Online Drawing Course

Half Figure. Garments

July 03 - August 14, 2025

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What Is This Course About

This course teaches how to draw traditional garments of Christ and explains in detail how tunics and togas were actually put on, how exactly they were worn. The whole immense variety of ways a toga could be wrapped around the torso we have arranged into several types that you can easily recognize on any icon.

To avoid getting lost in the diversity of various folds we begin our studies from anatomy of the torso. It gives us the first clue to understand how the clothes conforms with the body, - it always reveals the body structure. The second clue is to learn how to identify the general flow of the fabric in multiple complementary folds. Only after that we split them into smaller ones.

Tunic and toga were worn by many early Christian saints, including the apostles. After learning to draw this type of clothes on icons of Christ, you will also be able to draw any saint in such clothes.

After completing this course, you will stop copying every single fold, because you will understand the basic principles of how to draw clothes. The next step in learning what influences why folds are depicted in one way or another can be our course on Composition.

Details

FOR WHOM

Anyone, interested in learning how to draw half figure garments. It is equally good for individuals with little to no iconography or drawing experience and for professional iconographers, willing to learn drawing garments properly.

PRICE

220 USD or 207 Euros for 5 assignments with personal feedback and 1 pre-recorded zoom lecture. Payments are non-refundable.

DURATION

7 weeks
5 assignments
July 03 - August 14, 2025


Drawings are accepted for corrections no later than August 12, 2025

RESOURCES PROVIDED

Each of the 5 assignments includes:
1 pre-recorded HD video tutorial
1 PDF file with lecture summary, historical information and homework,
1 folder with drawings,
1 folder (or folders) with medieval models.
All video tutorials remain available after the end of the Course.

LEARNING SUPPORT

Learners are expected to share photographs of their drawings in Google Classroom Stream. Personal corrections / comments / recommendations from the instructors are given within 48 hour (weekends excluded). Feedback is guaranteed for the whole period of the course either written in words or/and drawn directly on the uploaded photograph.

NECESSARY SUPPLIES

  • Paper: A4 or Letter format
  • Pencils: 2H and 2B (or 4B)
  • Eraser
  • Compass with two needles (caliper)
  • Ruler
  • Thick paper for templates
  • WILL I HAVE ENOUGH TIME

    We made this program as extensive as possible. Complex tasks are split into manageable parts, making the assignments squeezable between routine work and family duties. We hope it will allow everybody to study at their own pace. Please put about 40-50 minutes for watching the video tutorials & at least 2 hours for drawing practice per assignment.

    Practical Matters

    Our online courses allow to study iconography at your own schedule and pace. Every course is made as a series of assignments - pre-recorded video tutorials with homework instructions, which can be watched at any time during the course and remain available afterwards. We launch a new Google Classroom for each course and encourage our students to share photographs of their drawings and paintings as often as they wish. From our side we do our best to provide individual feedback for every students' drawing within 48 hours from the moment of publishing (weekends excluded).

    Online Iconography Drawing course Half Figure. Garments consists of 5 assignments and starts on September 5, 2024. Each of them provides practical instructions and all necessary information for drawing a certain type of folds. After the last assignment is published on October 3, students will have two more weeks to submit their homework for checking.

    Access to the Google Classroom and the video tutorials is granted for the online course participants only and must not be ever shared with anyone else in any form.

    Online Iconography Drawing Course

    Assignments Calendar

    ASSIGNMENT 1. How to Draw a Tunic: July 03, 2025
    ASSIGNMENT 2. How to Draw a Toga with one Shoulder Covered: July 10, 2025
    ASSIGNMENT 3. How to Draw a Toga with Both Shoulders Covered: July 17, 2025
    ASSIGNMENT 4. Subsequent Frontal Folds on Christ’s Toga: July 24, 2025
    ASSIGNMENT 5. Round Folds on Togas: July 31, 2025

    Learning Process

    Each of the 5 assignments includes:
  • a tutorial video
  • a PDF file with homework, historical information, lecture summary
  • a folder with drawings
  • a folder (or folders) with medieval models

  • Start each assignment by watching a video, taking notes and making sketches. They will help you to memorize all the new information. In order to master new skills and make them become your hands on experience you need a lot of drawing practice.

    The homework for each assignment is given at the end of the last video and also in description of each assignment. In the folders for each assignment you will find all the drawings and medieval models. We expect you to do your homework on paper of A4/Letter format and post it in the Google Classroom Stream.

    If you are not satisfied with your drawings and have not finished them, share your drawings at least once a week. Constructive feedback will help you to move on. If you are stuck and don’t understand how to proceed, post your drawing(s) with question(s) in the Stream. We are always ready to give a hand.

    The advantage of using the Stream is that you see other students' homework and teachers' feedback as well. You can spot a lot of interesting comments and suggestions that help in your work.

    We kindly ask you, take a photo of your drawings without distortion. When taking a photo, hold your cell phone or tablet parallel to the drawing. It will help a lot with your homework correction.

    We hope that at least for these one or two hours of drawing you will switch off or put your cell phone on “silent mode”. We also recommend asking people around not to disturb you and provide some peace for concentrated work. We insist on this because the learning process is more intense and effective if performed with a complete immersion in the process, thoughtfully and carefully.

    If you experience any technical difficulties with Google Classroom, please let us know via email. We will answer you as quickly as we can.


    Ready to Enroll?

    Iconography Drawing Course Half-Figure. Garments lasts for 7 weeks (July 03 - August 14, 2025), consists of 5 assignments and costs $220 or 207 Euros
    This course is for anyone, interested in learning how to draw half figure garments. It is equally good for individuals with little to no iconography or drawing experience and for professional iconographers, willing to learn drawing garments properly. Making your registration payment, please provide a valid email address, - it will also be used to send you a personal invitation to Google Classroom and all the further communications.

    For payments in US Dollars:

    For Payments in Euros:


    If within 80 days from the purchase date you experience health issues forbidding you to participate in the chosen course, we will fully refund the cost of your order.

    Making your reigistration payment, please provide a valid email address. It will be used to send you a personal invitation to Google Classroom and for all the further communications. The Assignments are emailed on Thursdays at 00:00 AM Moscow time (GMT+3). Please, let us know if you have any further questions. If you wish to be informed about our future courses and other events, get in touch with us (top-right of this page) or subscribe to our regular Newsletter at the bottom of this page.