A Blog About Oil Painting
Welcome to my blog. Here you'll find me rambling on, unassisted by AI, 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.
Phillips Farm IV - entry for Waterford Fair
by Simon Bland / 24 Sep 2014
Phillips Farm IV. 20x24, oil on linen. 2014 I painted this landscape as my entry for this year's Waterford Fair art show. I worked on some of the ideas behind this painting over the course of the summer, particularly the effect of light through the trees. The foreground is a mixture of brush a...
Bluemont Fair
by Simon Bland / 19 Sep 2014
This weekend, September 20th and 21st, I will be setting up my tent and exhibiting at Bluemont Fair. This is one of the largest events that I attend throughout the year and I will have 20 new paintings available for sale as well as some examples of commissioned portraits on display.I hope to s...
Plein Air Return to Silverbrook Farm
by Simon Bland / 27 Aug 2014
Pines Trees. 10x8 oil on linen panel. 2014. A small plein air sketch from yesterday's paint out at Silverbrook Farm in Hillsboro, VA. Standing at the bottom of the hill and looking up gave an interesting perspective on the large tree on the right....
Some Work in Progress
by Simon Bland / 27 Aug 2014
Henry and Buzi. 24x30 oil on linen. Work in Progress. Here's the start of a new painting. I worked out the design on paper before starting the block in and I used several photos from the photo shoot to piece it all together. I drew in the dogs gesturally with some raw umber and aft...
The Wildlife Meadows at Innisfree
by Simon Bland / 23 Aug 2014
The Wildlife Meadows at Innisfree. 11x14 oil on linen panel. 2014. This is my fourth painting of the landscape at Innisfree Farm in Rectorstown, VA. I was intrigued by the way the light was coming through the big tree and the way it was set against the very background treeline. I used a color called...
Barns on Shelburne Glebe Road
by Simon Bland / 23 Aug 2014
Barns on Shelburne Glebe Road. 8x10, oil on linen panel. 2014 I painted this small landscape with deliberately subdued colors and spent most of my time focused on the way the light wraps around the tops of the trees. There are a lot of architectural elements in the painting, but the way they a...
Clune Forest Sheep Update
by Simon Bland / 20 Aug 2014
Clune Forest Sheep and Barn. 24x30, oil on linen. WIP Here's an updated look at the painting of the sheep. At this stage it is almost complete, but I still need to do a bit of adjustment to some of the dark areas....
Plein Air at Silverbrook Farm
by Simon Bland / 20 Aug 2014
Silverbrook. 8x10, oil on linen panel. 2014. This was done on location at Silverbrook Farm in Hillsboro, VA. I had a great perch from which to paint this scene, standing under a mature Norwegian Maple on the side of a hill which let me overlook the fields and valley....
Another Rabbit
by Simon Bland / 20 Aug 2014
Dandelion. 9x12, oil on linen panel. 2014 To be honest, it is difficult to keep finding a name for rabbit paintings so I've decided that I will just have to rely on my imagination a little more. I found this rabbit by going for a 2.5 mile walk down some of the unpaved country roads round our neck of...