A while back I had this picture in my head of the “Bride of Christ” clothed with a vale, and waiting for the return of Christ. I had several thoughts in mind; the past sin of a fallen people, the process of redemption, the parable of the Ten Virgins, and an end result of light and purity. I wanted to create something surreal, but incredibly realistic at the same time. I began this process with a series of actual photos, of which I layered, then layered again, then layered again in Photoshop.  I used several texture overlays to achieve a painterly effect.  The text layout, vale, head decor, and clothing were intially created in Illustrator, then blended and layered in Photoshop.  I used the Mesh tool to distort the text so it flows with the vale.