Byzantine Iconography Series 1: Drawing the Face

Name: Byzantine Iconography Series 1: Drawing the Face
Rating: 4.8 (392 reviews)

Laying the Foundations for Byzantine Iconography

Created byBridget Hayes

Last updated 5/2018

English

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

Course content

6 sections • 19 lectures • 2h 38m total length

Introduction3:36
Introduce Byzantine iconography and the purpose of icons, explaining how painting expresses liturgical experience, Christ's presence, and the church as the body of Christ through windows to heaven.
Line and Rhythm6:57
Explore how Byzantine line and rhythm move figures off the surface, using transverse lines to create plasticity, motion, and viewer engagement through light, color, and composition.
The Face in Full Frontal Pose5:42
Build a full-frontal face by starting with rough ovals, dividing roughly into thirds, placing the nose in the middle, and adding ears, hair, and a lively, dynamic expression.
The Face in the Dynamic Frontal Pose12:39
Master the dynamic frontal pose by shaping the nose with an oval base and transfers principle to create harmony, while the gaze follows the viewer for presence.

Introduction1:18
Explore the face drawing in Byzantine iconography, focusing on a dynamic, curved exit technique and rhythm used by masters, and learn to study and apply these methods to your work.
Drawing a Young Face (St George)8:55
Draw a young St George face by shaping a symmetrical oval, using curved axes from the center, and shaping features and hair with movement-driven curves.
Drawing a Woman's Face8:53
Draw a woman's face by aligning lines with the x axis, noting head coverings and transverse lines to establish centers and plasticity.
Drawing the Face of Christ13:39
Draw the face of Christ by constructing from a perfect circle with a compass, then paint the icon in color to convey light projection and facial movement.

St Nicholas10:20
Learn to draw the St Nicholas icon with a short brown beard and bald head, using head construction, side divisions, and simplified facial details to create a harmonious, highlighted image.
Prophet Elijah11:13
Study prophet Elijah's face in Byzantine iconography, shaping the cheeks and a projecting side, with eyes and beard moving opposite to keep rhythm. Practice methods: wave-like strokes and alternate approach.

Introduction1:43
Explore three-quarter pose in Byzantine iconography, showing how profiles and transverse faces relate figures within composition. Compare reverential and awkward poses and study young, female, and bearded faces.
Angel's Face8:42
Angel's face presents a three-quarter view using an access line, vertical and curved axes, and a circle to divide features, guiding nostril and mouth placement with gaze options.
Woman's Face9:07
Draw a woman's face in the second phase, focusing on line angles, symmetry, and curved contours, while maintaining harmony in the line work.
Ascetic Face (St John the Theologian)9:12
Learn to draw the ascetic face in Byzantine iconography, using St. John the Theologian as a model of balanced facial movement and the widest side of the face.

Young Face (Angel)10:51
Study the three-quarter pose of a young angel face by constructing horizontal axis lines, dividing the face into thirds and quarters, and modeling the surface toward the viewer.
Woman's Face8:59
Learn to draw a woman's face in Byzantine iconography, including a head covering used in monastic icons, using a circular head shape and horizontal axis to build rhythm and relationships.
Ascetic Face (Prophet Elijah)10:20
Examine drawing the ascetic face of Prophet Elijah in Byzantine iconography, balancing elderly features with saintly presence, and guiding rhythm to avoid disharmony and distraction in church compositions.

Infant Christ (Dynamic Frontal)8:19
Explore drawing infant Christ with child-like proportions, comparing frontal and three-quarter poses, and building the head with halves and thirds to place eyes, nose, and mouth, noting adult proportion differences.
Infant Christ (Upward Facing 3/4)8:05
Draw the infant Christ in an upward-facing three-quarter angle with balanced sides, using lines from the nose to align eyes, noting chubby cheeks and hair length relative to the nose.

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 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.

Who this course is for:

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.

Byzantine Iconography Series 1: Drawing the Face

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Introduction to Line, Rhythm and Drawing the Face4 lectures • 29min

Dynamic Frontal Pose on Curved Axes4 lectures • 33min

Ascetic Faces and Beards2 lectures • 22min

The Face in the 3/4 Pose Part 1 (Reverential)4 lectures • 29min

The Face in the 3/4 Pose Part 2 (Upward-Facing)3 lectures • 30min

The Face of the Infant Christ2 lectures • 16min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: