Creative collaboration is nourishment for the soul. So, when writer Duncan Larkin proposed we team-up for a series of ART-icles (horrible pun) on his resurrected Roads Mills Laps or RML blog, I was in. As it happens, his first subject is Olympian and Reckless Running brand ambassador Anthony Famiglietti — someone I’ve known and respected since 1992.
Duncan fired over some snaps of Fam, and I decided to work from this fantastic photograph taken by Marcus Tanner. It captures a great deal in one frame.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x16ptef_anthony-famiglietti-portrait-by-borbay_creation
I have a step-by-step breakdown after this, but if you want the entire process in less than 60 seconds, check this video featuring the incredible lyricism of MH the Verb.
I’ll weave a bit of background into each image… beginning with the red/red-orange under-painting. Fam went to Patchogue Medford on Long Island… I went to nearby Smithtown HS. We would match up for a duel meet each spring, and raced nearly every weekend.
I did a quick drawing to bang out the essential planes… dark, light, some mid-tones. Fam was ahead of his time in HS — a throwback to the front-runners of yesteryear. He was, I believe, something like a 9:20/4:20 — times he accomplished with virtually no competition. If he was a HS runner 10 years later, he probably would have run about 4:10/8:50. As strange as it sounds to the outsider, the internet dramatically improved running across the board. People were seeing results and extensive training regimes… 9:20 when I was in HS was really strong, today, it is approaching average with so many kids under 9:00.
Shadows and highlights… from here, it is all about adding mid-tones. This may surprise some people, but I was a bit of a shit-talker back in the day (I know, imagine?) As a Freshman, I was mouthing off about trying to take down Anthony in the 3200 at a duel meet. Well, I learned my lesson 400 meters in when Fam took it out in 65 and cruised to a 10:05 victory… I was a well-humbled 10:40.
With the two extremes laid out, I began to mix subtle tonal shifts from dark-to-light. Fam went on to a spectacular career at the University of Tennessee — and now competes as a pro with outrageously good PB’s of 3:35 for the 1500, and 13:11 for the 5000. Once he met the competition, his game hit a new stratosphere.
With little slivers of the red under-painting showing in the face, I’m about three tones away. That Fam is a talented runner is obvious, but his passions go far beyond the track. He’s an artist, a musician, a brand ambassador for Reckless Running, a Husband and a Father.
Now, all that remains is the background. We both lived on the Upper East Side for a while, and I would run into him from time-to-time. Fam is and has always been a good guy…
Boom. Fam. 12″X12″ Acrylic on Canvas.
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