Mother of God Hodigitria

Here is a panel that has the drawing for the Mother of God Hodigitria (way, guide). The different icons of Mary and Jesus are emphasizing different aspects of their relationship. For those of you who went to the icon retreat, Charles mentioned that in any icon with Mary, she represents, the historical Mary, but also the individual Christian, and the Church. So, for example, when we look at an icon and contemplate the mystery of Mary as the God-bearer physically and otherwise, we think of ourselves as God-bearers, and then the Church as God-bearer to the world. In this icon, Mary is holding Jesus and lifting her hand in the traditional position of presentation- she is presenting Christ to the world. Christ holds his hand out in blessing. Full of wisdom, He holds in His left hand a scroll. As I make choices in completing the icon, I will explain more the meaning of each element.

As a student, I am constantly in contact with Charles, going over the major decisions with him, resolving technical questions, and a host of other issues as they come up. I will post my questions and his answers- just let me know if it gets tedious to read. As I make my decisions, I will define some of the technical terms that I use in the emails.

Questions at this point:

Email to Charles 9/5/06:

I _have_ been drawing. I miss a day here and there, but generally I manage to get in drawing time each day. Usually, when I start I end up drawing about an hour, sometimes more and sometimes a little less. I am drawing John the Baptist right now- the Novgorod one from the double-faced tablets. There are a few elements in the icon that I am unsure of their meaning. Perhaps, we can discuss this sometime. I would like to begin working on the Mother of God icon I have on the panel. What do you think regarding the haloes- should I use bole or size? Also, I think the model has a gold background- should I use gold? I probably will not get to working on the icon until Friday. I am off to a slow start, but at least I am starting. I still have a lot to do to wind up my work with IV. Please pray for my diligence in that as well.

Charles response (phone conversation9/11/06): What is the icon painter trying to get us to look out? How many points of view are we looking at? The icon painter tries to connect us with the person that is depicted? Planemetry- take something that is round and make it flat- sort of like that. Rublev is the the best example of drawing. How does Rublev execute the different elements of the face? Keep to basic shapes. What is the basic shape of face and hair? How is he communicating volume and space? Lazarev- Russian fresco painting- brick red book. Great example of line aspect of painting.

What colors should I use in opening up the icon? Color- (for Mary's garment) layer of red ochre and blue, cerulean blue, French vermilion for the stripe on Mary's garment and Jesus; garment and yellow ochre over to make more orange. Background yellow ochre all the way to the outer edge and ¼ inch red strip around the outside and no inner line. (no gold background)

Bole or size for the haloes? It is up to you. Clay bole will give you the ability to burnish (shine it up by rubbing with burnisher). Apply the clay misture and breathe on it to make the gold stick.