'Tri #1' - finished piece (Chrissie Wellington)

I have finished and renamed the Chrissie Wellington sketch painting.
I am so pleased with how this turned out and cannot wait to try it on a larger scale.
The whole thing was painted in acrylics using a 1" wide flat brush to add colour onto a black background.  So much fun.

I also love looking at how other artist's paintings progress so here it is again.

'Cycling saved my life.' - Graeme Obree

This excerpt from a BBC 'Hardtalk' is captivating.  Hell Obree is captivating.
Click on the image to be taken to the video. 

A little bit of David Millar too.

That's two Scotsmen in one post - if only there was a Chris Hoy interview too.


.

Happy 4th Birthday to my wonderous Molly.

Four years ago last night Sarah and I watched Andy Goldsworthy's 'Rivers and Tides' during the early hours of labor.  5 hours later Molly arrived in the world headfirst and underwater in our apartment in Brooklyn.

I want to thank Sarah and Molly for all the magic that has happened since.


"Happy Birthday, Molly."




.

Chrissie Wellington in progress

 Here are progress shots of the first sketch painting for a portrait of Chrissie Wellington.

Just playing with this painting style, seeing what happens.

The National Art Museum of Sport has a call out for a show called the 'Female Athlete'.  I looked at the possibility of focusing on a female cyclist such as Nicole Cooke, Emma Pooley or Marianne Vos for example but to be honest a woman on a bike in helmet and glasses, painted, could too easily look like a male rider.  Chrissie Wellington here looks great and what a representative of the achievements of women in sport.

More on Chrissie as the paintings progress.


.

Scene in Chicago

Randomness....

 I used to love 'Battle of the Planets' when I were a young'un, you call it 'Gatchaman' over here.

This bike would have made for a fun episode though.

 Hannah's Bretzel like to pretend that they deliver on one of these.

 Illustration in a picture book

Tote bag drawn by Christine Berrie and sold by Blue-Q

.

Photos from the closing party at the Chicago Bike Winter Art Show

Friday the 9th March was the closing night of the 15th Bike Winter Art Show which I was once again very proud to be part of.  I actually managed to attend with camera and took the following snaps.

My piece of wall

 'Untitled' drawing by Casey Stringham

 'Extra-Ordinary' photograph by Britton Black

Dance performance and fashion show after the jump.

'Return of the Flying Scotsman: Inside the mind of Graeme Obree

'Humans Invent' is a digital magazine celebrating innovation, craftsmanship and design. In partnership with Sharp.

Here they interview Graeme Obree as he embarks on his quest to better the  Human Powered Land Speed Record.  As you know I have a soft spot for Graeme, his story is inspirational and heartbreaking.

Return of the Flying Scotsman: inside the mind of Graeme Obree from Humans Invent on Vimeo.

What an enthusiasm - truly wonderful.  Gotta love him.  Gotta get painting.....  and based on comments in the interview it's possible his design will have him lying on his stomach in the HPV - that's different.  All the best Graeme.

 Humans Invent also has an article written by Tom Southam called "Lab Testing: Conditioning and fine-tuning sportsmen."  

The magazine is supported by  electronics giant 'Sharp' whose name also adorns the jerseys of 'Rapha Condor Sharp'.

There is more directly cycling related material on the site and well as a a wealth of interesting articles on everything from the last English swordsmith to getting back to basics when designing espresso machines.  Humans Invent is here.

'Chongming Bicycle Park' by JDS Architects

JDS Architects of Holland have put together an interesting proposal for a bicycling center including parking, museum and multipurpose hall.  The main museum proposes using a double helix ramp one interior and one exterior which would enable visitors to ride around the exterior of the building and up to the roof.  It looks quite beautiful too. 

I have mixed feelings about the aesthetics of the other buildings though.

As ever please visit the original post over on Designboom for much more detail.

Peugeot back in the bike business?

..in fact have they left the bike business?

Here is the DL122.  Probably not the best crit racer in fact I reckon it will be no more than a 'giveaway' with your next new Peugeot city runabout.

Still it is a pretty neat looking solution and I believe solid technically too, as it keeps it's center of gravity.

Originally on Designboom

'A Manual for Speed' - photo essays, videos, narratives, interviews and anecdotes, all of which illustrate the pursuit of speed.

....on a bicycle.  Which pretty much sums up what I am trying to paint/draw.

Some fantastic pieces up on this site and the photography is great.
Admittedly it looks like a promotional piece for Castelli, Team Exergy and Team Garmin Cervelo but it's good.

