Iconography Apprenticeship Year 1

The Apprenticeship Year 1 focus will be on faces, and students will complete an icon of the faces of both the Theotokos and Christ Child in the “Kazan” icon (pictured above).  Additionally, students will complete many practice studies on toned paper, in their sketchbooks, and on small practice claybords.

As with the Workshops, the Apprenticeship Program approaches icons as a “prayer of the hands” and uses the traditional media of egg tempera and after the first year, hand-gessoed traditional boards and real gold (gilding). Students who take this course receive instruction in both the theology of iconography (sometimes called icon writing to stress the kinship with theology) and the artistic practices intrinsic to traditional iconography.

The Apprenticeship is “skills-based,” meaning we will do plenty of preliminary exercises to learn and internalize the skills before applying paint to the board. Since iconography is a living tradition, students will learn about the dynamic relationship between using historic models and understanding for themselves the aesthetic and theological principles of iconography. Therefore students must gain an understanding of color, composition, the iconographic “style” as it manifests in facial features, and how to “draw on the right side of the brain.”

Apprenticeship Year 1 Students will work toward the demonstrable goals of drawing faces in the byzantine style including using geometry, highlighting a frontal face from memory, and being able to name the steps of painting and types of paint application.  These skills will be assessed in a final one-on-one oral exam with the instructor.

If you are intrigued but unsure about the prospect of beginning iconography before adulthood, please see Mrs. Sider-Rose’s article, “The Holy Practice of Iconography: Why Start Young” (scroll to page 8). For more information about Mrs. Sider-Rose’s studio and approach to iconography, please visit her website:  www.immanuelicons.org

Eligibility and Expectations

Eligible Students:

• There will be no exceptions to the minimum of 7th grade.  Younger students wanting to start iconography can take both the Fall and the Spring Middle School Workshops.

Note:
The10-Session Iconography Workshops are not prerequisites to the Iconography Apprenticeship Year 1, though any Middle-School or Upper-School Iconography Workshop can be taken along-side of (or prior to) the Apprenticeship without repeating subject matter.  

• Students in no way have to be trained as artists, but they should have the basics of drawing representationally (not just “abstract art.”), for example, the ability to draw a face (in any style) with eyes, eyebrows, eyelids, nostrils, etc.  Prospective students or their parents should e-mail or zoom with the instructor with a drawing sample and/or a description of the student’s learning history if they have questions about whether this class is a good fit.

Expectations

• The Iconography Apprenticeship Program, Year 1, requires a significant commitment of time and mature scholarship skills.  In addition to the 75-minute class each week, there are sketchbook assignments and other homework assignments (see below), as well as acquiring and organizing supplies.  Depending on individual speed, the student should expect to work 60-90 minutes between classes.  

• Unlike the Iconography Workshops, students in the Apprenticeship will learn:

  • **Geometry **(geometric structure undergirding all traditional iconography), and- starting in Year 2 of the Apprenticeship-
  • **Gilding **(applying actual gold to the icons) 

To this end, students will need to wield drafting tools (compass, ruler, right triangle).  Also, care and maturity must be exercised in gilding (strong glue, etc).

• Traditional iconography requires a commitment to acquiring and maintaining the materials.  While I have put a great deal of effort into sourcing materials that are inexpensive and rolling the expenses out gradually, students should also recognize that investing in supplies is part of the commitment required of the liturgical art of iconography.

See the full syllabus here.