Foster Caddell’s Keys to Successful Landscape Painting – by Foster Caddell – independent book review – non-fiction

When I began experimenting with watercolors as a new retiree (the first time I tried making art of any kind), I bought a bunch of books that I never read. Four or five years later when I finally found a great teacher, FOSTER CADDELL’S KEYS TO SUCCESSFUL LANDSCAPE PAINTING was one book highly recommended. And I wasn’t disappointed. Awarded five stars on Goodreads.

The author, the late Foster Caddell (1921-2013) was a New England artist and art teacher for many decades. What I particularly like about his approach in this book is that it is NOT a series of chapters discussing lofty, theoretical concepts related to painting (like composition, light, color, clouds, etc.). Instead he takes a problem-solution approach which is more show and tell.

One one page, he shows examples of amateur (student) paintings, offering a brief explanation of why they aren’t as good as they could be. Then, on the facing page, Caddell shows his own version of the same painting, with another short description of what he changed and why to improve the landscape.  His comments are very specific and, over the course of reading the book, I picked up quite a bit of valuable information.

What’s more – the lack of specific information has been an issue for me in nearly all the art classes I’ve taken in the last few years. I guess I must be a hardcore concrete thinker because, while I can look at art and often see whether it’s good or bad, I’m not always able to figure out why.

I need errors to be pointed out, like:

• This sky competes too much with the landscape because….
• The trees on the left are too uniform in color and size.
• The sunlight doesn’t hit both sides of a building the same way.
• Never have the same level of detail in the background as there is in the foreground.

And then, seeing how the author corrects each error and reading his explanation of why he made the choices he did is extremely helpful.

Again and again, Caddell demonstrates (and promotes) the importance of studying nature so each artist understands how the eye actually sees. Too often, he explains, it’s the artists’ pre-conceived knowledge (of what a tree looks like, for example) that takes over and interferes in painting a landscape that looks believable, as though it could actually occur in the natural world. 

FOSTER CADDELL’S KEYS TO SUCCESSFUL LANDSCAPE PAINTING is not a long book. About 130 pages and obviously full of images. Easy to read and easy to put aside at any point. I highlighted so many passages, that I expect I will return to this book often just to reread some hints and tips Caddell has embedded. Because there are a lot of them. Strongly recommended for both budding or experienced artists who want to improve their skill level.

More about the author.

You may be interested in another art education book that I have found helpful: CARLSON’S GUIDE TO LANDSCAPE PAINTING.