Writing
an Icon |
All
text in quotations on this apge are directly from John Walsted. |
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The term "writing" an icon comes from the tradition that painting an icon is akin to a translation of Scripture. An icon is the word of God conveyed by visual image. John's icons have gained such a following in America and Europe that he works full time fulfilling commissions. His icons hang in such diverse places as the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine and the National Episcopal Headquarters in Manhattan, Lambeth Palace in London (the Archbishop's residence), the residence of Alexi II (Orthodox Patriarch of all Russia), and from coast to coast throughout the United States, Canada, England and Germany. John works in the studio of his home on Staten Island. He lives in the Pendleton house, built in 1860 on a hill overlooking New Brighton. His studio is an old housekeeper's sewing room on the second floor of the house. The studio has good light even on gloomy days (it has large windows on the north, east and south sides). The studio is a relatively small space, filled with easels, bookshelves (crammed with the books, manuscripts and other research material necessary for John's work), icons in various stages of completion, and egg tempera paint. Icons, according to tradition, blend the earth's essential elements — animal, vegetable and mineral. You'll find rabbit skin glue, chalk and gypsum, and transparent earth pigments suspended in egg yolk. The wooden panels are covered with gesso, which is an artist's plaster, and the actual painting starts with the shadows and dark tones going on first and building up to the lighter tones, giving the image a feeling of depth. The tempera paint is applied with extremely fine sable brushes in a cross-hatch pattern that is extremely time consuming. "A good egg tempera painting should have a porcelain look and feel. The face [of an unfinished Madonna on the easel] has approximately 75 layers of color, which produced that feel." Naturally, the first step in the process of creating an icon is the desire. For example, at Christ Church in New Brighton, there's an empty expanse of stone wall just above the main entrance. Maybe it would be a great spot for an icon? (It would, in fact, be a great spot. Ann Sohm, one of John's students, is currently writing an icon for that space.) Perhaps St. James' Church in Dover Plains, NY, would like an icon placed behind their altar. A call is placed to John Walsted, and the process of writing the icon begins. |
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On the left front side panel, there will be a picture of Saint Ann. The right front side panel will show Saint John, and the center (main) panel front will be the Crucifixion (the order form actually says Transfiguration, but they have changed their minds). There will not be any picture on the back of the main panel. The two sides will probably be attached to the main panel by brass piano hinges, unless John's blacksmith friend can find the time to make small pintle hinges (for that authentic 14th-century look). More research will be necessary to create the proper hinges, and there may not be enough time available. The deadline for this triptych has already been moved back quite a bit due to a health crisis John suffered through earlier this year. The wood for the triptych will be ¾-inch birch plywood. The two side panels are 15 inches wide by 40 inches tall, and the center panel is 30 inches wide by 40 inches tall. All three panels will have a raised 1½ inch border around the outside edge. This edge is formed by routing out the surface of the panel to a depth of three-sixteenths of an inch. This part of the work will be performed by a carpenter friend of John's. |
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After removing as much material as possible with the router, he takes up his chisel and block plane and removes the small strips that are left. The surface of the board must be as smooth as possible. He uses the chisel to square the inside corners of the cut material (the router leaves rounded corners), and then uses it to remove the long thin strips. The block plane gets everything as smooth and even as possible. Any knot holes or irregularities are filled with wood putty. |
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The carpenter also uses a small chisel or a tiny plane to "ease" the edges of the panels (soften the sharp corners and edges). Sharp corners and edges are far more likely to break or splinter later on if the icon is not handled carefully. Once the gesso and paint have been applied, it's too late to go back and make any repairs to the wood. The reason the surface of the board is routed, rather than simply applying slats to the surface of the panel to build up the edges is simple—500 years from now, there's a good chance that whatever glue or nails or screws you used to attach the strips to the surface will fail, damaging the icon. If the entire surface of the panel is all one piece, there's no danger of that happening.
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John uses a pencil to draw a picture of the icon directly on the surface of the gesso. He can make adjustments to the picture, erase mistakes, and use the gesso surface just like a sheet of paper. |
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The next section shows you how John creates his paints. |
The
sheet of paper at right is the official order form for a triptych
icon ordered by Saint James Church in Dover Plains, New York. It represents
the second step in the process—putting something down on paper.
As you can see, the triptych will consist of three panels. When closed,
the two side panels will cover the main center panel. The picture
on the back of the two side panels (which will be visible when the
covers are closed) is the Annunciation.
a
depth of three-sixteenths of an inch. He must leave behind strips
of uncut wood for the router base to rest on.
After
the surface is filled and even, the carpenter sands the entire
surfacewith a 100-grit sandpaper. It's usually necessary to apply
more wood putty after the initial sanding, and then sand the entire
surface several more times with progressivley finer paper until
the surface is as smooth as glass.
After
the panel has been sanded smooth, John applies several coats of an
artist's plaster called "gesso." This is a bright white
chalky coating that dries to a hard, crystal surface. It's a perfect
base for paint and gold leaf. John sands lightly between coats of
gesso. When he's finished, the gesso feels as smooth as velvet.