The icon - is a book about faith. They communicate through lines and colors, revealing dogmatic and liturgical attitudes of the church. The more one lives by the rules of Christianity, more he understands what icons mean.
An icon is, above all, a sacred object. They always carry inscriptions identifying the scene or the saint shown. An icon painter pays respect to a saint he has painted by putting the inscription. The saint, therefore, sends his or her blessing. Neglectful way of icon painting is neglecting the saints. That is why icon painters are to show deep respect to the work they do.
They also are to remember and appreciate all their predecessors in trade, who managed to convey the true meaning of the icons. It is Saint Disciple and Gospel writer Luke above all. Through centuries there have been myriad of icon painters, after Luke, whose work and effort deserves respect.
Icons are prayers which are painted. They support praying. So, the one who paints them should not forgive to pray while working. Icons say a lot without a word or letter. Prayers are those which lead a believer to understand the true faith. Therefore, icons are to be seen as having the beauty of the spiritual.
After all, the aim of Christian life is to reach God, the primal source of beauty. One has to live a decent life if wants to be an icon painter.
He should be calm, avoiding ironic or intrusive attitude. He should not be jealous, or a drunkard. All in all, he should take good care of his spiritual welfare. This includes as well that the icon painter should have one reverent father as his own adviser, whom he makes confessions to.
It is of a vital importance for any icon painter to paint thoughtfully, having decent icon painters as their role models. This work should not be done according to one’s own presumptions. The rules and pieces of advice are to be respected and applied. If one who paints icon stops living a decent way of life, he should be forbidden form working his job.
Those who paint icons without previous education and implementation of basic concept of iconography should be punished. They should also learn from respected icon painters. One who gets a gift from God for such a job should do it, otherwise it is not recommended, says the covenant of Moscow synod to all the icon painters.
