stand on its own." To demonstrate his working methods more clearly, he takes you, step by step, through the process of painting three typical portraits, two in oil and one in pastel. Then, in 30 'keys' to different painting problems, he analyzes the mistakes most commonly made by beginning and intermediate students, with each illustrated key showing a different painting error and a good way to avoid it. He also covers three special types of portraiture: the commissioned, the posthumous, and the self-portrait. This book is a must for any painter wanting to improve and expand their repetoire.
Readers interested in related titles from Foster Caddell will also want to see: Keys to Successful Color, (ISBN 978-1-62654-577-9) and Foster Caddell's Keys to Successful Landscape Painting, (ISBN 978-1-63561-042-0).
Author Biography:
Foster Caddell was born August 2, 1921 in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and passed away June 2, 2013, but his teachings live on in the form of his three books, Keys to Successful Landscape Painting (1976), Keys to Successful Color (1979), and Keys to Painting Better Portraits (1982). The landscape book was updated in 1993. Throughout his career he was proud to say that he had spent his entire life pursuing his passion for fine art. In grade school he displayed a talent for drawing and sketching, and his skill at composing sophisticated drawings flourished in high school. After graduating he gained employment as a lithographer at the Providence Lithograph Company in Rhode Island. He was drafted into the U.S. Army Corps in 1943, and married June Kaufmann just before leaving for duty. In the Corps he was commissioned as an artist, and, since he was not allowed to bring oils and canvases into the war theater, he used a sketchbook and watercolors to document the terrors and tedium of a soldier's life. After the war he returned to the Lithograph Company, and, in 1951, struck out on his own to become a freelance artist, illustrating children's books, textbooks, and creating drawings and paintings for various religious organizations. The Caddells moved to Voluntown, Connecticut and, sought after by local aspiring artists eager to learn his technique, he began teaching art in the living room of his home. Before long he was the owner/teacher and CEO of the largest privately owned art school in southern New England. June passed away in 1989, and he remarried in 1993, to Gail Marchant. In a varied career spanning many decades, he became widely acclaimed for his portrait and landscape paintings. He continued teaching and painting, both at home and at workshops across the USA, until retiring in 2006, at age 85.
