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.
Painting Tip #2: Simplify the Landscape
by Simon Bland / 15 May 2017
This is an older plein air painting that I reworked in the studio. I simplified the composition and added a few sheep for added interest....
Painting Tip #1: A Simple Way to Improve a Sky Painting
by Simon Bland / 12 May 2017
For an artist there is nothing better than having good paintings on hand, ready to sell. And turning an old painting into a better one will make you happier than finding money in an old coat pocket....
Painting of a Chicken as an Abstract Figure
by Simon Bland / 09 May 2017
Chicken. 12x12, oil on linen panel. 2017 As I get ready for the summer shows, I decided to go through some old paintings in my studio to see if I can make them better. My goal is to reuse the ideas behind them. I'm doing this because our new dog needs babysitting and I'm finding it difficult ...
Experimenting With Artistic Ideas
by Simon Bland / 05 May 2017
Storming sea (working title). 8x10, oil on linen panel. 2017 A couple of weeks ago I listened to an interview with Kirstine Reiner Hansen on the Savvy Painter podcast. She talked about the need for all artists to set aside time to create things just for themselves, that is, to do wor...
Avoiding Muddy Colors in a Plein Air Painting
by Simon Bland / 22 Apr 2017
The spring finally caught up with me today and I got outside for my first plein air event of the year. I painted with the Plein Air Painters of Washington at Washington Park Arboretum. ...
Another Portrait of a Long Haired Dachshund
by Simon Bland / 19 Apr 2017
Tootsie. 11x14, oil on linen. 2017 I've just finished a second version of the portrait of Tootsie, this one done from head-on rather than from the side. Although the photo reference I used was a poorer quality than the first, I think the color scheme and temperature of the light (cool light/war...
Why Do Artists Think Preliminary Studies Are So Important?
by Simon Bland / 30 Mar 2017
In this article, I explain why it's important to put a little effort into a preliminary study, especially when you work on a portrait. ...
Painting a Long Haired Dachshund
by Simon Bland / 14 Mar 2017
Tootsie. 14x11, oil on linen. 2017 This newly completed painting ranks as one of the most demanding I've ever done: the long hair, head-on lighting, complex shadows, and strong colors all combined to make the work particularly complex. Four iterations of design were tried out before I...
A Landscape Painting Based on Analogous Colors
by Simon Bland / 21 Feb 2017
This painting features one of my favorite locations in Loudoun County. It it one of the few places in the Loudoun Valley where the landscape is flat and you have an unobstructed view across several fields all the way to the foot of the Blue Ridge....