Do-it-yourself wooden carved icons.
In order to make wooden carved icons with your own hands, you first need to select a suitable material (wood).
The best option would be linden wood, since this type of wood is best processed due to its fiber structure (but you can also use walnut wood, which has fiber characteristics similar to linden). When choosing a material, pay close attention to the fact that the wood does not have: knots, cracks, darkening, and must be well dried. Because a product made from raw wood, as it dries over time, can become deformed, which will lead to a violation of the integrity of the structure and a change in the design.
We begin the work with our own hands by making a frame (all numbers are given for a standard size icon): 11.5 centimeters by 15.5 centimeters. For it you will need 4 strips.
Two sizes:
1) length - 15.5 centimeters.
2) width - 5.5...
Wood carving is one of the oldest forms of art. Talented craftsmen knew how to create true masterpieces that served as decoration for any home. And, of course, this craft could not help but touch icons, which were such an integral part of the life of believers. Carved wooden icons were at one time highly revered and were installed in churches and homes along with written images. However, time passed, and gradually they lost their relevance. They were forgotten, while the images painted by the artists became the only ones.
Today, the tradition of placing carved images in the house is being revived again. They remember the traditions of carving. Previously, icons carved on wood were not painted. The material used was linden or pine; other types of wood were used less frequently. Sometimes, instead of paints, various techniques were used to enrich the appearance of such icons, such as tinting or waxing. Different types of carving also made it possible to create a variety of images, each of…
CARVED ICONS
Since ancient times, wood carving has been a sought-after and most widespread form of art. It acquired particular significance in the church, where it served a liturgical mission, and was used as decoration. Church wood carving has always been represented by carved icons, icon cases, altars, iconostases and altars. It has acquired a separate, independent significance in the history of the art of wood carving. Church carving adheres to strict canons and requirements, but at the same time, each creation of each master is unique in its own way.
Carved icons (made of wood) occupy a special place in the art of church wood carving. Each of them is a real masterpiece, which is valuable not only as church utensils, but also as a full-fledged piece of decorative and applied art. Making such icons requires the master to have considerable experience, skill, and patience. In addition, carved icons are the only icons that can be seen...
ICON OF SAINT MAX…
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The tradition of wood carving has its roots in ancient Rus'. In Rus', the life and home of people were inextricably linked with wood. Russian craftsmen skillfully carved wood and decorated with decorative carvings everything that was necessary for life: from wooden toys and furniture to ships and cathedrals. Church carvings stand alone on this list.
Carved wooden icons have long been revered in Rus'. The tradition of wooden carved icons came to Rus' along with Christianity from Byzantium. The wide spread of carved icons in Rus' was facilitated by a small number of Russian icon painters, an excess of carved material and unique wood carving traditions. Particularly revered were measured and personalized wooden carved icons depicting the patron saint of the same name and the faces of God carved from wood. The main purpose of the icon is a reminder of a higher reality that is not always comprehensible to us, which every person living on earth must strive for.
Carving icons from wood,…
Who should you pray to to sell your car well?
To successfully sell real estate and goods in your store?
Guardian Angel Nicholas the Wonderworker John the Merciful, Patriarch of Alexandria Icon of three saints: Nicholas the Wonderworker, John the Merciful and Basil the Confessor
Who should I pray to to save my son from drunkenness/drug addiction?
Icon of the Mother of God - Inexhaustible Chalice Martyr Boniface Venerable Moses Murin Martyrs Florus and Laurus
Prayers that help with toothache:
Martyr Antipas Saint Ion, Metropolitan of Moscow, wonderworker
Prayers that help with eye diseases:
The Kazan Mother of God to the Apostle and Evangelist Luke, Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker, the Silverless and Wonderworkers Cosmas and Damian Basil the Blessed, the Moscow Wonderworker, Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon the Righteous, Simeon of Verkhoturye, Saint Alexy...
Wooden sculpture is an extremely interesting section of Russian culture and Orthodox church decoration. As a rule, a carved icon or sculpture was painted, less often the surface of the wood was left open. Carved icons with a layer of paint and gilding, sculptures painted using the technique of icon writing (from the 16th century), and partially iconostases of Orthodox churches and church utensils have survived to this day. According to the technique of execution, carving is divided into relief (high-relief or bas-relief), smooth and through. Contour (smooth) carving appears in the form of in-depth lines on the surface of the background, and through or openwork carving provides for the complete removal of the background. Sometimes carved overlays were used on a smooth background. Usually a combination of different types of carving was used. Other artistic techniques were also used: tinting and waxing wood, coating it with varnish, gilding, staining, painting, firing….
