Byzantine Iconography Series 1: Drawing The Face

Laying the Foundations for Byzantine Iconography

What you'll 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
Draw the ascetic and elderly faces and beards
Draw the face in the reverential 3/4 pose
Draw the face in the upward facing 3/4 pose
Draw the face of the Infant Christ
Requirements
Pencil and paper.
Description
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 poseThe dynamic frontal pose on curved axesAscetic Faces and beardsThe reverential 3/4 poseThe upward facing 3/4 poseand the face of the Infant ChristWe 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.

Overview

Section 1: Introduction to Line, Rhythm and Drawing the Face

Lecture 1 Introduction

Lecture 2 Line and Rhythm

Lecture 3 The Face in Full Frontal Pose

Lecture 4 The Face in the Dynamic Frontal Pose

Section 2: Dynamic Frontal Pose on Curved Axes

Lecture 5 Introduction

Lecture 6 Drawing a Young Face (St George)

Lecture 7 Drawing a Woman's Face

Lecture 8 Drawing the Face of Christ

Section 3: Ascetic Faces and Beards

Lecture 9 St Nicholas

Lecture 10 Prophet Elijah

Section 4: The Face in the 3/4 Pose Part 1 (Reverential)

Lecture 11 Introduction

Lecture 12 Angel's Face

Lecture 13 Woman's Face

Lecture 14 Ascetic Face (St John the Theologian)

Section 5: The Face in the 3/4 Pose Part 2 (Upward-Facing)

Lecture 15 Young Face (Angel)

Lecture 16 Woman's Face

Lecture 17 Ascetic Face (Prophet Elijah)

Section 6: The Face of the Infant Christ

Lecture 18 Infant Christ (Dynamic Frontal)

Lecture 19 Infant Christ (Upward Facing 3/4)

This course is aimed at beginners with no experience in Byzantine Iconography or those who who have learned by tracing icons and would like to learn to draw them.