The process of creating an Icon of a modern saint

I was commisioned to do an icon of a recently canonized saint.

Saint José Luis Sánchez del Río was a Mexican Cristero killed by the government for refusing to renounce his faith; victim of political attempts to stamp out dissent & crush religious freedom. 

Lived March 28,1913 until February 10,1928
Declared a martyr on June 22, 2004 by Pope John Paul II
Beatified on November 20, 2005 by Pope Benedict XVI
Miracle attributed to him approved January 21, 2016 by Pope Francis
Proclaimed a saint on October 16, 2016
Icon painted and blessed May, 2017

You can read more about the events here.

I researched Jose Sanchez del Rio, and found a few old pictures and modern paintings. 

We prayerfully considered if details of the martyrdom should be included on the icon.

After compiling the data, I referred to Aidan Hart's book - Techniques of Icon and Wall Painting - for more suggestions on representing a new Western saint. I also looked at many icons of martyred saints to observe their hand positions or gestures. 

Bishops or martyred church leaders tended to give a blessing, 

but that did not seem appropriate for this young lad. 

Nor did the praying hands held low near his waist (as in this painting).

It seemed that grasping the cross with both hands, 
and holding a rosary looked natural and appropriate.

The person who commissioned the icon asked that I include 

his final comment to his mother, which in English means roughly, 

"we will not have an easier way to gain Heaven"

 [than this martyrdom]. 

I liked it better written on the bottom of the icon than on a sash, as shown in this painting.

Using Photoshop, I created various elements to be incorporated into the icon. 

If I was better at sketching,  I might have done this on paper.

Finally I did an outline on my icon board and so began the icon's production... 

Working from the sketch, I added color to get a better sense of the form of the saint.

I concluded that the dark red color on the borders could also be used for the saint's cross. 

We wanted the shirt to be white, but not pure white. We started with blue.

The Sankir (flesh) color was painted on hands and face. A nearly black color was used for his hair.

Pure black hair is common on boys and men I saw recently when traveling in Central Mexico. 

This 10-yr old boy is a neighbor of our friends in Cuernevaca.

Now the form of the shirt is being developed, and the beginning of color on the Sankir. 

We have narrowed his body and left arm from the original sketch.

I thought green would go nicely as the background, as he was a country / farm boy.

Here we are at the first stage of the face, where he appears a bit startled, and perhaps too old. 

I felt his hair was taking on an Afro look.

Here the basic shape is refined, the facial expression improved and we added a rosary. 

The text of his final words to his mother are sketched in on the bottom border. 

The hair has been completely reworked.

Here is a test of the icon with candle light on my display shelf. You can see we have increased the shirt's whiteness, and I have added the red background where gold leaf will indicate his halo. 

I have also begun another coat of gold paint on his words at the bottom.

In this picture the newly-applied gold leaf halo is apparent, 

along with a need for a painted border on the edges.

I roughly drew in his title using red pigment.

I have applied a gold pinstripe around the outer edge, a dark red pinstripe around the halo, and painted in the saint's name at the top of the green field. I added another string of beads and a portion of his thumb on the left hand, for a more realistic appearance. There were many other minor changes.

In context - it spends the evenings here.

Here is the final icon with two coats of varnish, ready to be taken to church for its blessing.

Father John blesses the icon for its work in strengthening the faith of those who will own it.

The icon has now been delivered to its new owner.