St. John and Sundry
Day 1 at the atelier: So, now that I have drawn this icon, I realize the icon I posted earlier was the wrong one. So, I started drawing the icon before lunch. I thought about tracing as others were, but the copy I had was too dark for that. I decided to draw on paper. Pere Igor says from across the room, “Why are you drawing on paper?” I show you. But, then he couldn’t trace it either, so he said I needed to draw it. However, he showed me a way to section off the model to make it easier to draw- a modified grid. Very helpful. Now that I look at the drawing, I see some problems I will have to fix and I need to work on.
Day 2 at the atelier: I spend some more time on my drawing and after it is finished, I find out it is too big for the panel. Pere Igor says to draw it smaller on the panel. I ask if I can reduce it on the photocopier. He says.” I show you." Sigh. So, I clean up my planche (my board) which takes until after lunch. Then I spend some hours on redrawing the icon directly on my board using a pencil which I never do (I forgot some key supplies). So, then comes a scene straight out of a skit about Pere Igor that Charles told me about. I show him the drawing and he looks at the drawing and beams at me,"Marvellous!" Then he looks again and says, "But, he needs to be taller." He takes a big kneaded eraser and erases the head and roughs in one higher. Then he erases the arm, large portions of clothing, lowers the feet. "Is better, no?" Nodding weakly, I say yes. Actually, I had seen several people go through the same ritual, some repeatedly. Now what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. As I looked at it the drawing, I saw what he was doing and it made sense. I changed some more things, worked out other proportions and voila! It looked better. I showed it to him and he said some very flattering things which I can't remember because I was steeling myself for another eraser job. But, he just beamed at me and gave it back. Yea!
Upon reflection, as many of you know, our work can become too precious to us. It was good to have someone like Pere Igor edit me and leave me something to work with and make better. It's an art.
Inscription planning: Put your vote in! Any part of the Scripture below.
A voice of one calling in the desert,
'Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.
Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill made low.
The crooked roads shall become straight,
the rough ways smooth.
posted by sharonhi @ 1:36 PM
5 Comments:
The Eraser. Gulp.
If you want, you can post your pics on facebook or email them to me. If you don't mind sharing your password, I will insert them into your post.
Glad its working out for you in the atelier. Its good to see that Pere Igor hasn't changed at all. (At least he is the one erasing your drawing -- I've had the experience of two different teachers at the atelier battling it out on my planche erasing the lines that the other person had drawn in instead of mine. That is truly crazy-making.
As I said before, I am so grateful that you two have met. He is just a wonderful person and teacher and a great spirit.
Have you met Sr.Natalyia? Is she at the atelier this summer? Even though I managed to make her crazy because she had to speak English to me until her brain hurt, if she is there please give her my warmest greetings. She is such a lovely and kind person.
I hope it is working out for me. Charles, I am so glad you are tuning in. I remembered all you told me of your experiences, so I am going to Pere Igor directly. I just saw someone paint on another person's icon before gilding. :(
It's interesting seeing what you have taken away from this atelier and where you have struck out on your own!
I know that they do things a little differently here, but are they going to make me paint so opaquely? I was surprised by that. I have enough problems with this already- I shouldn't be encouraged.
The important thing that you need to remember is that everyone at the atelier is committed to the work itself. If someone picks up a brush and makes corrections or erases some lines and so forth, the intention is to improve the icon -- the assumption being, of course, that the work comes first and foremost.
Its tricky because its not easy having various people crashing across one's boundaries -- and its not at all the American teaching style when it comes to fine art, where the student is pretty much allowed to thrash around and the moment of truth comes at the critique when the work is completed. Pere Igor et al have more of the approach, 'let's make corrections while its still possible to do so', rather than at the critique stage.
As for how they apply the paint, relax and enjoy your brief holiday from transparency. Pere Igor and friends will two marvelous (uh-oh, I'm starting to talk like him now) techniques - 1. using the local color to outline the garments and 2. highlighting by subtraction, using water and a brush to lighten the opaque areas and let the white gesso show through.
Learn everything you can while you are there -- later on you can evaluate and discern what you want to keep and what you want to leave behind.
Please ask Pere Igor if he still has that icon he painted of St.Fiacre, the patron saint of gardeners. He painted this charming icon years back with a border of vegetables. If he still has it, could you take a picture of it for me? And if you have taken any pictures of Pere Igor, I'd love to see them when you are able to post them.
Hi Sharon. I'm following you on facebook and looking at the blog. I'm thrilled with how it's going for you. Your spirit of adventure is admirable and your artistic hunger is a beautiful thing to behold.
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