Process

How I make a piece

Each medium has its own rhythm and stages. Below, the way I work — in oil, charcoal and graphite — and, at the end, the traditional process of the icon.

Painting

Oil

I work in layers, from the drawing to the final varnish, letting each stage dry before the next.

01
01

Drawing & composition

I sketch the composition and set the proportions directly on the support.

02
02

Underpainting

I lay in the large masses of shadow and light, without detail.

03
03

Layers of colour

I build the colour “fat over lean”, from mass to detail.

04
04

Details & glazes

Final accents and transparent glazes for depth.

05
05

Final varnish

Protects the work and unifies the sheen.

Drawing

Charcoal

A direct, expressive medium — I build the image from masses of shadow and light, gradually modelling the forms.

01
01

Base drawing

I set the composition with light lines.

02
02

Blocking the values

I lay in the shadow masses with the side of the charcoal.

03
03

Modelling

I build the volumes, from the dark tones toward the transitions.

04
04

Highlights & details

I lift the highlights with the eraser and accent with compressed charcoal.

05
05

Fixative

A final layer that protects the drawing.

Drawing

Graphite

Fine tones built up in layers, with pencils of different grades, from the first contour to the darkest accents.

01
01

Light contour

I draw the main lines and proportions.

02
02

Value map

I establish the areas of light and shadow.

03
03

Building the tones

I work in layers, with pencils of different grades.

04
04

Details & finishing

I accent the darkest notes and refine the transitions.

05
05

Fixative

A final layer that protects the graphite and prevents smudging.

Iconography

The icon

The icon follows a centuries-old tradition. I begin from an already-prepared panel — wood covered with levkas (gesso) — and continue to the final layer of olifa.

01
01

The drawing (izvod)

I transfer the drawing from a traditional model and lightly incise the outline into the gesso.

02
02

Gilding with gold leaf

I apply bole and then gold leaf to the halo and background, then burnish it with an agate stone.

03
03

Colour — from shadow to light

Pigments are bound with egg-yolk emulsion; I work from the dark tones toward the highlights, in transparent layers.

04
04

Olifa — the final varnish

A film of olifa protects the work and deepens the colours, unifying them.