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.
The Day After The Fair
by Simon Bland / 12 May 2013
The Day After the Fair, 8"x10" oil on linen mounted on board. 2013 A painting of Catoctin Creek at the Phillips Farm endowment at Waterford. I painted this from a plein air study that I had done earlier in the summer together with some reference photos that I took the day after the Waterford F...
Portrait of Mischa
by Simon Bland / 12 May 2013
Mischa, oil on linen 20"x20" This is my latest portrait. I did eleven thumbnail sketches to try different gradations in the background as well as a full-size value study. The preliminary work showed me the importance of the highlight on her nose and the shadow cast by her ear so I decide...
First Plein Air of the Year
by Simon Bland / 23 Apr 2013
This is my first plein air of the 2013 season. I actually painted this over several days (it's my own back yard, so visiting the location multiple times isn't a problem). I first made a preliminary sketch then I used it to help develop a more interesting composition and better color selection....
Plein Air Painting at Home
by Simon Bland / 11 Apr 2013
The weather has been warm and dry the last two days so I made the most of it by trying to get an early start to this year's plein air painting. Fortunately our house sits on a few acres and I was able to just walk out into the back yard to get some painting done. I keep this field well ...
Me exhibiting at Morven Park Spring Horse Trials
by Simon Bland / 07 Apr 2013
Photo courtesy of John Flannery and used completely without his permission :-) Fortunately John showed up to interview for the article he is writing for the local newspaper on the day when it didn't rain. We had a great conversation, quite unlike any other interview I've ever given: &nbs...
Portrait of Honey
by Simon Bland / 05 Mar 2013
Honey: oil/linen 24"x24" Just finished this large portrait of Honey. I constructed the painting from a compilation of photos so I needed to do a lot of sketching and study work before I started working on the canvas. The block-in was done as a full value monochrome wash....
Sketch of Jake
by Simon Bland / 27 Jan 2013
A 14x18 sketch in oil of Jake. I did this alla prima (painted in one session) with a little reworking the next day. My intention was to keep the brush work as fresh as possible, but naturally I ended up scraping the paint all over with a palette knife....
Portrait of Flash: New Painting Step 11
by Simon Bland / 27 Jan 2013
In this final step, I've reworked the area immediately behind Flash's shoulder to soften the rectangle shape that appeared there. I think the painting is now complete....
Portrait of Two Children
by Simon Bland / 16 Jan 2013
This is the block in for a portrait of two children. Although I'm creating this from an old photograph provided by the customer I spent a long time getting the layout, values and scale to my liking before starting the block-in. Before starting to paint I did a large value-study in pencil on pa...