The Dirty Palette

Stories from an art educators studio.

New Private Coaching Program

author
Robert Louis Caldwell
25 January, 2021
I have been asked many times about private instruction and I am happy to announce that I have just created a private coaching program on the studio website. The Private Coaching gives artists/students the opportunity to check-in with me either 2, 4 or 6 times a month at a time that works within...

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It may seem silly

author
Robert Louis Caldwell
30 November, 2020
It may seem silly, but I can not express how happy I am that I have finally found and purchased my first plaster casts! I started instructing students in 2010 and have wanted to purchase plaster casts to use in my drawing and painting instruction since then. I have only bought my first three...

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See through the curtain of details.

author
Robert Louis Caldwell
30 November, 2020
I took a break from teaching classes for the week of Thanksgiving, but I didn’t sit around twiddling my thumbs; I recorded two new sketching courses. The two new courses finish my introductory sketching courses focusing on simple subject matter with relatively no textures. The first one in this...

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Pretty Exciting Stuff!

author
Robert Louis Caldwell
31 October, 2020
It has taken me six months to get to this point, the point where I can now successfully create an instructional video that looks good and communicates the instruction in the manner that I wish it to. If you had told me back in March of this year that by the end of the year, I would be able to...

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So many Pumpkins!

author
Robert Louis Caldwell
30 September, 2020
It is almost October, and I am getting ready to start my next round of instructional courses, and I thought pumpkin still lifes would make the perfect subject. While taking the reference photos, I got a bit carried away with setting up the still lifes and took more images than I could need for...

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Back to reading my stack of books.

author
Robert Louis Caldwell
28 September, 2020
As I am getting back into my daily and weekly routine, albeit a different routine from a few months ago, I find time to get back into my stack of books that I want to read. Over the past week, I picked up my copy of “Traditional Oil Painting; Advanced Techniques and Concepts from the...

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The Basic Perspective course is now available.

author
Robert Louis Caldwell
07 September, 2020
I believe I have honed my videoing editing skills a bit more with the release of my recorded online course for Basic Perspective. In this foundational course, I walk students through the basic concepts of perspective, discussing the importance of the horizon line, vanishing points, and...

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Enjoy the process!

author
Robert Louis Caldwell
07 September, 2020
Find your own voice but build it on a strong foundation of understanding value, color, and design. I thought I would share three new paintings created by different students to highlight their approach, application, and level of details each created in their finished works. First and foremost,...

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​Introducing the new Student Gallery page

author
Robert Louis Caldwell
07 September, 2020
I have always thought it very important to share my students’ hard work, and now having gone online with my instruction I felt that it was time to create the new Student Gallery page on my new website. I plan to post new albums as the students finish their original drawings and paintings either...

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​I know Kung Fu!

author
Robert Louis Caldwell
02 August, 2020
So, my grand idea moving forward is to offer several new instructional classes a month, short classes that are only a few hours, and multi-day classes. Both of which I want to prerecord so I can offer them immediately to the students who took the live online class. I didn’t realize the tremendous...

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ABOUT

Welcome!



I am Robert Louis Caldwell, a professional artist and educator who has been instructing students in drawing and painting classes since 2010. I love what I do and love sharing that with my students. Over the years, I have gone from teaching a few students in a small classroom to a large two-room teaching studio with multiple instructors. In 2016, I opened the doors to my own art studio, which grew into Midlothian Art Academy. Unfortunately, the academy fell victim to the COVID-19 pandemic and closed in July.


Not one to stand around and wait, I pushed forward and found a way to instruct online from my own studio to my students in theirs. As I built this new online platform, I thought it would be nice to have a place to share the stories of my art, classroom instruction, techniques notes and funny anecdotes from some of my wonderful students.


I hope you follow along as this new journey unveils itself.