Five Stages

8" x 10" Oil on Linen.

Peter Sagan collected a literal hand full of stage wins at the Tour of California this year. It will be interesting to see him head to head with all the other top sprinters at the Tour de France. I can see him giving Cavendish a run for his money since he continued this dominance in Switzerland. I cropped my composition to put his hand at the upper left sweet spot. The shoulder to his left is Boonen.

Chris at the Finish #2

12" x 12" Oil on Canvas.

Here is a second complete study of Chris and Jono in the chute with Chris Horner. They really were this close and the crowd along both sides is "crowding in" more. Now comes the time to choose the final format and what combination of the studies is a good plan for a larger painting.

Square Study

Approx 5" x 5"
(Not for sale.)

This small square study shows another idea for Chris, Jono, and Chris in the chute. I think the project will continue with a larger version in this format. The goal is to give more of the feeling of the crowd on both sides.

Chris at the Finish

18" x 12" Oil on linen.

This is a view of Chris Horner coming down the finishing "chute" at this year's Solvang Time Trial Stage of the Amgen Tour of California. The motorcycle should really not be here, but sometimes you miss the deviation turn. Oops! It almost looks like they are trying to beat the eventual winner to the finish line.

Andy Schleck #2

18" x 24" Oil on panel

Another Andy Schleck painting. This time I kept details at bay and worked on top of an abstract blue and yellow background. Unfortunately, the photo of the painting has some glare in it.

Tour of California Stage 8

8" x 10" Oil on panel

$100 - Shipping to US included.

With this painting, I have completed one of each Stage of the Tour of California. It was fun looking back at the race. Jono captured the break on the climb as they were "breaking" out into the sun. I really liked the contrast that allowed me to play up the highlights on the riders arms and legs.

It was a great day at the tour. The weather was beautiful and there was still a chance for changes in the overall. The course was twisty on the climb and descent, so it was a nice motorcycle riding day too. The crowd was also huge and active in places. I still wonder if Radio Shack played their cards right. It seems like Horner could have upset for the win if Levi had not attacked behind when Rogers was isolated.

Andy Schleck

18" x 24" Oil on panel

$400 - plus shipping cost.

Andy Schleck was one of the animators for the big Stage 6 day at the Tour of California this year. He was still in the Luxembourg National Champion jersey in May, so he wasn't as easy to spot at the Tour de France when he was back in the normal Saxo Bank kit. In person, it is striking how thin he is; this climber is not about to carry weight in his upper body.

In this painting, I tried to capture the bright sun on the pavement by layering white over a blue underpainting. It surprisingly took several days to fill in the details on this one; my original plan was to go more abstract, but I got carried away toward realism.

Tour of California Stage 7

10" x 8" Oil on panel.

$100 - Shipping to US included.

Stage 7 was the downtown LA time trial. This is the view from the back side of the start ramp with the World Champ about to start (thanks to Jonathan Devich.) Spartacus is a class act on the time trial bike. Those rainbow stripes are a great tradition in the sport.

I remember it as a warm day in the sun checking bikes for UCI compliance. It might not be a fun job and the rules are kind of crazy, but it is important to ensure all of the riders are treated equally. It is also an interesting place to see each rider and their bike up close.

Tour of California Stage 6

8" x 10" Oil on panel.

$100 - Shipping to US included.

Stage 6 of the Tour of California was the "Queen Stage" of the race. That means it was the longest and hardest day of the race. The route profile was jagged with a lot of climbing up to Big Bear Ski Resort. While the sprinters and tired riders struggled with the time cut, the stars went into the breakaway. For this painting, I used a shot from Casey Gibson's coverage with Andy Schleck and George Hincapie; then I edited out the other two riders in the view.

It was a blazing hot day until we got up to altitude. The sunshine made the pavement as bright as in this painting. We had great twisty climbs and wide open descents. Late in the stage, George made his bid along the highway overlooking the LA basin, but in the end a fairly big group came to the finish together.

