Another Brush with God: Further Conversations about Icons - Softcover

Pearson, Peter

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0819222984 ISBN 13: 9780819222985

Publisher: Morehouse Publishing, 2009

Synopsis

Step-by-step instructions for painting icons, from original drawings through finished product. This is the sequel to the authors previous work, A Brush with God, for advanced beginners, intermediate, and advanced iconographers. It presents greater detail and instructions for creating entirely new icons. One major feature of this book is the full-page sketches that artists can photocopy and use as the basis of their own icons, providing a unique and much-requested resource. Includes eight full-color plates of the author's original icons.

Chapters and topics include:

1. Introduction and contemporary reflections on iconography, spirituality, and technique.
2. Highlighting folds on full-length figures, including black and white renderings of draped legs, arms, and torsos.
3. Architectural and landscape renderings in Byzantine iconography, including background shadow and highlighting techniques, plus inverse perspective.
4. Festal icons, involving multiple figures, landscapes, architecture, furniture, vegetation, and animals.
5. Construction of heads, figures, and analysis of whole compositions, sacred geometry and proportion.

About this title

About the Author

Peter Pearson is a well-known American iconographer. Through monthly icon-painting workshops around the country, plus frequent speaking engagements at diocesan conferences and other events, he has worked with thousands of students. A former Benedictine monk, he now serves as a priest in the Diocese of Bethlehem.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Another Brush with GOD

Further Conversations about Icons

By Peter Pearson

Church Publishing Incorporated

Copyright © 2009 Peter Pearson
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-8192-2298-5

Contents

Foreword by Meredith Gould, PhD
Preface
Acknowledgments
Chapter One Reflections on Spirituality and Technique
Chapter Two Painting Heads
Chapter Three Painting Highlights
Chapter Four Painting Buildings and Landscapes
Chapter Five Painting Figures
Chapter Six Painting Garments and Accessories
Chapter Seven Four Icons Step-by-Step
Afterword
Appendix A Considering Color
Appendix B Constructing Drawings
Appendix C More Icon Controversies: The Egg Thing
Appendix D Glossary of Iconography Terms
Appendix E Selected Resources
Icon Patterns
Commissioning an Icon
Contact Information
About the Author
Selected Major Works
Notes

CHAPTER 1

Reflections on Spirituality and Technique

The letter to the Colossians tells us that Jesus Christ is the protoicon of Godmade visible—made present to us in the incarnation. This bold statement lies atthe heart of understanding the spiritual significance of icons within Easternchurches, where everything that has been created is viewed as good because Godcreated it and we, like Jesus, although imperfect, reflect the image of God intothe world. Icons give us a glimpse of the beauty to which we are invited andcalled. They inspire us to embrace God's love and to be transfigured through ourown surrender to God's will. This integrated, holistic way of relating to theworld is a primary characteristic of the Eastern church and immediately apparentin the Eastern (Orthodox or Byzantine Catholic) liturgy.

Enter any Eastern Orthodox or Byzantine Rite church and the first things you'llprobably notice are the smell of incense, the dimly lit space, and thereflection of flickering candles in the icon's halos. As your eyes growaccustomed to the dimness, images of saints begin emerging from the shadows andappear on almost every surface that could possibly support an image. The churchis filled with movement as people visit small podiums decked with lavishlyembroidered cloth coverings on which even more icons are displayed. Worshipperskiss the icons and bow and cross themselves over and over again, whether theservice has started or not.

An Orthodox woman once approached me to confide, "The East is full of tricks toget you away from your head. When you get into your head, you get into trouble."Her comment reminded me of when I lived outside of Washington, DC, and oftenvisited a small Eastern Orthodox monastery near Catholic University for vesperson Saturday evenings. I began doing this as a Lenten practice and ended up goingthere regularly to begin my celebration of the Lord's Day. It took a while tobecome comfortable with the experience, but it happened not by thinking itthrough, but by simply giving myself up to the experience, by letting myself go.I had become used to the order and linear progressions of the liturgy of theRoman rite, where only one thing happens at a time and everyone stays put untiltold to move. That simply doesn't happen in an Eastern liturgy.

