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.
Where to find my paintings in October
by Simon Bland / 02 Oct 2013
Waterford Fair: October 4, 5 and 6 2013 I have 2 paintings in the Red Barn Exhibit (the upstairs part of the barn) and 11 paintings in the Art Mart (the downstairs part of the Red Barn). My painting "Barnyard Dance" won "Best Loudoun County Artist" award at this year's fair. Red Barn Exhibit:&...
Beans in the Belfry - A Black and White Oil Painting
by Simon Bland / 11 Sep 2013
Beans in the Belfry. 4x6, oil on linen. 2013. Black and white paint. This is a study I made of Beans in the Belfry, a coffee shop in Brunswick, MD, which is 5 minutes from my studio. I've been trying to paint this scene for a couple of years but I couldn't make it work. For this at...
Plein Air Painting at McClellan Farm
by Simon Bland / 10 Sep 2013
Plein Air Sketch in Neersville, VA. 5"x7" oil on linen panel. 2013. A plein air sketch that I did at a paint-out in Neersville, VA last week. It's the sketchiest of sketches, but I like the simplicity of painting like this and being free just to react to the scene before me. ...
Gearing up For the Fall Season, Continued
by Simon Bland / 10 Sep 2013
Portrait of 798. Oil on linen. 16"x16". 2013. For sale at Waterford Fair. This is the second painting I created for the Red Barn Art Exhibit at the Waterford Fair. This heifer was one of the herd at Rocky Pointe farm that I visited late last month. The abstract idea behind the painting w...
Gearing up For the Fall Season
by Simon Bland / 09 Sep 2013
Speckled Chicken. 12"x12". Oil on linen. 2013. For sale at Waterford Fair. The first weeks of September find me getting prepared for the fall shows and fairs in which I participate every year. This season I will have my usual display booth at Bluemont Fair (Sep 21, 22) as well as having some w...
Plein Air Painting at Welsh Farm, Hamilton, VA
by Simon Bland / 03 Sep 2013
I painted this early in the morning and was facing the sun more than I prefer. The combination of sunlight and humidity helped to suppress the greens in the tree line....
I found some Holsteins!
by Simon Bland / 21 Aug 2013
And they sent a welcoming committee: There were plenty of painting-worthy subjects in the herd. The patterns on his heifer were particularly eye-catching: The little white heifer was one of my favorites: I want to give a big shout-out to Chuck and Paula at Rocky Pointe Creamery and Farm for...
Out in the Field
by Simon Bland / 12 Aug 2013
Unlike most of the landscapes I've done this year, I painted this one in the studio. I painted the sky with a slightly red bias to contrast with the green grey of the barn (which in reality is white) and that enabled me to paint the shadows under the eaves of the roof with a purplish tone. &nb...
Another Plein Air at Faraway Farm
by Simon Bland / 12 Aug 2013
A plein air painting that I did earlier in the summer at Faraway Farm in Upperville, VA. I was standing right up against the fence at the edge of the field. close enough to fasten my shade umbrella to the fence. Like most of my plein air work this year, I kept this one to a small size an...