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.
How to Make Your Own Oil Sticks
by Simon Bland / 23 Jan 2017
A simple method and formula for making your own oil sticks....
How to Mount a Pochade Box to a Tripod
by Simon Bland / 18 Jan 2017
In this blog post I show an easy way to mount a pochade box onto a tripod using a few simple things that can be purchased at any hardware store....
Painting a Horse at Ayrshire Farm
by Simon Bland / 11 Jan 2017
Shire Horse Charcoal Sketch (WIP). 14x20, charcoal on paper. 2017 As I've done for the past few years, I decided to start the year with an animal painting. I've had a horse that I saw at Ayrshire Farm in VA in my mind for a while and thought this might be a good time to see what I could do with him....
Plein Air Painting Finished in the Studio
by Simon Bland / 21 Dec 2016
Carkeek Shore 2.0 (plein air/studio). 8x10, oil on linen panel. 2016. Back in May of this year I painted on location at Carkeek Park in Seattle. Although the day was really pleasant and there was no time pressure, I wasn't able to get the painting to a place where I was truly happy with it. After a ...
Rain Over Winslow
by Simon Bland / 14 Dec 2016
Rain Over Winslow. 6x10, oil on linen panel. 2016. As the pile of sketches in my studio can attest, trying to paint the Puget Sound in winter is a recipe for failure. Studio or plein air, it's especially hard to do because there's so little to actually build a painting around. The only thing that br...
Embracing Tonal Impressionism
by Simon Bland / 13 Dec 2016
In this blog post I discuss a painting done in a tonal impressionism style to see where it could be improved and compare it with a similar painting by Charles Warren Eaton. ...
A Light Display Over The Kitsap Peninsula
by Simon Bland / 13 Dec 2016
Dancing With the Light. 6x10, oil on linen panel. 2016 There is something particularly special about the light in winter in the Pacific Northwest. There are many days when the sky is completely overcast and the day is totally gray, yet sometimes the air is clear and the clouds race across th...
Painting Experiences Rather Than Things
by Simon Bland / 05 Dec 2016
Impressions of the Sunset. 5x7, oil on linen panel. 2016 Despite the obvious challenges, I really enjoy painting from less-than-perfect references. Having to bring something extra to the easel makes the result feel more like a personal statement than a slavish copy of an image. Here, I filled in the...
How Can I Make My Own Oil Painting Mediums?
by Simon Bland / 29 Nov 2016
Some recipes and methods for making your own oil painting mediums....