More than half way around the cycle of miniature icons: I adore this way of telling the stories of our saints. … [Read more...]
St Katherine: a life. Day 3 & 4.
March 23, 2013 By S. Katherine Sanders
I am getting used to the new scale. I'm astonished at how long it takes, how much expression can be captured in a tiny face. It is the first time I had to paint a Saint being tortured. I deliberately chose not to show pain because what I'm doing isn't illustration, or art. It's iconography, it's hagiography, it's theology. To show pain would be a distraction. The Saint is in a situation of great distress but she is shown being serene and not struggling. The top row of icons are complete: I tried a panorama picture, to give you a sense of how it sits together but it can't be displayed … [Read more...]
St Katherine: a life 2
March 21, 2013 By S. Katherine Sanders
Day 2: Saint Katherine is ordered to worship idols. I'm not convinced this scene is quite finished yet but my eyes were broken so I had to stop. Tomorrow I will try using the 'loup' or magnifying glasses my dad has let me (very carefully) borrow. Again, trying to get an expression into faces this size has been quite a challenge but at least I knew what to expect! I rather like the sorrowful soldier & outraged courtier - he looked rather too sweet for a while but we have sorted that! … [Read more...]
Saint Katherine: a life.
March 21, 2013 By S. Katherine Sanders
The first of the miniature icons on the life of Saint Katherine: she is blessed with the vision of an Angel. I can hear myself thinking 'that's a bit below par... I wouldn't be sharing that picture' and then I remembered. It's this size: And I don't feel so bad. The technique for painting this small is necessarily different & has fewer steps than painting full size. In fact, I've used the proplasmos technique for the first time in ages. These are just too small... Or are they? I might, maybe, try the membrane technique on one or two, as an experiment. But not today or tomorrow. … [Read more...]