"The Manx Missile"

6 x 6"

Acrylic on board

I thought I'd celebrate the start of this year's Tour de France with another cycling painting. I used some of the tv footage from the 2009 Tour for reference, and this particular painting is based on the final sprint in Paris, which was won by Mark Cavendish (aka "The Manx Missile"). He had an absolutely fantastic Tour that year, winning a total of 6 stages; but the Green Jersey eluded him, and was claimed by the Norwegian Thor Hushovd, whom you can see in the background. Here's hoping Cav can do well again this year and maybe win that jersey. Go Cav!

I decided to use acrylics for this painting, which I haven't used in a long time. It feels like a bit of a breakthrough for me in terms of using acrylics. I worked with them for years and never got comfortable with them. The great advantage of acrylics is they dry fast. The great disadvantage of acrylics is they dry fast. They just never suited my way of working, but when it comes to doing these small cycling paintings they are perfect.

No doubt I'll be doing a few more of these during the next three weeks (besides riding my bike of course...)