Yes, iconographers receive training and traditionally seek a blessing, though the Church doesn’t require formal credentials to write icons.
The training part is straightforward. Most iconographers today learn through workshops, certificate programs, or apprenticeships with experienced masters. You won’t find a seminary degree in iconography, but you will find intensive courses that teach egg tempera technique, Byzantine methods, gilding, and the theology behind what you’re doing. Some programs run for years with weekend sessions. Others are week-long intensives led by priests or bishops who are also skilled iconographers. The Antiochian House of Studies offers courses in iconology that focus on the history and symbolism of icons, though as of recently they’ve shifted away from hands-on painting instruction.
What matters more than where you train is how you train. Traditionally, iconography was learned through apprenticeship. You worked alongside a master, watching, copying, absorbing not just technique but the spiritual discipline that makes an icon more than religious artwork. That approach still holds. Many iconographers today study under someone like Dr. George Kordis or attend workshops where they paint alongside others for days at a time, immersed in prayer and liturgical services. You learn by doing, but also by looking. Serious students spend hours studying icons in books, museums, online collections. You can’t paint what you haven’t seen.
The spiritual preparation is just as important as the technical skill. Iconographers aren’t just artists. They’re participants in the Church’s liturgical life, and that shows up in their work. Most training programs include daily matins and vespers during workshops. Prayer isn’t an add-on; it’s the atmosphere in which icons are written. The idea is that an icon should be a revelation, something that comes from direct experience with God, not just artistic talent. You can be technically proficient and still produce something that doesn’t breathe.
Now, about the blessing. There’s no canon law that says you must have your bishop’s permission to write an icon. The Church doesn’t restrict iconography to clergy or to people with official approval. But most serious iconographers do seek a blessing from their priest or bishop before they begin this work. It’s not a legal requirement. It’s a recognition that writing icons is a ministry within the Church, and like any ministry, it should be done with humility and accountability. If you’re going to create images that will be venerated in someone’s home or parish, you want to be sure you’re doing it for the right reasons and in the right way.
Some iconographers also ask for a blessing before starting each specific icon. Others maintain a regular confession and spiritual direction with a priest who knows their work. The point isn’t bureaucracy. It’s staying connected to the Body of Christ while you’re doing something that serves the Body of Christ.
Here in Southeast Texas, where most folks think of art as something you hang over the couch or buy at a craft fair, this whole approach can seem strange. But icons aren’t decorations. They’re theology in color and line, windows into the Kingdom. That’s why the training involves both your hands and your heart. You learn to mix pigments and apply gold leaf, sure. But you also learn to fast, to pray, to see the world as God sees it, transfigured, shot through with grace.
If you’re drawn to iconography, start by looking at icons. A lot of them. Then find a workshop or a teacher. St. Vladimir’s Seminary offers programs. So do various monasteries and dioceses. Don’t worry if you’re not Michelangelo. Most programs accept beginners, though some basic drawing or painting experience helps. What they really want is someone who’s willing to learn, willing to pray, willing to let this work change them.
And talk to your priest. Get his blessing. Not because you have to, but because it’s wise.