A whole new level of complexity is added to this already complicated experienceonce liturgy begins—doors open and close on the iconostasis (icon screen), andpeople pop in and out of them. Prayers, repeated as often as forty times, offerrichly poetic images that come at us too quickly to absorb. Chants bounce backand forth between the choir, the cantors, the priest, the deacon, the reader,and the people. And oddly enough, all this happens simultaneously.

For Westerners, this experience is as unbelievable as it's overwhelming. Weoften find ourselves unable to take it all in because we try to understand itall, to think it all through, which is impossible because what we'reexperiencing is a dance—the dance of God. Those of us from Western churchtradition are far too heady, far too controlled, and far too self-conscious toallow ourselves to be taken by the dance, no matter whose dance it is. Butthat's exactly what the spiritual life is unceasingly inviting us to do, whetherwe've been brought up in Manhattan or Moscow. Yes, the Eastern church has lotsof ways to get us out of our heads so we might become whole and holy people whoaren't afraid to dance with God.

Many Teachers

I encourage my students to continue studying with a teacher or even severalteachers. It doesn't really matter which teacher, or which style they prefer, orwhat medium they use. Just study. Everything a teacher offers is transformedwithin and by the student anyway, and emerges as a new development rather than anew entity. Teachers simply enhance the painting we already do and I, for one,can never be enhanced enough.

Over the years, I've been blessed to study with perhaps seven or eight differenticonographers and each one has taught me something that has become part of mywork. From Charles Rohrbacher, I learned to appreciate the translucence ofcolors and how to construct a strong initial drawing grounded in sacredgeometry. Nick Papas taught me to use fluid paint boldly, to layer colors andinfuse my icons with some playfulness. Nina Bouroff helped me to literally touchthe earthiness and rich history of Russia by teaching me how to make just abouteverything from scratch. Phil Zimmerman transmitted a wealth of technicalinformation, taught me to teach, introduced me to color theory in a way thatfinally made sense, and offered lots of encouragement along the way. ValentinStrelzov inspired me to simplify, to experiment a bit, and trust my instincts.Father Damian shared his profound grasp of the theology behind what we do asiconographers and showed me a great deal about the spontaneity of what knowingthe tradition deeply can give birth to. Marek Czarnecki blessed me with hisincredible understanding of the process of modeling garments with light andinverse perspective.

I spent a week at Saint Tikhon's Orthodox Monastery in northeastern Pennsylvaniastudying with Xenia Pokrovsky, her daughter Anna Pokrovskya-Gouriev, and MarekCzarnecki. I learned a great deal and felt more than a little challenged becausethey use egg tempera, which I haven't used in years. It was a humblingexperience. I felt like I was starting from scratch and recognized in myself theanxiety I often observe in my own students. Even after decades of paintingicons, I learned something new. Actually, I learned a bunch of seemingly smallthings that became exciting revelations.

For example, I learned how the highlights on garments (which they simply call"lights") are in reality more extensive than they appear to be in books. Printsof icons and actual icons are different from one another; even the bestreproductions are compromised and cannot compare with originals. I discoveredhow the first highlight should be big, bold, and transparent, much more so thanI had done in the past. The second highlight should be less transparent,brighter, and smaller but painted directly on top of the first. The thirdhighlight is smaller still, very much less transparent, and brightest of all.Plus, my teachers made some exciting color choices, ones I hadn't previouslyencountered. For instance, when they make dark blue garments they don't beginwith a dark blue base; instead they use a gray/green base and highlight it withlighter and lighter shades of blue. How cool is that?

Perhaps more than anything else, I always learn a great deal by simply watchingother iconographers paint. It doesn't really matter whether they are masters ornot. In fact, I learn from my own students all the time by observing how theyhold the brush, the flow of their brush strokes, the subtle and intuitivetouches of color here and there, as well as choices they make regarding colorcomposition.

I hope my experiences encourage you to study with any and every teacher you can.Something good will surely come of it even—or especially—if you think you'vealready learned everything you need to know. There's always more.

Priest, Pastor, Iconographer

Speaking of study, because my other vocation as a priest allows me to takecontinuing education courses, I was able to spend several days at the GeneralTheological Seminary in Manhattan with Elisabeth Koenig, PhD, who offered acourse on "The Jesus Prayer and Eastern Christian Spiritual Practice." This wasa wonderful way to connect my practice of iconography with deeper learning aboutthe spirituality from which this sacred art form arises.

