Advanced In-Person Icon Painting Workshop

Study Two Icons of Christ

Cambridge (NY, USA) May 13 - 17, 2025

Register here

Train to

Use several models for one image

Make sketches and study unique characteristics of medieval images

Find right (canonically and artistically) colour combinations

Paint face, hair, beard and garment with egg tempera.

Follow a step-by-step painting method to constantly control the result

Make the final adjustments to the image

SHORT DESCRIPTION

We made this 5-day advanced icon painting workshop for those, who have accomplished one or more of our workshops (including our Online Courses) for those who want to draw professionally and paint their icons freehand (without tracing).

The workshop will begin with a couple of general drawing assignments on face proportions and structure. After that we will use the presented medieval icons of Christ to draw several our own images. The aim is to learn how to bring to evidence individual charachteristics of these faces and borrow the expressiveness of these two faces. We will also work on composition and get a taste of different color schemes, trying the three main methods of face-painting.

The last two days of the workshop will be dedicated to process of painting the chosen icon of Christ with egg tempera on a gessoed board (provided).

GOAL

Amazed by the energy and expressiveness of some old image we may be tempted to appropriate its beauty by making a replica of the favourite piece. People are often moved by the idea, that by copying the outlines and colours they can capture the content and the spirit of the original artwork. By re-creating the form, they hope to gain the message, but it does not work this way. Unlike historical reconstructions of objects like vestments or utensils, icons and other pieces of art can only be authentic if the artist makes his/her own choices, moved by professionalism and inspiration.

The goal of this workshop is to study these two very different images of Christ. The one on your left was painted in the VIII century while the other one was accomplished sometime in the XIV or early XV century. At the workshop we will do our best create our own new versions, making every effort learning the methods and logics of the old masters.

PROGRAM

The first three days of the course will be completely devoted to drawing with pencil and brush, to studies of colour combinations and subtle nuances of image formating. Studying characteristic aspects of our models, drawing and choosing colours on paper students will practice professional freedom limited only by the tradition.

In the last two days students will be encouraged to draw and paint an icon of Christ with egg tempera. This will help to consolidate their new knowledge, to memorize the method and practice their new skills for future independent work.

WHAT TO EXPECT

FOR WHOM

For those, who have accomplished at least one of our workshops (including our Online drawing courses)

COST

$1100 for 5 full days.

The fee includes:
Professional instructions and all materials including gessoed board, paints, and brushes (for the period of the course).

Students are invited to join the monks for meals.

To reserve a space, visit the New Skete web-site: https://newskete.org/iconography-workshop

SCHEDULE

Period: May 13 - 17, 2025.
Icon Workshop Daily Agenda:
7:15 am – Matins – Holy Wisdom Church
8:00 am – Continental Breakfast – Emmaus House
8:30 am – Workshop - Emmaus House
12:15 pm – Dinner – Monks’ Refectory
1:00 pm – Tersext
1:15 pm – Workshop – Emmaus House
4:30 pm – End
5:00 pm – Vespers – Holy Wisdom Church
6:00 pm – Supper – Monks’ Refectory

ACTIVITIES

Drawing, painting, hands-on demonstrations, lectures and discussions with personalised mentoring and comprehensive feedback.

Attendees of the workshop are invited to participate in daily church services and to be the guests of the monks for meals.

NECESSARY MATERIALS

We provide students with all the necessary tools and materials, however we recommend bringing own aprons, textbooks and pens/pencils for notes.

LOCATION

The New Skete Monastery
273 New Skete Rd Cambridge,
NY 12816, USA
Website:
https://newskete.org/

See the New Skete on Google maps >>

Iconography Workshop. Paint icon of Christ in the New Skete (NY, USA)

Preview

PRATICE

The workshop will begin on Tuesday May 13 at 8:30 AM and will end about 4:30 PM on Saturday May 17, 2025. Every day we will work according to daily agenda (see above) from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM with one hour break for lunch and tersext and two or more short breaks for lectures with coffee or tea. We will start our study refreshing our knowledge about frontal face proportions, construction, and structure and then begin to make sketches and study the provided models in detail. We will suggest several color combination guidelines for each of the icons and experiment with the main traditional methods of face painting to choose the most appropiate way indivisually. On the second or third day the students will start painting their own icons of Christ on gessoed boards (provided).

PLAN

Day 1.
Refreshing memory of proportions, first basic drawings, first analyzis of models

Day 2.
Sketching and drawing. Finding best artistic solutions for each image. Finding apropriate way to borrow the most expressive details.

Day 3.
Making a tentative version of the future icon. Finiding right amount of elaboration and establising principles of future relationships.

Day 4.
Painting process. Opaque and transparent layers. Glazing. Highlighting. Trying different methods of face painting.

Day 5.
Painting process. Painting the icon of Christ on a gessoed board (provided).

Ready to Enroll?

The Iconography Workshop "Study Two Icons of Christ" will begin on Tuesday May 13 at 8:30 AM and will end about 4:30 PM on Saturday May 17, 2025 and the cost will be $1100 USD for 5 full days.

The fee includes: Professional instructions and all materials including board, paints, and brushes. Students are invited to join the monks for meals. This includes a continental breakfast each morning, dinner (the monks eat their main meal of the day at 12:15pm), and a light supper. The registrations are handled by the New Skete. To reserve a space you can either visit The New Skete web-site or click the button below to make a registration.

Accommodations are not included. Due to the small class size. the cost of hosting this workshop, and the distance the instructor(s) will be traveling, we must adhere to a strict cancellation policy. Your $300 non-refundable deposit must be received at time of registration. You may pay the balance in full at any time, otherwise a monthly payment plan will be established. (Reminders will be emailed.) Balance must be paid in full by March 14, 2025. All payments are non-refundable unless the workshop is canceled due to lack of participation.

Should circumstances require you to cancel, New Skete will make all reasonable attempts to fill the vacancy. If the vacancy is filled, New Skete will refund all but the $300 deposit.

The registrations are handled by the New Skete. To make a registration, click the button below and you will be automatically redirected to a secure online credit card processing site to make your deposit.

Registration

If you wish to be informed about our future workshops and other events, email us directly or subscribe to our regular Newsletter at the bottom of this page.

OUR TEAM

Philip Davydov and Olga Shalamova. Sacred Murals Studio (originally: Saint Petersburg, Russia, since March 2022: Tbilisi, Georgia).

Philip Davydov

Iconographer, iconography instructor and web-site administrator

Second-generation iconographer with M.A. from State Fine Art Academy of Saint Petersburg (faculty of Theory and History of Art).
2001 co-founder of Sacred Murals Studio (St. Petersburg, Russia).
2005 - present: iconography instructor in the USA, Italy, Australia and other countries.
2006 - present: member of Union of Artists of Russia
2009 - 2022: professor at Institute of Theology and Sacred Arts (Saint Petersburg).
2021 November - December: head of Iconography School of St Petersburg Seminary.
2022 March - present: Iconographer, iconography instructor working in Tbilisi (Georgia).

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Olga Shalamova

Iconographer and iconography instructor

M.A. from State Fine Art Academy of Saint Petersburg (faculty of Theory and History of Art).
2009 - present: ember of the Union of Artists of Russia
2015 - 2021: chief artist of the embroidery workshop at Feodorovsky Cathedral in Saint Petersburg. 2022 March - present: Iconographer, iconography instructor working in Tbilisi (Georgia).

Author of the majority of our offline and online courses.
Actively participates in exhibitions of contemporary ecclesiastical art in Russia and abroad.

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