Wooden carved icons
The production of wooden carved icons dates back several centuries. Traditionally, in Rus', wooden carved icons were made with a layer of paint and gilding using the technique of icon writing (since the 16th century). The technique for making wooden carved icons was called “rezi icons.” The wooden carved icon became widespread in the 11th century in Byzantium and later the production of such icons was mastered by master woodcarvers in Ancient Rus'. Such icons were often decorated with pearls and precious stones. Since the 15th century, the tradition of making wooden carved icons in Rus' has become widespread. Today, the production of carved icons has again become an extremely popular type of decorative art.
A carved wooden icon is the best gift, a gift that brings happiness to the house
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WHAT WOOD WAS USED FOR PAINTING?
The best tree for painting is linden, but spruce, alder and cypress are sometimes used. The boards are always made from seasoned, dry wood and are well glued together with wood glue. Knots from the boards are cut out, otherwise they constantly dry out, and this causes cracks to appear on the ground. Inserts are glued into the places of the cut knots with wood glue. This is always done from the front side and no deeper than half the thickness of the board. To keep the soil on the board more firmly, its front side is planed with a tsinubel (toothed plane). The back side of the board is also cleanly planed, and oak dowels are cut into it. This prevents the board from warping.
HOW TO MAKE A WOOD BASE
For the manufacture of base boards, they preferred thin-layered wood - linden, southern poplar, willow. They also used oak, beech, cypress, walnut, and sometimes birch. The use of various woods for making boards is associated both with the growth of certain species in different climatic zones and with local traditions. The most used species in the manufacture of boards in Russian icon painting was linden, and in the northern regions of Russia quite often coniferous species - pine, spruce, larch, cedar.
Boards for painting were made by specialists in wood processing - woodworkers, rarely by the artists themselves. Boards made by non-specialists are of poor quality.
Already in the 11th-12th centuries, icons appeared in Russia, the height of which sometimes reached two meters or more. Their sizes were determined by the size of the church premises. For example, an icon of the 11th-12th centuries depicting Peter and Paul, painted for the Novgorod St. Sophia Cathedral, has a size of 236 x 147 cm, the “Annunciation” of the 12th century for the St. George Cathedral of the Yuryev Monastery in Novgorod - 229 x 144 cm, “George” from the same cathedral - 230 x 142 cm; the first icon is kept in the Novgorod Historical and Art Museum, the other two in the State Tretyakov Gallery. For military campaigns and travel for diplomatic purposes, Russian people ordered icons of small and medium sizes. For example, the icon “Spas” from the beginning of the 13th century (Yaroslavl Art Museum), which belonged to Yaroslavl Prince Vasily, has a size of 44.5 x 37 cm.
The boards were hewn from the block with an ax and planed with an adze. Longitudinal sawing of logs into boards in Russia probably began only in the 17th century (information in written sources dates back to this time). During archaeological excavations in Chernigov and Novgorod, saws like a modern hacksaw were found in the cultural layer of the 11th century. These saws could only be used for cross-cutting boards.
Traces of a tool when processing a board are a reliable sign in determining the time of creation of the icon. Different tools used to make a board leave different marks. An ax leaves nicks, a scraper leaves hole-shaped grooves, a plane leaves flat grooves. During later renovations of the icons, the back side of the icons could be repeatedly aligned - re-hewn. Therefore, judging their initial processing by the back side must be done with caution. But on the exposed parts of the front side of the board, where the gesso is lost in places, you can see the initial surface treatment. Using the example of processing the front side of an 11th-12th century icon depicting Peter and Paul, it can be seen that after hewing out the boards with an ax, they were hewn along the fibers with a staple, and after joining them into one shield, the front side was additionally hewn in the transverse direction to smooth out unevenness at the junction of the boards .
A recess was made on the front side of the board, which is called an ark. The edges of the boards rising above the ark are the field, and the bevel between the field and the ark is the husk.
The base for the small icon was cut out from one board; to make a large icon, several boards were combined into one shield.
For greater strength, small, short strips were cut between the inner sides of the boards. Planks of various configurations were cut into the front or back side of the board. They were called depending on their shape - “crucians”, “frying pans” or “swallows”. “Swallows” embedded in the front side of the board have been manufactured since the 16th century.
On the back side of the icon or on its end sides, the boards were additionally fastened with long slats with different cross sections - dowels. At different times, dowels that differed in both their configuration and methods of fastening were used. For Byzantine and Russian icon boards of the 11th and subsequent two centuries, it is typical to attach dowels to the end parts and back of the board using wooden tenons or forged iron nails. Such keys are called overlaid end keys and overlay keys on the back side.
