This five-day course explores all of the ancient techniques used to gild and paint a Byzantine panel icon. Using a beautiful Cretan style icon as our starting point, you will learn all of the traditional techniques used by the Early Medieval Byzantine master craftsmen. This includes water gilding, laying and burnishing 24 carat gold over a clay base and then learning how to make and use tempera paint from free range egg yolks and authentic semi-precious mineral pigments.
The course will introduce you to the techniques of egg tempera icon painting and the plan is to complete a small Byzantine style icon in a week. Techniques covered include: the basic principles of design; water gilding; the correct mixing of egg yolk and pigment; the various ways of applying egg tempera, e.g. petit lac (puddling) and dry brush modelling.
To allow you to go into some depth, you will work from a single carefully selected Byzantine icon, which you can trace and transfer onto the gessoed panel provided. This means in the class you can concentrate on gilding and painting. Demonstrations and colour handouts are given at each stage of the process throughout the week, giving ample one-to-one tuition between
demonstrations.
All materials are provided by the tutor, including a hand made Serbian lime wood panel, mineral pigments and gold leaf.
The tutor will also provide brushes and gilding tools for you to use.
All you need to bring is yourself, an apron , open mind and lots of patience.
The total cost of the retreat is £700.00 in a single standard retreat house room or £740 in an en-suite room. A double en-
suite costs £1263.00.