'Inside Brompton' and 'Bicycle Tools' - Thanks to Core 77

Here's a couple more stories originally featured on Industrial Design blog Core77.
Click on the links below to read the original post, here a few samples to whet your appetite.

Made in the UK:  Inside the Brompton Factory.

"....Brompton's a company admirably sticking to their roots by continuing to design/manufacture in their birthplace of West London. While that can't be cheap, the company points out that "Moving production offshore in search of lower labour costs, business rates and taxes would certainly bring some obvious benefits, but these would be outweighed by the consequences of losing control over quality and, ultimately, losing the confidence of the consumer." Hear hear.

They've put together an inside-the-factory video, so you can see where the magic happens."  Core 77

Click here for full post on Core 77.

Tommaso Guerra

Designsponge online has a short piece about Tommaso Guerra today.
Here is my version.
Tommaso's website gives examples of his work in advertising design and also his 'games' or artwork.
It includes quite a few references to cycling including these lovely street and door chalk messages:

.

Intervals

'Interval #1'

12" x 6" - acrylic on canvas

'Interval #2'

 12" x 6" - acrylic on canvas

Here are some more recently finished pieces and sketches that are certainly the start of something.

The Commentator

Brendt Barbur the founder of The Bicycle Film Festival has a grand plan.  He has put together an extraordinary team of film makers to tackle 'A Sunday in Hell' which was directed by Jorgen Leth.  This isn't a remake or update though, it is the realisation that it was Jorgen's passion that made 'A Sunday in Hell' the classic it is.

"What is the project?
In 1976 Danish Filmmaker Jorgen Leth made the legendary sports and cycling film, A Sunday in Hell, about the Paris Roubaix cycling race. It defined a genre and helped put the Paris-Roubaix on the global sporting map. Leth now comments on the race for television.
We plan to follow Leth as he prepares for and comments on the race. We’ll be with him from his hotel in Paris until the end of the race at the Roubaix Velodrome. Along the way our team of photographers and filmmakers will shoot footage of the race, crowds and Leth himself caught up in the excitement of sport. We’ll capture the intense effort of contemporary pro racers, and will be sure to include stars from cycling’s past." Kickstarter

The team need to raise $27,000 by Friday March 23 in order to film at this year's Paris Roubaix.
They have 2 weeks to find $23,000.

This is the kind of movie we all love right now and in these days of streaming video and free content we kind of lose touch with the fact that it all cost something, there is value.  Backers can claim anything from a postcard, a dvd, book to a private screening in your own home.

Read more about this exciting project and how you can participate over at Kickstarter:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2105237365/the-commentator

 

Katz and Hockney

Every time I visit the Art Institute in Chicago I always seem to find myself in the same places, in front of the Pollock and Rothko in one room and here, standing in front of Alex Katz on the left and David Hockney on the right.

These two may not be the greatest painters of all time but boy can they draw.

I'll have a couple of paintings that I have recently finished up here soon.
Also working on ideas and references for female athletes for a coming exhibition.


.

'Marry Me' - Little girl likes little boy. Little boy likes BMX bike. Something has to give.

Mullets too.

Happy Saint David's Day

America goes ape over St Patrick's Day.  Why?  

I guess it's too hard to dye your rivers red, white and green!

Cyclists would not seem to feature in the heroes of Welsh sport to the Welsh public, well maybe Nicole Cooke and Geraint Thomas would get the odd knowledgeable look in.  Wales is a rugby country and proudly so.  Back in the 1890's though......

"Some of the best Welsh cyclists travelled the globe to compete against the very best talents the cycling world could offer and earned massive fortunes, great fame and the undying adulation of adoring fans. The first big star to emerge from the Welsh scene was Arthur Linton, from Aberaman, near Aberdare.

Linton gained a number of victories in South Wales and across the border in 1890 and 1891, and came to be ranked as one of the “crack” riders in Britain with his outstanding performance in the Cucu Cocoa Cup, an important 24-hour race in London, in July 1893.
In that year, Linton decided to travel to Paris, the world centre of competitive track racing at that time, to compete in the big events that attracted crowds of more than 20,000 people.
In a series of competitions at prestigious venues such as the Vélodrome d’Hiver, the Vélodrome Buffalo, and the Vélodrome de la Seine, and against the best racers that Europe could muster, Linton won a great many races, set time records at a variety of different distances, and earned fame and fortune as one of the elite athletes of his day."

Read more here:  Wales Online

Illinois pays tribute to the Welsh:  

Full text of Illinois House Resolution HR0149 proclaming St. David's Day and the Welsh contribution to the State of Illinois

 

Welsh National Jersey 2010

Wales v USA in 2009.

.