Icon Painting Workshop for Beginners

Icon of Christ

Melbourne (Australia) POSTPONED

Register here

What We Will Do?

Draw a frontal face freehand.

Prepare and use egg tempera in a variety of ways.

Learn different methods for working with medieval models.

Learn to arrange an image to the format.

Paint a face, hair, beard and clothes with egg tempera.

SHORT DESCRIPTION

We made this 5-day foundational icon painting workshop for iconographers who want to learn free hand professional drawing and painting. The idea of this workshop is to teach students to paint their own icons without tracing.

The main targets of this course are the face proportions and structure, so we will begin from drawing different medieval images of Christ. Trying several options in composition and colour combination we will get to know the three main methods of face-painting. The final image will be painted with egg tempera on paper.

The workshop program is very intense and consists of various activities. Theoretical lessons with slides will be dedicated to theology, theory and history of iconography, problems and issues of contemporary icon painting. Drawing and painting are always taught and practiced in a focused and concentrated way without any distractions such as conversation or music. This enables the icon to evolve at a slow pace, enabling us to live and understand each step deep in our being; this is achieved most effectively in a quiet and silent environment.

GOAL

Making a new version of an old icon may seem easy, yet it is a complex mission. We have chosen this icon of Christ (XII century, Svaneti Georgia) with most clear details, however, to turn any model into a thoughtful and a prayerful icon we need to perform a research, gain some artistic skills and learn how to use our creativity responsibly.
This course teaches how to work professionally, finding classical human face proportions in medieval models, and how to use them as references creating icons as unique pieces of liturgical art.

PROGRAM

The first 2.5 days of the course will be completely devoted to drawing with pencil and brush. By studying different aspects of models, drawing and associating colours on paper, students will practice professional freedom limited only by traditional responsibilities.
In the last two days we will draw and paint a large image of Christ with egg tempera on thick paper. This will help students to consolidate their knowledge and to memorize the method and the skills they will have gained for the future independent work.

WHAT TO EXPECT

FOR WHOM

For everybody interested in learning iconography and traditional art of drawing and painting. The course is adapted to beginners and for those iconographers who want to stop tracing/copying icons and begin drawing the face with a free hand.

COST

$970 AUD for 5 full days. This includes teaching and all the necessary tools and materials. Lodging and meals are not included.

SCHEDULE

Period: January 13 - 17, 2025.
Every workshop day starts at 9:30 and finishes at 17:00 with an hour-long lunch break around midday. Two more short tea breaks for lectures & discussions are scheduled to be at about 10.30 and 15:00.

ACTIVITIES

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

NECESSARY MATERIALS

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

LOCATION

Australian Catholic University (ACU)
Art Space, 26 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, 3065, (Victoria), Australia
See the ArtSpace on Google maps >>

Classroom

preview

PRATICE

The workshop will begin the 13th January at 9:30 in the morning and will end about 17:00 on Friday the 17th of January 2025. Every day we will work from 9:30 to 17:00 with one hour break for lunch and two more short breaks for lectures. We will start our study drawing frontal face proportions, construction, and structure with pencil on paper. After performing several exercises we will begin drawing and paint with egg tempera, learning the traditional construction of face, hair, beard and garments. After the hair we will discuss the traditional concept "Light VS Colour" and try three main traditional methods of face painting. During the last 2.5 days the students will start painting an image of on thick paper.

PLAN

Day 1.
Basic face proportions. How to draw face oval, nose, eyes, lips. How to connect head and neck to she shoulders. Pencil drawing, no models.

Day 2.
Drawing process: The importance of modelling the shape of the face. Drawing the hair and beard, finding individuality of the image. Drawing with a brush. Arranging the image on paper or icon panel.

Day 3.
Learning the basic principles of egg tempera: preparation of egg emulsion, mixing colours, varying the consistency of paint, learning to apply the paint evenly. Starting the final image.

Day 4.
Drawing and Painting the final image of Christ on paper. Learning how to make color transitions, glazing, highlighting. Basic methods of face painting.

Day 5.
Drawing and Painting the final image of Christ on paper.

Ready to Enrol?

The full cost of this off-line Iconography workshop is $970 AUD, it covers teaching and necessary tools and materials provided. It does not include housing and meals. To reserve a space you can pay $120 AUD (approximately equal to $80 USD). The rest - $850 AUD is paid during the workshop.

This workshop will begin on January the 13th and end on January the 17, 2025. We invite beginners, and also those who want to switch from tracing their models to the professional approach to painting an image.

Making your registration payment please provide a valid email address, - it will only be used for personal communications. The group is limited to 16 participants, students are accepted on a first-come first-served basis. The registration payments are non-refundable, unless the workshop is cancelled due to lack of participation.

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

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).
Teaching iconography in US, Italy, Australia and other countries since 2005.
2006 Member of Union of Artists of Russia
2009 - 2022 Professor at Institute of Theology and Sacred Arts (Saint Petersburg).
Head of Iconography School of St Petersburg Seminary - 2021

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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 Member of the Union of Artists of Russia
2015 - 2021 chief artist of the embroidery workshop at Feodorovsky Cathedral in Saint Petersburg.
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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