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.

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.

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.