-The Portrait

(Words to Image. Random picture, random thought, random story)

Sven tried to draw his picture, but it was distorted. The pen was too small, and its ink was quickly running out. Still, he tried. He drew the outline; with hopes there would be enough ink to fill in the center. He needed depth and details, otherwise it was just a circle. A circle distorted with flow and curvature. But what good is flow and curvature when the image lacks detail, he thought. No one will know what it is supposed to be. It represents the outer edges of an ink stain. The oil floating atop water, yet without color. He kept drawing.

Suddenly, his biggest fear happened. His pen ran dry. In a desperate attempt to power through to completion, he found color. The color gave him the means for inner detail. He drew lines and shadows, depth ... and detail. But his inner color was all the same. He needed it to vary, so he used his palm to blot sections of it, creating a darker hue. He used a teardrop to dilute another section to create a watered-down version of its hue. It worked. And he blew on yet another section of it to create lines, waves of imagination, dancing across the paper.

He looked down at his picture. Yes. It was now something that could be understood. It had enough depth and detail that it was no longer a mystery blob. It was beautiful.

Sven needed color. Sven found it. And it created his masterpiece. He just needed to know where to look when his pen ran dry.

Look within.