2021 Icon Painting Classes via Zoom

Theology of the Work:  The Second Council of Nicaea in the year 787 AD defined the icon as “the visual Word of God, the Gospel in line and color.”  The Byzantine icon was the sacred art of the undivided Christian Church of the first millennium.  Its purpose was to faithfully transmit the truths of the Christian Tradition to the faithful.  Iconography, the art of painting the icons, was passed on from one iconographer to another through ages, following the canons (guidelines) set by the bishops of the Church.  The tradition of the Byzantine icon was preserved and perpetuated in the eastern Orthodox Churches from the early centuries until the present day.  The sacred art of the Roman Catholic Church in the west evolved through various artistic styles over the centuries:  Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, etc.  Today the churches of the West are rediscovering the beauty of the early Byzantine icons.  Western sacred artists over the past decades have begun to study with Orthodox iconographers to reclaim the lost tradition of the oriental icon and to introduce it again into the western churches and the lives of western Christians.

The Instructor:  Faye Drobnic began studying iconography in 1993 with master iconographer Philip Zimmerman at the St. John of Damascus Icon Studio at the Antiochian Village in Ligonier, PA.  She continued her studies with other masters, including Charles Rohrbacher at the Mt. Angel Iconography Institute in Oregon, Canadian Heather MacKean at the North Florida Iconography Institute in Florida, Russian Ksenia Pokrovsky of Izograph Studio & Hexameron, and others.  Her primary teachers over the years have been the teachers of the Prosopon School of Iconology, founded by Russian iconographer Vladislav Andrejev.  She teaches the techniques of the Prosopon School at her home studio, an old World War II prisoner-of-war barracks building located in Lafayette, La. In 2021, all classes will be taught online through Zoom.

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Beginning Classes

Introduction to Icon Painting in Egg Tempera

SATURDAYS 10 AM TO NOON Central Time. These classes are designed with beginners in mind. They are intended to help students develop the foundational skills and basic techniques necessary for icon painting. 

I: Pigments and Paint Mixing
5 sessions over 2 weekends
Spring 2021 (date and details to come)

II: Basic Techniques: The Theotokos
Prerequisite: Pigments and Paint Mixing
13 weekly sessions on Saturday mornings
Spring 2021 (dates and details to come)

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Intermediate Classes

Project Classes

FRIDAYS 2 PM TO 4:30 PM Central Time. Open to students who are capable of mixing their own paint and who have taken at least one Prosopon workshop or beginning class.  Students are emailed instructions and step pictures the day before class.  The class itself is a combination of detailed instructions and explanations, screen-sharing of step photos, and web camera demonstrations of the process.  Students begin painting during the class and complete the work on their own.  The classes are recorded and shared with students for follow-up.  

Each project is an 11-Week series. Cost is $275, payable upon registration.

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Classes for All Levels

Critique Classes

TUESDAY AFTERNOONS AT 2 PM OR TUESDAY EVENINGS AT 7 PM, CENTRAL TIME.  Open to all levels of students who are painting independently at home, whether working on class projects, painting from tutorial packets, or undertaking new work.  Students email me high-resolution photos of individual icons on Monday, and on Tuesday we critique each icon, pointing out both the good points and the weakness and giving detailed directions on how to proceed with the next step of the work.

Registration for this class is by the month, not by individual sessions.  Cost is $40 or $50 per month, depending on the number of Tuesdays.

Private Classes

PRIVATE CLASSES BY APPOINTMENT.  Students who would like one-on-one instruction or assistance with a special project may request private classes. Availability is limited; please contact me for scheduling.

Cost for a private class is $50 per hour. 

For more information about workshops (or other questions) use the private contact form below.