2026 Drawing Iconographic Hands (Online)

Description

Drawing Iconographic Hands (Online)

This course is designed for every level.  No previous experience required.

Description

Hands are among the most expressive—and often the most challenging—elements of an icon. In the Byzantine tradition, every gesture carries meaning. Known as chironomia, the sacred language of gesture directs the viewer’s eyes, heart, and mind toward the spiritual message of the icon.

Designed for students of every level, this specialty course teaches you how to construct iconographic hands using the geometric principles that underlie the Byzantine tradition. Rather than memorizing individual poses, you’ll learn a systematic method for understanding proportion, anatomy, movement, and three-dimensional form, enabling you to confidently draw and adapt hands for a wide variety of icons.

You will progress through a series of carefully structured exercises that simplify complex anatomy into clear geometric forms. From these foundational principles, you’ll learn to construct the presenting hand, multiple blessing gestures, and the painted masses that establish the structure for traditional egg tempera painting.

Whether you’re beginning your iconographic journey or seeking to strengthen an existing practice, this course will transform one of the most intimidating aspects of iconography into one of its most understandable.

What Makes This Online Course Unique

Most drawing classes teach you to copy a hand.

This course teaches you to understand the structure of the iconographic hand and the meaning of the poses.

Through a progressive sequence of exercises, students learn how complex hand positions are built from simple geometric forms, making it possible to construct convincing Byzantine hands without relying solely on tracing or copying.

Step by Step Guidance Online.  Students receive the pdf instructional manual and Zoom link via email prior to class. We’ll meet live on Zoom on Thursday afternoons. Classes are recorded and available to watch asynchronously for those who are unable to attend the live class time.

Digital Homework & Correction.  Visual homework corrections and written feedback for all students are offered digitally via Google Classroom. Competency is built on completing weekly homework assignments which is critical to your success in this class.

What You’ll Learn

By the completion of this course, you will be able to:

• Construct iconographic hands using simple geometric forms.
• Understand the anatomy, proportion, and movement of the Byzantine hand.
• Draw the traditional presenting hand.
• Draw multiple historical blessing hand gestures, including both the Pre-Nikon and Nikon Reform blessing hands.
• Understand the theological symbolism behind Christ’s blessing gesture.
• Adapt these principles to confidently draw additional hand positions in future icons.

This course is ideal for:

• Beginning iconographers
• Students currently enrolled in any iconography level
• Artists wishing to strengthen their drawing skills
• Experienced iconographers seeking greater confidence in drawing hands
• Anyone interested in the symbolism of gesture in Byzantine sacred art

Prerequisite:

No previous drawing or iconography experience is required.

Class Format:

This course meets live via Zoom. The recurring Zoom link will be provided in Google Classroom with homework submitted digitally in the same platform. If you are unable to attend live, classes are recorded for asynchronous participation.

Meeting Dates:

• Oct. 22, 29
• Nov. 5, 12, 19
• Dec. 3, 10, 17

Meeting Time:  3-4:30pm Pacific Time, via Zoom, recurring Zoom link to be provided prior to class and in Google Classroom. Asynchronous participation possible for those who cannot attend live class time.