Hello!!

I am an art history student (and a Catholic) who is very interested in Iconography, i have painted in a similar style, but I've never officially written an icon, and i want to do it right. Now, I do have experience with egg tempera, and i currently have some Italian pigments that i want to use up, my issue if the actual surface. It would be like $60-$70 for one pre-prepared board, so i figured i may as well do it myself.

So, my questions are

1) does it matter what kind of wood i get, like can i just pull up to a hardware store and get whatever looks sturdy

2) can i use gelatin as a replacement for rabbit skin glue (some websites had suggested it but im skeptical)

3) does it matter what chalk i used for the gesso?

4)is regular linen fine ?

Any advise is welcome!!!!

Hello everyone! I am looking to know more information about this folding icon, such as country of origin and rough age. The portrait itself appears to be hand painted on a piece of porcelain. I am absolutely NOT looking for a valuation or offers. She is mine. Thank you for your time and I hope you think it’s as beautiful as I do.

My most recent commission, Christ enthroned. A very challenging icon, but I learned a lot.

Egg tempera and 23.5 karat gold over gessoed board.

A pair of wedding icons I painted.

Hi everyone! I’ve always been fascinated by the unique iconography in the Balkan region. This particular fresco from the Cave Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Rsovci, Serbia, is one of the only depictions in the world where Jesus is painted young and bald (known as "Isus Mladenac").

I wanted to preserve this piece of history by creating a clean canvas render/print of it. I'd love to hear your thoughts on how the textures and framing turned out.

I'm also curious to know if you've ever heard of this fresco?

What is the best rsg to chalk to water ratio? How do I make good gesso? I use Raw Gelatin bloom-220 instead of rsg (its impossible to find in my country), is it okay? I heard that it was a good alternative. Ive made an icon with egg tempera using the gelatin gesso, and its very good. Its just that when I do the proplasmos, I find the grapsimata lifting. Also, I don't draw, I trace. I am an aspiring autodidact, and I just learn from youtube (Taxiarchis Giannikos, who is an autodidact himself).

What is shellac? When do I use it? What form is it bought it? Shellac flakes? Shellac resin? How do I varnish? What is used for varnishing the icon, and also the gold? I have left over imitation leaf, can I use it? Or should I just save up for real leaf. Can I use pure gold but edible leaf? Or real leaf for craft?

Here is an example of mine (my latest) as you can see, it is still incomplete as I am very busy (last time I worked on this was like two months ago) and the face, you can see a part has lifted up during the painting, and is imbalanced since I tried to repaint a big chunk of lifted paint, and I got the wrong color.

Quick reminder, the last time I painted was 2 months ago, Ive forgotten much, and I should need to review some videos on techniques and start working again. Recos? Btw, back then AI used to help me very much with problems such as lifting paint, gesso ratio, but it didn't teach me to be independent. Now I am fasting from AI, and really hope to quit it, as it is diminishing the quality of my life, intellect, and faith.

Critiques, and suggestions are welcomed and appreciated.

Good afternoon folks.

My family used to travel to Europe every so often and my father would always bring home some sort of art piece.

He travelled alone to West Germany right before the fall of the Berlin Wall. Upon his return home he brought back this beautiful icon. There was whispers that this icon was smuggled out from the iron curtain.

I learned last night from my mother that it was possibly from a church that was discovered during the crackdown on religion. Either way we are still very puzzled.

If anyone has any information or suggestions please let me know. If anyone can help with the translation please share.

Thank you.

Im secret orthodox Christian in my family, so I used whatever I could to make it as pretty as possible

I collect antique jewelry but I'm not very well-versed in Christian iconography. This brooch dates to c. 1910s-20s and I would say most likely Scottish. There is a smaller chance it could be Norwegian or English. It is Arts & Crafts style with Celtic influences. Unfortunately the detail is a bit rough, the image not very crisply rendered. If anybody recognizes this image from a particular bible verse or other religious source, I would love to learn about it. Thank you for your time.

I like this but idk who it is, if you know pls lmk:)

Thanks so much for your help.

Is it even Christian? Someone i know owns it and it looks cool but i cant identify neither can Google - thank you!

Looks like a king some angels men w turbans, maybe soldiers? Thanks again

Finally setup my prayer corner, what y’all think?

I'm new to this subreddit but since my wife and I set this corner up yesterday i thought why not post it here. (hope im not breaking any rules)

Hello guys, I’m a new catechumen and I also recently got married. I was gifted a tryptych for our wedding by family who are very unfamiliar with orthodoxy and the people who made the icon clearly used AI for the icon images. There’s clear issues with it, however I was wondering if I painted over it and fixed the issues with it, would the icon become valid or is it just beyond saving? I asked my parish priest and he said he genuinely does not know whether it’s possible for it to become a legitimate icon or not so I’m curious if anyone else could shed some light on the subject.

For more information, my wife is an atheist and her name is Lily so they chose the Unfading Bloom for her, John Chrysostom for myself and Christ at the centre.

Thanks!