Orthodox Icon Patterns: Patterns & Sketches for Iconographers

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This is a really excellent resource book for anyone who wants to start painting/writing icons. It is a collection of patterns (ie: outlines which you can trace and use to create finished pieces). There is an info page included with each pattern, which shows prayers or information relating to the subject, plus a guide for what colours to use. At the back there are also some background/fabric designs which can be used with the outlines. It's simple to use and is ideal for those who don't feel confident drafting their own outline.The price is definitely an issue that needs mentioning. It's a LOT of money for a slim paperback book. However, I understand why it is so expensive (small target audience and must have taken a lot of work to produce it - it's very well laid out). After a lot of thought, I am therefore not dropping a star for the price - the purchaser is paying for the work that went into this book and the resources it offers, not for the mere paper and ink of the book itself. Personally I'm on a tight budget so this was a big spend for me, but I'm pleased enough with the book to feel OK about the spend.

Lovely icons I’ve used oil pastels and gel pens to beautify.

I have been painting traditional Christian icons for about 7 years now, usually as part of an icon painting workshop. What was hard to find when I was on my own was a way to find a pattern I liked that I could just use some carbon paper to trace onto my icon board. The only choice I had was to find a finished icon I liked and then try to trace that onto another piece of paper. I wasn't always sure what was best to trace and what was best to leave for the actual painting. Then i found this series. and in it were a treasure trove of icons, both the traditional well known saints and angels but many lesser known but just as interesting religious icons to paint. They are of a size that is well suited to being transferred onto a regular sized icon board.Of course if you dont want to paint, you can always enjoy using colored pencils and using these books as a kind of adult coloring book with a traditional, historical theme. Either way, with some orthodox or catholic men's choirs singing in the background, it is a very nice way to celebrate your faith, meditate and contemplate as you draw or paint your favorite religious icon using the patterns in this book and others in the series.And most of the pages not only have the pattern but they also have a short story about the saint, angel, or other religious icon which I found particularly interesting.

I am ver happy with this as it has the prayers to go with iconagraphy. The drawings also have colour guides. Brilliant.