In this course, students of all levels of artistic skills will create egg-tempera paintings by exploring forgotten medieval techniques of making Byzantine icons. We will learn how to apply gold leaf on handcrafted wood-panels and mix pigments with home-made emulsion and gesso. We will also learn how and why these ancient artistic methods influenced contemporary art and visual culture. For this reason, Byzantine art theory of color, drawing, and composition will be used to discover a new artistic medium and mode seeing images for creative self-expression. This will be done first via a series of exercises to understand the steps of painting exemplary Byzantine icons. In following this historical art form, students will paint next a “personal icon” on a wood-panel based on images and visual composition of their choice.
