The beard

Beards begin at the cheekbones, which Panselinos paints particularly prominent and

strong.

The proplasmos for the beard is the same as for the hair, only with some color of the

proplasmos for the flesh mixed into it. The result is that the color of the beard is not as

vibrant as the color of the hair and harmonizes with the face much better.

The beard is parted along the nasal axis, smaller and larger parts. In this, the beard

follows the same principle that applies to any part of the face. As the nasal axis divides

the face into a larger and smaller sides, so there are larger and smaller eyes, larger and

smaller eyebrows, larger and smaller mustache, larger and smaller nostrils.

Christ's beard is parted in the middle, which follows the oral tradition of synaxaria.

The shape of the beard on the smaller side differs significantly from the shape on the

larger side. The outer boundary line is one continuous curve except for one place near

the jaw line, where it forms a wave - a small recess - to correspond with the identical

formation of the beard on the other side.

Generally speaking, the beard on the smaller side of the face should be a seamless

extension of the flesh, starting at the psymythies around the eyes. The brushstrokes

extending from the eyes like rays of light, all radiate outward from that center, and the

extensions of these lines gradually become the flesh of the cheeks, and then the beard.

They start as white, become yellow, then - provided there is blush on the cheeks -

reddish, then transition into the lines of the beard.

When we examine the beard on the larger side, we realize that its composition -

although appearing seamless - consists of three color "waves". These three waves do

not undulate like in the hair but interweave to create a very gentle transition from skin

to the beard; add to this, all through the beard, there are darker, more prominent and

forefront thin lines of single piece of hair made with burnt umber in rhythmic fashion.

The three color waves and the darker lines that pass over them create on organic form.

On the smaller side, these three color waves are not apparent at all as there is just not

enough space to accommodate these features. One color transition is quite enough for

the smaller side.

In the area below the lower lip, on the front of the chin, the hairs are usually thin. First

we need to place some diffuse light there, give it some blush, and then with the color

of proplasmos for the flesh, cover all the boundaries of the beard with thin parallel

brushstrokes, diffusing the form. These proplasmos brushstrokes should be radial and

they serve as an "eraser", clarifying the shape of the beard and removing the

unnecessary dark areas.

On the following page, we have the fresco of Saint Artemios painted by Panselinos. His

face is like no other saint is identical to the face of Christ himself. One would think that

he could be the Savior's twin brother. Here we have the same hair, the same beard,

the same eyes, eyebrows, nose, sma everything. There is hardly any difference - except

for the lock of hair on his left shoulder that falls in the front. In the images of the

Savior, this same hair lock is always in the back. In some sense, it gives us an idea of

the actual length of the Savior's hair. This image of St. Artemius is very important for

our study of the beard of the Savior (as well as of the other facial features) because the

beard on Christ's image has suffered much deterioration, whereas this image is in

better condition.

St. Artemios by Panselinos

HOW TO PAINT THE BEARD

Figure 1

First, section out a part of the beard on the cheekbone and cheek. The surface is

covered with proplasmos for the beard (paint for the hair + some proplasmos for the

flesh)

Figure 2

From the upper boundary of the beard (AB line), pull the feathered brushstrokes

towards the upper part of the nose. Cover this upper boundary with a row of tapering

lines, whose bases are thick and touch each other, and the tops are as thin as needles.

These lines will look like the teeth of the comb. When this is done, place much thinner

lines in between these triangular "teeth," of the same color. The lines at the top

should not be tangled or touch each other, and at their bottom should merge with the

base.

Figure 3

Take now two paints, proplasmos for the beard, and proplasmos for the skin, and mix

them in equal proportions. The resulting color will look like color 5 in our sample strip

(see Color sample on the following page)

Color sample

Just for reference, place some proplasmos for the beard (6) and proplasmos for the skin

(7) alongside. This intermediate color (5) should have some degree of transparency.

Figure 5

In Figure 5, we have a schematic representation of the beard's complex structure.

The line AB corresponds with the AB line on Figure 1. The line CD shows the size of the

triangular structures across the entire area, seen in Figure 2.

With the intermediate color (5), cover the entire area of the triangular structures with

wispy thin lines, going in the same direction and having the same orientation as the

triangular "teeth". These thin brush strokes should not be touching each other yet

uniformly cover the darker surface, merging the dark proplasmos of the beard with a

lighter proplasmos of the skin. These thin strokes should extend from EF down to KL.

Make sure this mixture is not too opaque, and that the dark triangular structures show

through, but not too prominently (See Figure3)

Using the same intermediate mixture, now place another row of thin and short strokes

extending to the lines GH and MN. These lines, however, should be much sparser than

the previous row, perhaps about 3-4 per one centimeter for a medium size face. These

lines should be the thinnest.

Figure 4

In Figure 3, we can see that the lines of the intermediate color have become tangled

and thick at the top. To untangle them, take some of the color of proplasmos for the

flesh, dilute it to some transparency, and make a row of thin lines over the top edge

only, extending from GH down to IJ (Fig. 6). These thin lines of flesh proplasmos should

untangle the jammed lines of the intermediate color.

If the intermediary lines are too prominent in the upper part of the beard, work them

over with a transparent color of the proplasmos for the beard.