St Paul’s Youth & FKB Icon Workshop
On Friday, 1 May 2026, St Paul’s Youth and FKB hosted the Orthodox Icon Workshop, presented by Rev. Fr. Leonidas Ioannou from the Presentation of Our Lord in Coburg. The evening brought together around 70 young people for a spiritually edifying and educational demonstration of Orthodox iconography.
The event began at 7pm, with the youth first sharing a meal of fish and chips before the presentation started.
The presentation opened with a prayer for an iconographer before painting, then moving into an explanation of how the human face is made up of simple shapes and ratios. From these, one can gradually fill in the lines to form a face, which Fr Leo demonstrated with simple sketches on a whiteboard.
Fr Leo also explained how the sizes of different facial features carry symbolic meaning in Orthodox icons. Icons typically have large eyes, large ears, and small mouths: large eyes because they behold God, large ears because they listen in obedience, and small mouths because they speak little.
Fr Leo then went on to explain the different styles of iconography and their history, making frequent reference to the Cretan and Macedonian styles. He also demonstrated how paint was traditionally made, using equal parts egg yolk (egg tempera) and vinegar mixed with the pigment of choice to create a paint that would last for a very long time.
Fr Leo then began a live painting demonstration and answered questions from the youth regarding iconography. He responded to a wide range of questions about its history, the artistic process, the spiritual state an iconographer should be in while painting, and how someone interested can begin learning the art.
The event concluded with Fr Leo presenting a small icon he had designed of the Theotokos protecting Melbourne, alongside numerous other saints such as Saint Paisios. The Icon Workshop was both educational and spiritually edifying for all who attended.
We thank Fr Leo offering up his time and sharing his depth of experience into iconography for us.
