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.
Painting clouds
by Simon Bland / 07 Dec 2012
My efforts to paint cloud formations have met with very mixed results over the years. They often end up too heavy or, worse still, muddy. With this study I set out to paint something more like real cloud formations. I painted the whole sky over with a thin layer of mid-tone grey mixed wit...
Portrait of Flash: New painting step 9
by Simon Bland / 05 Dec 2012
Flash (WIP): 24x30 oil on linen, 2012 The finished painting with all the touch up, edge work and other refinements completed. I have it sitting on the mantlepiece in the family room so I can get a good look at it and enjoy it in natural room light....
Portrait of Flash: New painting step 8
by Simon Bland / 03 Dec 2012
I finally started the process of laying in the background. The most difficult and time consuming part of this was deciding on the best grey to use. Over the course of two hours I tried seven or eight different mixes and finally settled on a simple combination of Grumbacher raw umber and ...
Self portrait in charcoal
by Simon Bland / 30 Nov 2012
Self portrait from life. 2012. I used homemade charcoal made from some honeysuckle vines that were cut down last year. I wrapped the vines in foil and cooked them in the barbeque at 400F for three hours. I was able to get four values from the charcoal alone. The slightly off-white paper ...
Portrait of Flash: New painting step 7
by Simon Bland / 29 Nov 2012
The hooves are now painted in, although only three are showing so far. I spent a full morning on them. I worked on the body to build up the paint layer a little and it's starting to look more finished. I also wiped some extra tone into the background to give me a better sense of where to...
Portrait of Flash: New painting step 6
by Simon Bland / 28 Nov 2012
At this point I've basically finished painting the head and I don't think it will need much else doing to it. I've also painted in most of the tail (all except the end). The color looks more accurate in this photo....
Portrait of Flash: New painting step 5
by Simon Bland / 28 Nov 2012
I've laid down most of the body in one long painting session. Actually a morning and afternoon in the studio with lunch and a nap in between. I paint much better when I'm rested. Some of the half-tone areas will need more work, but by getting everything down at once I've kept some of the...
Portrait of Flash: New painting step 4
by Simon Bland / 26 Nov 2012
With the paint from the previous washes still wet I've started to apply the dark shadows using a mix of burnt sienna and ultramarine then I've applied a halftone right next to it. I thinned the paint just a little and applied it with a sable brush....
Portrait of Flash: New painting step 3
by Simon Bland / 26 Nov 2012
In this stage I've basically started the process of separating the shadow areas from the lit areas. I've done this with a thin wash of "faux umber", a mix of ultramarine, burnt sienna and yellow ochre applied very thinly. After that I put in some of the half tones in the lit areas to hel...