THE GENERAL OUTLINE OF THE SYLLABUS FOR
THE ICON-PAINTING SCHOOL
The Arts Institute will be offering courses in Iconography in three forms:
Full-time Residents - for students who are ready to dedicate 3 years to training. This is our current offering at the Arts Institute.
In time, we also will be offering —Distance learning - for those who are able to study online, as well as attend several sessions during the year.
Masterclasses - short thematic classes. They can allow the school and the potential students to get acquainted with each other.
The basis of the learning process is the full-time syllabus.
Three years is time to master the necessary theoretical and practical knowledge for creating simple icons on their own. Following this course of study, two extra years are suggested for those students who are ready and able to continue their education, to master the creation of more complex and large-scale icons in practice.
This syllabus is the overview of the course of study for a 3-year iconography resident.
The program consists of six semesters we have outlined below:
Semester 1: At least the first semester is to be devoted to working in the grisaille technique without the use of color. During this time, students will have to master copying from old samples and drawing by hand. They will learn the principle of modeling “hills”, “palaces” and other simple elements of iconography.
Semester 2: The study of the face and hands will be added. Gradually, work with color will begin.
Semester 3: We continue our work with the faces in color, while the study of the folds of clothes will begin.
Semester 4: The study of folds of clothes for the half-length figure will begin.
By the end of the second year of study, the student will have the skills to create a small half-length icon.
Semester 5: The fifth semester is devoted to the study of the whole figure.
Semester 6: The sixth semester is dedicated to the creation of the final work. It can be an icon with one or two full-length saints or a complex half-length icon (for example, an icon of the Mother of God).
This is the basic level of knowledge and skills in icon-painting. It will allow the students either to continue the work on their own or to join the monastic workshop.
Also to note — The subjects necessary for parallel study are introduced from the first semester. These include: the basics of academic drawing and perspective, chromatology, formal composition, and technology of the materials. In the second year of studies fonts and calligraphy are added.