The painting of the icon is done from dark to light. It is a painstaking technique and requires the use of fine-tipped brushes. In order to achieve the fused method of modeling which creates seamless graduations in tones, it is necessary to make many subtle lightenings of the pigment which are applied in a very fine cross-hatching effect. Another method is to blur the edges of each successive coat with pigment which has been more diluted in water.
The holy icons: Place of the presence of the grace of God
The holy icons are the place of the presence of grace. While the Holy Eucharist is also this presence, the icon is the place occupied by a presence, by grace. This presence is assured by the blessing of the icon that establishes a connection between the icon and his prototype, between what is represented and the representation itself.
The veneration of the icons is relative becausit refers to the Saint who is depicted and is not limited to the reality of the icon or to its material. This fact is emphasized by the Fathers of the VIIth Ecumenical Council when they said: "The veneration of the icons passes to the original; he who bows before the icon, bows to the person that is depicted".
On the Scriptural basis of the veneration of Icons
According to the Holy Scripture, God remains in His being hidden, but, even from this life, He revealed Himself in some theophanies or christophanies or pneumatophanies, or the unapproached light. This is a foundation of the icon.
Another foundation, and the most important, is the Incarnation of the Word (1 Tim. 3:16) who has taken the image of man (Phil. 2:7-8). The Saviour is the image of God (2 Cor. 4:4:) or the "image" of the being of God (Heb. 1:3). Knowing that the Father is as the Son, and the Son appeared as man among the men made after His image, and the Holy Spirit appeared under the guise of a dove at the Baptism or as tongues of fire at the Pentecost, the Church has allowed the representation through the holy icons the way by which the invisible God made himself accessible to men.
Material and tools for icon writing
Wood of linden, birch, alum, cedar, and cypress or very dry pine. Cotton or flax. Clay of rabbit skin, clay of fish, white of Meudon (alabaster powder), yolk, water, vinegar, beef gall, alcohol, lacquer gum, garlic, bear, flax oil. Pigments naturally colored: blue cobalt, carmine red, white zinc, yellow chrome, sienna etc. The materials used come from the animal, vegetable or mineral sources.
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