Week of November 2, 2020

It is so exciting to embark on a new icon. While it fills us with anticipation and hope, it also instills a sense of calm and interior quietude as we work to bring the icon to life. This icon will be completed “atelier-style” by student iconographers from the Trinity Iconography Institute under the supervision of Father Jon Buffington, our Master Iconographer, and Ania Kocurek-Williams, the Assistant Iconographer.

On our first day, we prepared the icon board with an overall wash of egg tempera in golden ochre. This preparatory step enables the gesso to better accept pigment.

Golden Ochre
Dennis Sellon applies golden ochre to the entire panel.

Egg tempera is applied in many thin transparent glazes. This icon may have anywhere from 30-40 layers of pigment. Dean Nathan LeRud was our first iconography student to apply pigment from the palette of colors to the panel.

Nathan LeRud applies “Morellone” to the cave, coffin, and to the stone on which the Archangel sits. while Fr. Jon prepares the areas to be gilded.
Rachael Kitchens fills in the details.
Progress updates on the Myrrh Bearing Women Icon being completed by students of the Trinity Iconography Institute.
Christina Wolf applies a glaze of verdaccio scuro to the 3rd Mary’s garments.
Lisa Wolf applies a wash of titanium buff over the Archangel’s robes.
Leslie Carveth applies morellone over the 1st Mary’s garment, while Fr. Jon prepares the Archangel’s halo.
Fr. Jon gilds the halo with the Kolner Instacol method.
Gilding the sky.

We ended the week with the underpainting – the first coat of many pigments to come.