
UdemyAnyone can trace an icon; building the foundation to create one authentically is different work entirely. This course teaches you to draw according to the Byzantine system—starting with line as the essential element that creates rhythm and brings icons to life. You'll progress through face drawing in multiple poses: the frontal stance, dynamic angles on flat and curved axes, the reverential three-quarter view, and upward-facing variants like the Infant Christ.
The course emphasizes varieties: young faces, women's faces, ascetic and elderly visages—each rendered differently across poses. By mastering the underlying system rather than memorizing specific paintings, you gain the foundation to create authentically within the Orthodox iconographic tradition rather than simply reproducing old works.
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:
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.
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