Paul Letchworth
- Nov 15, 2023
- 2 min read

Paintings progress Sept - Dec

Updated: Dec 11, 2023

About my current work

The subject source for my recent paintings are the Grand cycling Tours, with my inspiration coming from the Tour de France, Giro D'italia and La Vuelta.In these spectacular events, athletes ride around 2200 miles in 21 days with nearly 60,000 metres of climbing, 22 teams with 8 riders are invited to take part, competing each day for anything up to 6 hours. For many years I have become immersed in these endurance events, the team tactics and decision making and how the race plays out, the individual battles and the skill and expertise in cycling and the excitement of the racing. The live stream and the playback enable me to slow down and consider the moments, which become the ingredients for my painting.

Over the Research and experimentation/Studio Culture modules in the MA course I have been working out 3 different paintings. The Mark Cavandish (Stage 21 Giro D'italia 2023) series, The Peloton series and Up Michaelgate (Lincoln Grand Prix 2023).

The Mark Cavandish (Stage 21 Giro D'italia 2023) series

Mark Cavandish has been riding in this race for 15 years and is 38 years old. In this short clip, you will see a slowed down finish line clip within a Eurosport interview. Sat watching this final stage of the Giro made me want to paint something about this. https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/giro-d-italia/2023/i-didnt-expect-him-to-win-a-stage-robbie-mcewen-stunned-as-mark-cavendish-defies-again-at-giro-d-italia_vid1920523/video.shtml

During the evolution of these paintings I have returned again and again to different sources - GCN /Eurosport and Recordings that I made of Stage 21. There are at least 3 different angles of the final sprint which have opened up all sorts of possibilities. Using more than a dozen frames taken as screenshots or as photos of the tv screen playing, these images have become the reference to my practice.

Giro D'italia Cav Acrylic on paper