Byzantine Iconography Series 1: Drawing the Face

Byzantine Iconography Series 1: Drawing the Face

Anyone wanting to learn Byzantine Iconography needs to lay the right foundation. Simply tracing old icons or jumping straight into painting ("by numbers") only builds a house of cards that will collapse. The foundation for being able to paint icons is learning to draw according to the Byzantine system. Once the foundation is laid (and practiced continually) it allows us to create within the iconographic tradition of the Orthodox Church and not simply "photocopy" old icons ( a practice that appeared in the 20th century and was never part of the tradition of the Church). In this first course on drawing icons we will start by learning the importance of line and how line is used to create the rhythm that brings icons to life. From there we will progress to drawing the face in several poses:

• The frontal pose ( and we will see why it is not used in Byzantine iconography)
• The dynamic frontal pose
• The dynamic frontal pose on curved axes
• Ascetic Faces and beards
• The reverential 3/4 pose
• The upward facing 3/4 pose
• and the face of the Infant Christ

We will study different types of faces in each pose (young face, woman's face, ascetic or elderly face) so we can see how each type of face is drawn in each pose.

Laying the Foundations for Byzantine Iconography

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What you will learn

• By the end of the course students will have learned the importance of line and rhythm in the Byzantine icon and will be able to draw the face in several poses.
• Draw the face in the frontal pose
• Draw the face in the dynamic frontal pose on curved axes

Rating: 4.83333

Level: Beginner Level

Duration: 2.5 hours

Instructor: Bridget Hayes