Tour of California Stage 5

8" x 10" Oil on panel.

$100 - Shipping to US included.

Peter Sagan was the young star of the tour. This was his first score, but he had been close already. The real surprise came with his win the next day. I had to choose between this shot that shows the blinding sunshine of the day and one of his celebratory wheelies. He is still a kid (thus the white young rider leader jersey.)

From my point of view, I remember this as a hot day. Nice riding roads and we got to zip between the field and the break a couple of times. The finish was just plain hot, but the crowd was good and appreciated the race coming to Bakersfield.

Tour of California Stage 4

10" x 8" Oil on panel.

This view from Stage 4 catches the riders passing Jonathan Devich's camera. The shot captures a nice landscape with the road leading into the picture and curving into the distance. I am somewhat interested in seeing this as a larger landscape, but a detailed rendering of the riders would take quite a while. This painting departs from the others in the series since it doesn't crop the reference scene very much at all.

Stage 4 of the tour covered familiar roads with a nice variation. The start climbed out of San Jose on Sierra Road as in past years. The ride along the ridges on Calaveras Road is a lot of fun on a motorcycle. It is twisty without being overly technical since it is largely level. The stage continued down a different canyon than previous years on its way to Modesto. It seemed like we descended for more than on hour. We really got to work as the radio repeater was spotty in the canyon. It was a beautiful day and a challenge.

Tour of California Stage 3

8" x 10" Oil on panel.

$100 - Shipping to US included.

Stage 3 of the 2010 ATOC was just as decisive as expected. It ended with the final podium crossing the finish line together. This painting is from a crop of a Jonathan Devich photo of Levi and DZ. I was after capturing the intense sunshine especially through the shadow on the pavement. Most of the finish photos of the stage are overexposed from the bright pavement and capture a great moment where DZ almost loses to a bike throw. I most remember the moist rain forest climbs and California coastlines from that day, so there are a lot of choices to sum up the stage.

Even though we had wet pavement under the trees the weather was pleasant for stage 3. We had a pretty strange start with Garmin holding up the ending of the neutral section by changing bikes a couple of times. The race was finally stopped on the road to get things resolved. This was highly unusual and the Garmin mechanic actually pushed over a motoref bike while getting out of the team car! Justice was served through some fines and the fact that their delay caused the live coverage to end just before Zabriskie won the stage. Ironic Karma.

And yes, you may notice that I missed the Livestrong trim on Levi's left arm. I think I'll need to touch that up....:^)

Tour of California Stage 2

10" x 8" Oil on panel.

With this painting from Stage 2, I worked to get this guy's likeness without getting to detailed (i.e. "tight"). There are a lot of photos of this guy until he dropped out; he seems to attract attention. He also seems to be keeping his glasses in his helmet a lot this year so we can see the expression on his lean face. This is a tight crop from a Jonathan Devich photo.

As the timeboard team, my wife and I prepared for a rainy day all decked out in motorcycle raingear. We stayed dry at the start on Stage 2, but we knew the rain was coming. It was a wet day on the moto, but not as uncomfortable as in previous years. We were between the breakaway and the main field with Mike Friedman at the top of the second to last climb (as he successfully clawed his way back.) Things came together fast on the last climb and we moved ahead to clear out of the way. We descended gingerly as we listened to the reports of crashes behind us. The riders were also decked out in rain gear that they mostly wore to the finish. As you can see in this painting, Lance is wearing several layers.

Tour of California Stage 1

8" x 10" Oil on panel.
Sold

While I was away from painting, I enjoyed working with friends at the Amgen Tour of California. I was lucky enough to be the timeboard driver this year. I thought I would work through a series of paintings based on the stages. Stage 1 gave us a beautiful day and ride from Nevada City to Sacramento. The script went according to plan with a breakaway that was caught. The field sprint ended with Mark Cavendish winning in his usual style.

Thanks to Casey Gibson for permission to use his photos as reference.