A Tour de France Inspired painting experiment

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Mark Cavendish, Digital Painting

I really enjoyed my experiment with the portrait of Harry Kane and decided to have another go.

This time with the amazing Mark Cavendish, the British sprinter cyclist who is currently testing his limits at the Tour de France. He has just survived the gruelling mountains of stage 17 and has two more sprint chances to come to secure the Green Jersey.

This is my second experiment with the brilliant Rebelle 4, painting software, created by Escape Motions, and I cannot emphasise enough what a joy it is to use. It simulates oil paint and texture in a way that feels so natural.

The sped up time-lapse below gives you a flavour of how I use it, working with wet on wet oils, building up the surface from light to heavy paint.

Exploring sports as context for portraits has been really exciting for me, in many ways it plays with many of the aspects I am drawn to in the realms of dance and performance, namely animation, movement and that active expression of an internal energy.

Do you have a lively portrait in mind that you'd like me to paint?

I invite you to check out my Commission service page, by clicking the button below, where you’ll find all the info you’re looking for.