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.
Plein Air With An Experimental Palette
by Simon Bland / 04 Nov 2014
Weatherlea Plein Air. 9x12, oil on linen panel. 2014 A plein air painting done at Weatherlea Farm in Lovettsville, VA. I used a palette consisting of ultramarine blue, alizarin crimson, cadmium orange and cadmium yellow medium, which is an unusual palette for me as the colors are all very stro...
Modifying an Existing Painting
by Simon Bland / 29 Oct 2014
Potomac Blues. 9x12, oil on linen panel. 2014. Sometimes paintings don't turn out too well and after looking at them in the studio for a few weeks I will often play around with the painting to try out new techniques and approaches. This is a plein air painting done at Riverside Potomac that I revisi...
Sheep Sketch 4
by Simon Bland / 23 Oct 2014
Sheep IV. 11x14, oil on linen panel. 2014 I painted this sketch as a candidate for the mailer that will be used for Loudoun Sketch Club's fall show. I may yet do a little more painting on it....
Behind Aldie Mill
by Simon Bland / 21 Oct 2014
Behind Aldie Mill. 10x8, oil on linen panel. 2014 I found a nice view behind the old mill in Aldie quite by accident as I was walking around taking a few reference photos. I painted this by the side of a small rill, huddled close to an old tree for shade, and if I moved just a few feet to eith...
Sketch of the Orchard
by Simon Bland / 18 Oct 2014
Orchard Sketch. 8x10, oil on linen panel. 2014. I did this small sketch as an exercise in trying to get a quick, loose rendering of the trees in the orchard at Riverside Potomac. I had wanted to try this on location, but the weather wouldn't cooperate and I had to do all the painting in the studio....
A Study in Layers
by Simon Bland / 18 Oct 2014
Overcast. 9x12, oil on linen panel. 2014 In this painting I tried to use layering techniques to enhance a small work that otherwise might otherwise not have made an interesting painting: the feeling of atmosphere was created by scumbling violet grays over the middleground and far tree line and a gla...
Painting a Sheep
by Simon Bland / 16 Oct 2014
Sheep. 12x9, oil on linen panel. 2014. I based this painting on a small study that I worked on over the winter while trying to determine the best approach for a painting of a sheep (in the end, I decided against doing it altogether). I kept the study because there was something in it that I th...
Sweet Potato Dog Cookies
by Simon Bland / 13 Oct 2014
A new recipe for homemade dog cookies, currently Hannah's favorite snack:3 tsp dry yeast1 cup plus 2 tablespoons low fat milk and water (I mix this 50/50 milk and water)3 cups whole wheat flour2 cups white flour2/3 cups corn meal1 cup oats2 or 3 tablespoons vegetable oil8oz can sweet potato puree2 o...
Reworking a Painting
by Simon Bland / 12 Oct 2014
Groveton Farm III. 6x10, oil on linen panel. 2014. I just finished updating this small painting of the wheat fields at Groveton Farm which I had originally painted at the end of July. I made the foreground a little more interesting and filled in the foliage in the tree where there had originally bee...