Before arriving for this two-day intensive course, I received a reading list ofabout fifteen texts from the Desert Monastics of the Justinian era in the earlychurch, the patristic writers, the compiled works of Eastern monks and mysticsin the Philokalia, some Western Benedictine perspectives, along with a fewmodern authors reflecting back on the insights and practices of the past,including praying with icons. During discussions about the Jesus Prayer, theprayer of the heart, I encountered a concept relatively new to me (at least theterm is somewhat foreign): discernment.

Discernment means going beyond constant judgments about what we like or dislike,what we want and do not want, and what we think and what we disagree with toseek God's will for us. This may or may not have anything to do with icons, butit's a huge consideration for the believer. Perhaps this is how discernmentmatters to us as iconographers, because our first priority, through the work ofour hands, is to invite others to the transformation that can come from a lifeof prayer and service. Each of us is called to conversion, to be renewed andreformed into the image of Christ, the proto-icon of God. As iconographers, wehave an amazing opportunity to participate in gathering others into relationshipwith God—if we can get our own egos out of the mix.

As an iconographer and as a priest, I marvel at how I serve best when I don'tthink about how I'm doing but simply do what's before me as well as I can. Beinga priest and an iconographer, or a retired person, a teacher, a farmer, a nurse,a football coach, or a lawyer can all be a means of personal conversion andservice to others. The trick is to do our work in such a way that points ourhearts and the hearts of those around us to the heart of God.

God's grace can do amazing things; all we have to do is simply get out of theway. The most powerful icons do just that—they get out of the way even as theyengage us and point our hearts toward God. Iconographer Vladislav Andreyevinsists that the primary rule of iconography is that the icon be so transparent(that is, not drawing attention to itself) that it has no other role but to moveyou closer to God. Now that's egoless transparency! Consider this: We live in atime and a society in which almost nothing invites us to let go and to trustGod. We trust in many things, but God is not usually our first choice.

Painting Big

Recently I've been surprised to learn something so obvious that I totally missedit for years: There's a huge difference between the way you paint large, publicpieces, the way you paint medium-sized icons for chapels or homes, and the wayyou paint small, personal icons. Imagine that.

A few summers ago, one of my students and I replaced a number of wall panels fora church in Pittsburgh. Each panel was about nine feet high and three feet wide.We were recreating originals destroyed by water damage in the apse area of thechurch about twenty-five to thirty feet up and approximately several hundredfeet from the first pew. As we began measuring the areas, we noticed that thesurviving panels were quite rough and very "impressionistic" in their style. Wetried to emulate the boldly confident brush work of the original master artist,Jan De Rosen, and although we made a valiant effort to approximate his boldness,we simply could not prevent ourselves from working as if we were doing the usual9 x 12 or 12 x 16 inch panels. Although the panels we created did the job theywere intended to do, our work lacked the confidence, playfulness, and drama ofthe artist we tried copying. We added too much fussy detail when we should haveconcentrated on the effect from a distance. Lots of what we had spent hours ondisappeared once we came down from off the scaffolding. That was a realawakening for me.

On the other hand, students who have painted with me on smaller panels inclasses have heard me tell folks to step back now and then to see how the iconreally looks, because things that look like a big deal from four inches awayreally aren't that significant from three feet. It's obvious when you're workingon a small panel that you need to get away from it to see it clearly. It's theold "three-foot rule," meaning that if it looks good from three feet away, it'sokay.

Similar wisdom applies to painting big for church-sized images that will not beseen from up close by anyone but the person who restores it one hundred yearslater. Step back and see how it will look from the distance of those who willregularly look at the images. In other words, evaluate whether you have doneenough or too little in context. Whether you're painting a very small icon or alarge mural, you begin eliminating detail or at least minimize the fussy smallstuff that a medium-sized icon would include. On small icons, faces become a bitsimpler and highlights become a bit more restrained. On the other hand, verylarge images require bold brush strokes and less refined or less subtlelayering. You allow the eye to do the blending for you rather than paintingsubtle transitions of color from layer to layer. There should probably be atleast three classes for icon painters: miniatures, averagesized icons, andlarge, mural-type painting techniques. Each demands its own approach andunderstanding of how the icon will be viewed as well as experienced.

