The Meaning

“A Thousand Years” was inspired from the first three verses of the twentieth chapter of the Book of Revelation, “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit and a heavy chain in his hand. He seized the dragon, that old serpent, who is the devil, Satan, and bound him in chains for a thousand years. The angel threw him into the bottomless pit, which he then shut and locked so Satan could not deceive the nations anymore until the thousand years were finished. Afterward he must be released for a little while.” (NLT)

The Angel’s Key

We see a key around the angel’s neck (to unlock the pit of hell), and he carries a heavy ball and chain in his left hand.

The Dragon of the Earth

The angel is ready to throw the chain around the dragon and lock him up for a thousand years. The dragon expresses his anger towards his enslaver because he realizes he is not in control of his eternal destiny. The diamonds on the side of his left horn signify his status as the prince and ruler over the earth.

Skulls on the Wing

The skulls coming from underneath his wing symbolize the death of the souls he has deceived during his time on earth.

This painting is most closely related to “River of Fire” which was done in 2004 which also has the theme of the dragon’s demise and the end of his rule on the earth.

I have often wondered what the earth would be like with no evil in it for a thousand years…. I believe it would be full of good friendships, kindness, and peace.

The Process

I saw my friend, Mher Khachatryan, (who, at the time, was an oil painter in the Crossroads in Kansas City) paint on unstretched canvases. He painted on them while they were pinned up on the walls of his studio. So, I asked him for a piece of canvas from his roll and he gave me one and this is what I decided to paint on it. I have always been fascinated by this chapter in the book of Revelation and the title “A Thousand Years” and I tried to capture them on canvas.

I started outlining the angel and dragon with a black marker, then I colored them in with oil and acrylic paint. Afterwards, I developed the blue and green background around the characters and blended the background with the fire.