Here’s a breezy mountainside painting that I managed to complete this week. All for myself this one and shortly to be added to my ‘Festival & Sports’ collection. The Tour de France is one of the most followed events of the Summer and felt like it should be featured. Plenty of popping colour and challenging shapes (bikes are often voted in the top 10 hardest things to draw)… but ultimately a painterly Alpine background for me to relax into!
I posted a colouring page based on the composition drawing for this Tour de France illustration a few weeks back. Did you give it a try? One of the things I particularly like about it is the different combinations of colours that could be chosen for the riders. I plumbed for the obvious yellow jersey out in front. But I reckon you could go with any team colours and make it an interesting a unique picture every time. I suspect my more cycling savvy friends will try to identify: 1. The riders, 2. The bike models and 3. The Mountain stage featured. But sadly my representation is a mix of references and I simply enjoyed picking out details for their shape and colour.
As you can see from the photo above; it was a particularly good week for bright, Spring light in the studio. I was fascinated by the sun dancing over my paper. It made the painting process very enjoyable. Here’s a Timelapse if you also fancy watching the flickering rays across my page!
I haven’t framed this one up yet, but hope to do so next week. I also have a new black mount I’d like to try. Sounds a little drastic, but I’m hoping it might offer an extra punch to my line work and colours (It will certainly be distinctive!)