Beginning Again

If you take out any book of good quality prints of old icons and spend some timeexamining the images before you, you'll immediately notice the strength of thecomposition in each icon that made it into the collection. This excellencedoesn't happen by accident or by believing a weak design will somehow workitself out in the painting process. Masters spend time with the design beforethey ever touch brush to panel, so begin with a good, clean drawing that's wellthought-out and intentional in every respect. When you edit or finalize yourdrawing, keep it simple. Don't add a line for every subtle fold or highlight.Simplify your drawing over and over until you have found the essence of thedesign. Obviously a drawing can be too simple, but I find that students moreoften err on the side of too much information in their drawings as well as inmany other parts of this process.

For each color area, figure out what base color to use, since it's the maincolor before any highlights or shadows are added. Skilled iconographers inearlier times did not create lots of fussy little areas, each with its own shadeof color. Base colors were rather simple. A mountain was one color. A robe wasone color. Faces and hands and feet—actually the whole body—was one color. Studyuntil you can see where the base colors go and note how the same base colors arerepeated throughout the image to give unity to the icon.

The main base color areas are then sometimes shadowed a bit to enhance the basiccolor and give it some interest. Before you begin, study your prototype a whilelonger. Sometimes what can initially look like a shadow is merely the effect ofthe highlights on the base color areas that remain untouched.

Although the overall process is a layering of colors from dark to light, now andthen shadowing is utilized. You can really see this on the sides of mountainsand buildings. It can also become apparent on garments after a bit moreexamination. This is sometimes achieved by adding shadows on the drawing itselfbefore any base colors are added. (See illustrations of the Saint Peter iconthat I recreated using the technique of egg tempera painters on page 81.) Inthis case, base colors must be layered onto the drawing very transparently sothe shadow will show through. If you do not put the shadow on the drawing at thebeginning, it's possible to add a hint of shadow using a wash of a darker color,or perhaps a complementary color, but be very careful not to overdo it.

Next, it's time for the highlights. A thorough study of an old prototype shouldreveal the layers of highlights that were applied to create the sense ofblending or the transition from darker base colors to light areas. The"hardness" or "softness" of these transitions varies depending on the school,the century, and the amount of influence Western art has had on the icon you'restudying. Remember, too, that some icons were created for intimate, personalprayer and some were painted for large, public, liturgical spaces, which meansthey were viewed from significant distances.

So what about mistakes? They seem to be beginners' greatest fear and obsession;mine too at times. In my better moments, I realize my mistakes are some of mybest teachers. No one wants to make a mistake on an icon that has alreadyconsumed hours of painting but sometimes that's just the way it happens. Thesignificant question is not whether we make mistakes but whether we learn fromthem.

Every icon I paint is hopefully the best icon I can do at that moment—mymistakes almost guarantee this if I'm paying attention. But paying attention isthe tricky part and does not happen automatically. We must stay awake in thespiritual and physical sense, focus on more than simply producing an icon, andremain teachable. This might seem like a no-brainer, but actually doing it isfar more difficult than it might seem.

I've found there are usually at least three layers of highlights in iconography—that'sthree layers of lighter and lighter color. Any of these colors might beapplied just once or may be applied in translucent layers, gradually buildingthe intensity of the color.

Details and ornament are usually added at the end so you don't have to paintaround anything. Spears, crosses, embroidery, headbands, patterns or ornamentson garments, small vegetation, and even calligraphy are all elements that caneasily be added on top of the highlighted base colors after all the big work iscompleted. As an aside, one thing I've noticed about what separates beginnersfrom more skilled iconographers is that beginners often get lost and overwhelmedin the details. Most details come at the end of the process rather than at thebeginning. Go from big to small or from general to specific. That seems to workwell for me. Besides, that's the way God created the universe. Check out thecreation stories of Genesis and follow God's example.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Another Brush with GOD by Peter Pearson. Copyright © 2009 Peter Pearson. Excerpted by permission of Church Publishing Incorporated.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Edition details

• Publisher: Morehouse Publishing
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0819222984
• ISBN 13: 9780819222985
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 152