I use high contrast in a lot of my paintings, so with this piece, I wanted to create a very strong light vs. dark theme, but simple white vs. black wouldn't cut it, so I added the gold leaf to create a central focal point and give the composition that much needed touch of color. The original idea was to have demons surrounding the darkness but in the end, I chose to leave the dark as a subjective menacing character, so as not to overcrowd the piece and to keep focus on my main character, the sword and the light.

God gifted me with a very vivid imagination, so I always think of a dark atmosphere with dark beings surrounding us all the time, especially when I'm praying at night, but the strong light of God keeps us safe and protected as if we are inside a bubble. I connected with this feeling while reading the scriptures to create this work, because we're not fighting against flesh and blood, we're fighting the evil that we don't see. And of course, the female in full armor was a must, this is a representation of how I see myself when I speak the word of God.

Stephanie Herrera - artist and photographer

This is an original work. It's a mixed media painting done with graphite, black ink and gold leaf on cold-pressed Arches paper.
Dimensions: 22.5 inches x 20 inches
Price: $1500
For purchase options, you can email me at stephanieh511@gmail.com

I'm open for commissions right now, and we're creating free YouTube art content for a spanish speaking audience, as well as live videos every week. Soon we'll be launching a full portrait course on our site.