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.