I have taken the initial steps to teach my first "how to" class to actually write (paint) and icon. I have two students who have made a commitment to the class. The problem with teaching a how to paint an icon class is, it takes HOURS to write even the simplist icon from start to finish. I compare this to walking into a music lesson and expecting to be able to play a song at the end of the lesson. You may learn how to play notes, you may even be able to play scales at the end of the first lesson, but you won't be abe to play a song and do it any justice.
The art of iconography is a discipline. I found that if I'm not able to focus on my painting, it isn't a good day to try. You end up making mistakes and being frustrated. I know for me, I have to skip caffeine if I'm going to paint or my hand shakes on the fine work. This is part of the commitment. In order to come away with a finished icon you need to make a commitment to time, approximately 24 hours total. This is best spread out over several weeks.
I have two students and I have the boards. In order to keep costs down, we went with masonite boards. If my students feel they would like to redo their icon on a wood panel, we can do that later. Plus, It will be much lighter to take masonite panels to classes and displays (which I do in the SCA).
We decided on an angel from a Kievan fresco. I have my initial sketch done but I'm having a bit of trouble getting the wings the way I want them (artist prfectionist tendencies?). We are tentatively planning on meeting after August so I have that as a deadline to get the "cartoon" (the outline only drawing of the icon which will be transferred to the board) finished. The boards are also rougher than I would like so I want to and my own layers of gesso.
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