There were many painters in the Bigorski Monastery at that time and Zograf left his father to study with them. The painters in the monastery, who had perfected painting in Mount Athos, showed him the basics of painting. Zograf learned the most about painting from master Mihail from Samarina. At first, the apprentices, including Dičo Zograf, drew the first layers of the icons, and at the end, the masters drew the last shadows and details.