Since the 14th century, overhead dowels have been gradually replaced by mortise dowels, inserted into specially cut grooves on the back side of the icon, which made it possible for shrinking or swelling boards to slide along the dowels and not burst. In the 14th-15th centuries, grooves were most often cut from one edge of the icon to the other. The groove and key were usually made not straight in cross-section, but wedge-shaped, which held the key when it dried out. In the 15th century, grooves for dowels began to be made shorter than the width of the icon board by 5 - 10 cm. Dowels, slightly tapering in length, began to be inserted towards each other - one under the other. However, the cross-sectional shape of the dowel remained trapezoidal, and it itself was quite thick the dowel protruded high above the back of the board. In the 16th century, dowels were made thinner and protruded less above the plane of the board. In the 17th century, they were also made flat, protruding slightly above the back surface, but wide, in order to further enhance their resistance to deformation (bending) of the board.
From the very end of the 17th century, dowels cut into the ends of the boards appeared. Such dowels provide good resistance to deformation only for small and medium-sized boards. They were not used in large icons.
When examining the back side of icons, you often encounter painting with oil paints. This was done at a later time in order to protect the boards from warping and damage by grinding bugs. The back sides of the boards often have a specific brownish or blackish coating. It is believed that these are traces of special treatments of the boards with drying oil or garlic juice (the use of the latter for protection against grinding beetles is described in Western European manuscripts of the 17th century).
Already in ancient times it was known (encyclopedic notes of the Roman scientist Pliny, 1st century) that boards made of cypress, pine and some other trees are not affected by grinder beetles, since their wood is impregnated with cedar, lavender oils and other repellent substances. From the second half of the 17th century, in the Armory Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin, some small icons were painted on cypress boards, and sometimes cypress boards were glued to the linden icon boards on the back side. From this time until the beginning of the 20th century, small icons were made, painted on imported cypress boards. From the second half of the 19th century, icons on cypress boards, taken from the monasteries of Athos (Greece), appeared in Russia.
The time of painting of the icons can be judged by the features of the ark and the fields. For example, the fields of icons of the 11th-12th centuries are, as a rule, wide, and the ark is deep. Since the 13th century, the fields have been made narrower. Starting from the 14th century, icon boards were sometimes made without arks. From the 14th to the 16th centuries, boards for icons with a center surrounded by stamps (scenes) of the life were made with a double ark. The main image of the icon was placed in the internal recess; on the surrounding higher plane scenes of the lives or selected saints were written, and selected saints and texts dedicated to them were also sometimes placed in the margins. In the 16th century, the ark was usually shallow and the husk smoothly passed into the recess of the ark. In the 17th century, the transition between field and husk again becomes sharper. In the 18th-20th centuries, all of the listed types of processing of the front side of the board existed. Their choice depended on the tastes of the customers.
Buy a carved wooden icon with home delivery
If you have long wanted to purchase an icon made of wood, it is better to give preference to the work of professionals. On our website, it is in the icons category that you can make your own choice, giving preference to one image or another. The presented carved icons, which you can buy right now online, are highly artistic works of our masters, into which we were able to invest all our creative talent and skill. The selection of products presented in the category is so rich that you will always be able to make the necessary purchase.
The quality of workmanship that our icons possess will pleasantly surprise you. We always try to create creations in which wood carving is only a manner and a way of conveying the artist's intention. If you want to receive an original product that differs in meaning, size and purpose, we are ready to make a custom carved icon for you. In our work, we use all the subtleties and nuances of iconography, trying to put the spiritual content into our creation as accurately as possible. At the request of the customer, we can create an image as a gift or make a wooden icon as an interior decoration item.
Choose and evaluate our products. In turn, we are ready to offer you to make to order:
Wooden carved icons - manufacturing technology, features and nuances
The main and important detail that is worth paying attention to is the material we use. The bulk of our products are made from solid oak, beech and other valuable types of wood. Today it is becoming relevant to use MDF - wood, a new material for carving work, which is not inferior in its characteristics to traditional materials.
Before work begins, all wood, which is subsequently used to create icons, undergoes careful processing, including drying and sorting. Carved icons from oak, images made from other types of wood are not subject to the influence of time. Using special protective coatings and varnishes in our work, we create creations that last forever.
High quality workmanship, a beautiful and presentable appearance of our icons is achieved through the use of the most advanced equipment. Wood processing, wood carving itself, is carried out on the most modern and high-tech CNC milling machines. To develop a sketch of a future icon, 3D modeling is used, a program that allows you to carry out wood carvings, making maximum use of the technical capabilities of woodworking equipment.
