David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) ahead of Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Victorious) working so hard to keep the distance – a brilliant descender and very exciting to watch..
I applied oil pastel here to add highlights and emphasis – Lovely gooey material with all the quality of oil.
David Gaudu
£175
Original watercolour, with pen and ink and oil pastel
10cm x 10cm (4in x 4in)
Unframed – options available on request
Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Victorious) in pursuit of David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) flying down a treachorous wet road – Colbrelli edged out Michael Matthews in the sprint but still not quite enough to catch Mark Cavendish for Green – yet. Cavendish survives these mountain stages – but Colbrelli is a good climber and sprinter – as is Matthews, so it remains to be seen how things will pan out over the next two days.
Colbrelli pursues!
£200
Original watercolour with pen and ink
15cm x 30 cm (6in x 12in)
Unframed – options available on request
Possibly a more honest title would be Pyrenees deluge – it was very wet in the mountains yesterday. It was a long stage, with many facets to the racing – I chose to have a more experimental day artistically – by introducing oil pastel here and there over the dry watercolour for highlights – in others, applying the oil pastel first and using watercolour over the top as a resist. This one uses the pastel after the watercolour and pen have dried.
I am still working on some of them but this one conveyed how I imagined the conditions must have felt – it was unseasonably cold and wet – Hopefully, conditions will be better for them today.
Pyrenees mist
£200
Original watercolour with pen and ink
20cm x 20cm (8in x 8in) image only
Unframed – options available on request
Some wonderful descending on show in this stage, as well as gruelling climbing at other times… Here is some wonderful descending by a trio which included Guillaume Martin his Cofidis colleague, Rubén Fernández and Mattia Cattaneo of Deceuninck Quick Step – Martin gave it everything but slipped to ninth place on the GC after starting the day in second place – these stages are cruel!
Flying down!
£200
Original watercolour with pen and ink
230cm x 15 cm (12in x 6in) image only
Unframed – options available on request
Lovely to make the posts and images from the Pyrenees and this one the way to Andorra, a favourite place – we used to go to ski in the winter, but not for a while – probably the knees wouldn’t be up to much these days, but such a great landscape – another classic Tour view – fab
Big peloton heading for Andorra
£200
Original watercolour with pen and ink
30cm x 15 cm (12in x 6in) image only
Unframed – options available on request
Hello and bonjour! The last day before the start of the 108th Tour de France, and to post of some of my favourite images over the years inspired by this great race.
I am amazed to admit that this will be the tenth time I have made drawings and paintings of the Tour, my first being in 2012. It was a turning point for my art (and my life) in many ways, so this will be a special race from a personal perspective too. The start of an anniversary year, in fact, so I am very excited to say the least.
The race itself promises, as ever, to be a diverse and colourful course, this year starting in Brittany, which will be lovely to see. Other highlights for me include a return to Albertville, Nîmes and Carcassonne along with a nice detour through Andorra, which will bring back memories of skiing holidays we enjoyed years ago.
From the the point of view of the race itself, there’s a lot to look forward to. Personally, I shall have everything crossed for Mark Cavendish, one the most exciting riders for me, but also one with his unfair share of bad luck lately. He is so passionate about this race and so close to Merckx’ record, it would be phenomenal to see him succeed.
Cavendish will ride alongside Julian Alaphilippe, another rider who is a joy to watch. I just love them both and I confess, Deceuninck–Quick-Step, will be a team I shall be keen to see do well.
La Course, the partner women’s race will take place tomorrow, following a similar route tothe men’s Stage 1 route, but the really significant news for women’s cycling is that Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme made a long-awaited confirmation that Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) will launch a women’s Tour de France in 2022. Finally!!! I can’t wait to draw it! A wonderful way to round off my anniversary year.
So, not long to go… let’s hope for good weather, good riding, no controversies, definitely no COVID, and plenty of scenes of France itself, for many of us, it will be our only way to visit this year. Wishing the teams and the Tour, the very best! Scroll down to see some pictures to whet your appetite!
Allez! Allez!
Next, the rain! It’s lovely to draw, not so great to ride…
