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.
Study of a Horse at Trappe Farm
by Simon Bland / 25 Jan 2014
Filly at Trappe Farm. 9" x 12" oil on linen panel. 2014 A small figurative painting that I did earlier this week....
Three Miles Out
by Simon Bland / 25 Jan 2014
Three Miles Out. 8" x 6" oil on linen panel. 2014 This barn is about three miles away from my house. I passed it in the fall when I was out running and happened to have my cell phone with me, so I took a couple of shots thinking it would make a good painting....
Barn Cat - the Original
by Simon Bland / 25 Jan 2014
Barn Cat. 12" x 9", oil on linen panel. 2014 I came across this cat at Oakland Green farm while plein air painting in the early fall. She just happened to be sitting in the way when I was taking photos of one of the barns. I played around with the composition slightly, especially the foregroun...
A Portrait of Ezekiel and Natasha
by Simon Bland / 25 Jan 2014
Ezekiel and Natasha. 20" x 20" oil on linen. 2014. This commissioned portrait was worked on for about 6 weeks from the beginning of December 2013 through the middle of January 2014 (I mention this as a note to my future self when I start to grumble about how long a painting is taking). Ezekiel and N...
Portrait Sketch of Hudson
by Simon Bland / 16 Jan 2014
Hudon. 12" x 9", oil on linen panel. 2014. A portrait of Hudson that I finished this week. After toning the canvas with a two color wash I did a full value monochrome block in prior to putting on the final layers (there's a bit of glare in the image)....
Another go at the Duck
by Simon Bland / 16 Jan 2014
Duck - transparent oil on linen, 9" x 12". 2014 I recently painted and posted a painting of a duck, but I never really took to the painting. So today I started again with a different approach. This painting is done using transparent oil paint (i.e. I didn't use any white). Using this app...
Monochromatic Sketch - Waterford
by Simon Bland / 10 Jan 2014
Waterford House. 8"x6" Oil on linen. 2014 This sketch was done with Gamblin's Torrit Gray (2008 version, I think) and white. I wanted to see how this building looked in paint, but I found the actual colors a bit overwhelming. I premixed the paint into five piles, each a different values and la...
More Sketching
by Simon Bland / 06 Jan 2014
Sheep Sketch. 9"x 12", Oil on linen panel. 2013 With all the holiday commissions completed and delivered I managed to find time to work on some sketches, and studies for future paintings that may or may not happen. In the fall I spent one Sunday morning roaming around a sheep farm and I had some nic...
Dusk
by Simon Bland / 28 Dec 2013
Dusk. 20"x16". oil on linen. 2013. This is one of the most challenging commissioned paintings I've ever accepted. It was being given as a holiday gift and was a surprise for the recipient. I was given a brief description of what the customer wanted (a dog walking down a path towards ...