A carved icon is a real talisman for your home
Wood carving is an amazing form of art, thanks to which a person has the opportunity not only to create and create uniquely beautiful objects and things, but also to fill his creations with high spiritual meaning. A carved icon is a vivid example of how perfect and elegant a work of art created by man can be, and what miraculous power is inherent in it. The icons we create are practically in no way inferior to the original. They embody all the wisdom and holiness of the Christian faith and spiritual greatness. An icon made of wood will not only purify your soul and thoughts, but will become a real protector and amulet for you and your loved ones.
From time immemorial, Orthodoxy has revered dimensional and nominal icons on which the Image of the Savior and the faces of the Patron Saints were depicted. Having survived a period of persecution and persecution, today faith has again firmly entered our lives. Wooden icons are becoming an integral part in the life of Orthodox Christians. The rich spiritual meaning, masterful workmanship and beauty of execution make such products especially valuable to humans. The tree itself has enormous energy, and in combination with an artistic design, turning into a holy image, it becomes a source of positive emotions, spiritual strength and peace.
ICONS - nothing more than a holy image. Carved icons made on wood are a natural desire to make the holy image more beautiful and durable. First of all, it is an expression of love and reverence for the image that we worship. Beauty and luxury are present not only in Orthodoxy. but also in other religions of the world. Decoration is a dedication to GOD of one’s sacrifice in the form of money earned. Carved icons are, first of all, the veneration of God, manifested in artistic symbolism. Decorating icons and church utensils with carvings is a visible philosophy of veneration of the divine essence contained in the icon. Carved icons on thermally treated wood are a long-lasting investment. It’s a shame when a revered image, purchased in the form of a reproduction or photographs, simply becomes unusable after a year, or even earlier. This is unacceptable blasphemy! That is why we chose the path of carved icons, using the latest wood processing technologies, so that the holy image, which would be next to us for many years and prayed to by more than one generation, would keep a piece of God, passed on to descendants, preserving and protecting them, ours and the Divine love and care.
What is the meaning of carved icons?
CARVED ICON OF THE HOLY TRINITY- or “Triple Joy” - for the Orthodox it has a special meaning - a miraculous icon based on the Trinity of the divine image.
The manifestation of the continuity of the existence of God brings peace and confidence into the soul in the invisible presence of the Lord. Thousands of people who need peace of mind and are in spiritual search pray to this icon.
"INEXHAIBLE CHALICE"- this prayer icon, saved millions of people from harmful habits - drunkenness, drug addiction, smoking. A miraculous image that invisibly protects families and heals the suffering. Healing a person from alcoholism is the most common miracle that gives the image of the Mother of God to millions of people around the world.
CARVED ICON "HOLY MATRONA" -" Everyone, everyone, come to me after I die and tell me about everything, how alive I will hear and see you and help in your sorrows." There are no rules or a mandatory list with which one could turn to Matronushka, with Any trouble, with any request, a believer can come and with his sincere prayer, true faith, turning to Matronushka, receive support and help. The Great Saint cannot turn away from anyone.
CARVED ICON "THE VIRGIN OF TIKHVIN"
Few people know that this particular icon is the patroness of children; it is this icon that can help when mothers turn to it with a request to pacify the violent temper of the child and direct him to the true path. It is with a request for the healing of a sick child that one should turn to the Tikhvin Mother of God. She also takes care of the infertile, helping them with the miracle of childbirth.
A carved icon is a somewhat more complex product than, for example, a carved flower panel. And sometimes it is difficult not so much technically as morally, so to speak. Even if you work quickly and efficiently, trying to meet the deadline, do not forget to put your heart into it, or at least try.
I have met some truly frantic icon carvers who, shutting themselves out from the whole world, worked with a torch and a blessed prayer on their lips. I don’t know whether this is good, but it is quite possible that this is the only way to work. But we will still try differently.
A carved icon is almost always an analogue of a painted icon. Iconography and a sense of reverse perspective, reinterpreted and embodied in the volume of the tree. Simply put, we take a written icon and transfer its outline (outline) to the board, and then cut it out as best we can. But before you start, I recommend doing a little research: who is depicted, who they are, what types of icons there are. With the current mass of the Internet, it’s a matter of time.
For example, John Olenevsky is a revered saint (a saint who is more revered in a particular area). Highly revered in the middle Volga (1854-1951). New Martyr. For his righteous life he was endowed with the gift of healing and insight.
As you can see, the similarity between the icon and the portrait is not at all obvious. Also, the icons themselves differ significantly from each other. So your carving work may differ slightly. That's not the point. However, this analysis will certainly help you.
Linden. 230 X 310mm, thickness 25mm. For primary processing, i.e. for lowering in depth (10mm), in this case a manual router is used.
Then the product is processed (cleaned) along the contours, the background is selected and the total mass (cut) is collected. We don't touch the face yet.
Now we cut out the clothes completely and cleanly, and move on to the face. We gain the total mass.
