A Brush With God: An Icon Workbook [Paperback]

Peter Pearson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 5, 2005

A one-stop guide to icon-painting, including the history and spirituality of icons as well as simplified, step-by-step icon-painting technique. Everything you wanted to know about icons but didn't know where to look. This book, written with warmth and an obvious love for the subject, describes the history of icons and looks at why they've been an important spiritual tool for many centuries. It guides readers through the process of painting an icon, from making the initial sketches to applying the final glaze. The book will offer an easier and more accessible way to approach this art than the traditional - and time-consuming - methods. Also included are eight full-color plates of a selection of the author's icons, templates, and prayers for the blessing of an icon.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Icon writer (that's fancy church-speak for "painter of icons") Pearson taps into Western Christians' recent interest in icons—but rather than writing yet another introductory book that explains what icons are, when they originated or how to pray with them, Pearson wants to help readers create them. (Well, okay: in the first chapter, Pearson rehearses the history of icons and ruminates about praying with them, but then he gets down to brass tacks.) Chapter two lists the supplies people need to write an icon and explains how to prepare the panels. Pearson then discusses steps like drawing, applying gold leaf and adding an outer border. After describing the different types of icon styles—Byzantine, Russian, Coptic, contemporary—Pearson walks readers through the steps for making icons of Christ's head and shoulders, the Mother of God and Saint Nicholas. Practical tips abound: avoid "fast drying" varnish, and if readers want to "communicate gold cloth," they should start with an earthy-orange or red base color. An appendix lists shops and Web sites where readers can obtain supplies, and a glossary will help them remember the difference between an iconodule and an iconostasis. Helpful illustrations round out the book. This is a fabulous resource—practical, spiritual and fun. (Oct.)
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About the Author

Peter Pearson, a former Benedictine monk, is a priest of the diocese of Bethlehem. He is one of the better known American iconographers. Through his workshops and seminars, as well as the European pilgrimages he leads, he has worked with more than 2000 students.

Product Details

• Paperback: 82 pages
• Publisher: Morehouse Publishing; annotated edition edition (December 5, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0819222038
• ISBN-13: 978-0819222039
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 8.4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #132,867 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #38 in Books > Arts & Photography > Painting > Oil Painting
  • #51 in Books > Arts & Photography > Religious

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

76 of 81 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good instructions, not enough illustrations, January 4, 2006

By 

Ulysses Castillo "ulyssescastillo" (Eudora, KS United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Brush With God: An Icon Workbook (Paperback)

On the plus side:
The author is quite specific about the materials and paints that you will need to complete the projects, and he gives many resources in the appendix for obtaining the materials.

The writing style is quite engaging, I wasn't ever "bored" reading through the book.

There are color illustrations in the middle of the book of what some icons look like when they are completed.

He really does attempt to go step-by-step in the project area. For the most part, the instructions of what to do is very detailed. *How* to do it, is mostly, but not always as detailed. A person with experience painting wouldn't have nearly as much trouble as someone who was just starting out.

On the minus side:
The biggest problem with the book is that although he goes step-by-step, he uses a lot of words, and not enough pictures. There are not enough illustrations in the book to see exactly how things are supposed to look like at each stage of painting. Most of the illustrations that do exist are black-and-white, which are only slightly helpful.

He frequently mentions several different styles, "Greek Style", "Russian Style", "Coptic Style", and "Contemporary" style, but there are very few examples of these styles. Having a few next to the descriptions would have been very good.

Worse, in the project area, he appears to give you the option of painting in either style, but with no illustrations of what the project would look like in each style. And for the step-by-step area, it isn't clear whether the steps he is giving is for the Greek or the Russian style, or a mixture of both.

There are 3 icons that are described step-by-step. After reading the book, I still don't feel very confident about trying it out. There simply isn't enough illustrations at each step to help you figure out whether you are on-track or not. Maybe instead of a book, a video would have been better.

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Demystifyies while preserving mystery, October 26, 2005

By 

Meredith Gould "'The Catholic Home' author" (Princeton, NJ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Brush With God: An Icon Workbook (Paperback)

I'm a partisan reviewer: I've had the privilege of taking several iconography workshops with Peter Pearson, who teaches icon painting with clarity and reverent delight. This book captures both the content and style of his workshops. He adds just enough theory, theology, and history to provide a context for this instruction manual for icon painting.

Pearson includes general instructions as well as specific ones for three icons (Christ, The Virgin of Vladimir, Saint Nicholas). Note: Pearson is a contemporary American iconographer who uses acrylic medium instead of traditional egg tempera.

The publisher has wisely and generously, considering the condition of the publishing industry, included color plates of Pearson's work.Throughout (in sidebars) are Pearson's musings about the process and his encounters with the images. These features make his book much more than a workbook. It will appeal to iconophiles who have no intention of picking up a paintbrush, as well as to those who already have.

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Generous Teacher, November 4, 2005

By 

Norma Prigge (Shohola, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Brush With God: An Icon Workbook (Paperback)

I have been blessed with many generous teachers, both spiritual and otherwise. As this book helps prove, Peter Pearson is one of the most generous, not only in passing to us the technique and prayer of writing an icon, but in challenging us to 'be'. One of the great gifts of humanity, I believe, is this transmitting of experience to others. If you have an interest in icons, or are even just a bit curious about them, read this book. If you have this interest and the desire to write an icon, read this book. If you have been to an icon workshop/retreat, I don't even have to tell you to read this book, but I will tell you that it has all those things we wish we could remember, or wish we could have written down while there. It has the author's voice and you will be better for hearing it.