A Blog About Oil Painting
Welcome to my blog. Here you'll find me rambling on about all sorts of things related to art in general and oil painting in particular. There's even a recipe for dog cookies hidden away somewhere.
Like the rest of the site, this section is still a work in progress and I will be making it tider and easier to navigate in time. There is a lot of content, so using the buttons below may help you to get around. Newest posts are shown first.
Winter Fields and Hedgerows - a Repaint
by Simon Bland / 25 Aug 2016
Winter Fields and Hedgerows. 9x12, oil on linen panel. 2016 When I went down to the studio today and took a close look at a painting that I'd worked on last week, I realized that it had too many flaws in the execution to be marketable. Rather than re-paint over the top of the old version, I started ...
Early Evening on the Cliffs
by Simon Bland / 21 Aug 2016
Early Evening on the Cliffs. 9x12, oil on linen panel. 2016-2017 It was one of those weeks when I take two steps forward and one step back; this painting took more than three restarts before it began to emerge. It took me a long time to figure out that it was all about texture and small co...
Above the Morning Fog
by Simon Bland / 15 Aug 2016
Above the Morning Fog. 8x10, oil on linen panel. 2016 I took advantage of the nice weather this week to get in a spot of plein air painting. It's been a month or two since I last did any work outside and I was starting to get the itch. After so long in the studio, my gear felt extra heavy. I took a ...
Magnolia Summerfest
by Simon Bland / 09 Aug 2016
My booth at Magnolia Summerfest Last weekend I set up my booth at Magnolia Summerfest in Seattle. This turned out to be a very pleasant show: lots of people attended, there was really good music (at least on Saturday) and weather in the low 70's both days. I really enjoy doing events like this: not ...
The Dunes
by Simon Bland / 13 Jul 2016
The Dunes. 9x12, oil on linen panel. 2016. This is a painting done from two studies: a plein air sketch done at the beach; and a small sketch that I did in the studio. I tried to bring my favorite parts together in a single work. This is another that I'll have for sale at Magnolia Summerfest in earl...
Late Morning
by Simon Bland / 11 Jul 2016
Late Morning. 12x12, oil on linen panel. 2016 I've been working at this painting on-and-off for a couple of months. Needless to say it has been through a few revisions by now, but I think it's finally reached a state where I feel comfortable showing it. Although this is strictly a studio work, it's ...
Starting Paintings from Sketches
by Simon Bland / 06 Jul 2016
Winter Dawn. 11x14, oil on linen panel. 2016 As the title of this post suggests, I've started to use some of the sketches I have on hand to create bigger paintings. In this case I went from a 5x7 sketch to an 11x14 painting, which felt like a comfortable step. As the painting scaled up, some of the ...
I'm Done With Clever Titles for Paintings of Chickens
by Simon Bland / 30 Jun 2016
Chicken. 12x12, oil on linen panel. 2016. Here's the latest off the easel. It's based on a study I did last month, which you can see on the blog here. I'm trying to get ready for an art fair/show in Seattle in early August, called Magnolia Summerfest. It will be the first real event I've done in the...
OMG! Oil Sticks!!!!
by Simon Bland / 27 Jun 2016
Sunrise. 8x6, oil on linen panel. 2016 This sketch was started using an oil stick to do the basic block in of the darks. Today was the first time I've tried using one and I was instantly addicted: I immediately started three other paintings. What I've tried to do here is to make the painting about t...