You don’t need the talent of a classically trained artist—or even the ability to draw a stick figure—to create a stunning icon.

Follow along step-by-step with internationally acclaimed iconographer Joseph Malham as he takes you through an eight-day, self-guided contemplative retreat to create your own icon of the Christ Pantocrator (All-Powerful, the Teacher). In Drawing Closer to Christ, Malham relies on his twenty years of teaching experience to walk you through the materials and techniques needed to create your own sacred image.

For fifteen hundred years, icons have helped Christians meditate and pray. Used in homes and public worship, these symbolic images represent the presence of Christ and the saints. Malham has been practicing and teaching iconography for twenty years, encouraging ordinary people to create their own icons and be transformed by the spiritual practice. In Drawing Closer to Christ, he invites people of all levels of artistic talent to the contemplative experience of creating a sacred image.

Using the ancient icon Christ Pantocrator as your pattern, you will learn how to enter into the process of tracing the icon into the wood, applying gold leafing to the halo around Christ's head, and blending the paint to create beautiful colors that radiate holiness. Malham provides a list of supplies needed for each stage and step-by-step directions with detailed photographs.

The first seven days of the retreat follow the rhythm of the Genesis account of creation. On the eight day, you'll learn that while the finished icon represents the personality of the artist, it is still Christ. You will be transformed by your sacred image.