Write a story about someone trying to paint (or otherwise create) a self-portrait.

Posted in Character on Nov 17, 2023

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✍️ 66 stories

“In Pursuit of Being Remembered” by Katie Coffman

Submitted to Contest #225

Zac stares into the blazing flame in front of him. He’s always been mesmerized by fire. By the way the colors of white, yellow, and orange blend together in a perfect pattern to create something magical. “Zac?” Asks the man sitting across the beat-up wooden table, causing Zac to snap back to reality. For a moment he had forgotten where he was. Unfortunately, he’s on a date.“Sorry, you were saying David?” Zac hates this part. But it’s a necessary part of the process. “These zucchini crisps are amazing. Do you want to try one?” David...

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“Captured by Grace” by Kasie Gilbert

Submitted to Contest #225

One slow moving afternoon, Maren sat before her mirror. Her easel stood staunchly by her side, blank canvas awaiting her touch. The room was filled with the smell of oil paint, a heady aroma that was part inspiration, part challenge. The sun made patterns on the wooden floor, casting a warm, reassuring glow around the room. The gentle rustling of the trees outside filtered through the open window, the only sound in an otherwise quiet sanctuary. A woman with a raw talent and a mind’s eye capable of envisioning worlds within worlds, Maren foun...

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“Moments” by Elizabeth Sloughter

Submitted to Contest #225

Fifteen I hate myself. I don’t really, but maybe I do. I don’t know? I had blond hair as a child. What happened to that? What color do I use for my hair? Mom says I’m just going through a phase. That’s her word for every one of my mo...

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“Lily and Paul” by Tamás Pintér

Submitted to Contest #225

Lily and Paul (A self-portrait) The judgement ALMOST 22 YEARS EARLIER The safety rope slid past him like a black mamba and continued its journey 39 floors down into the abyss. What's the matter? He gasped, desperately searching for something to hold on to. The coloured door of the light box, which had been damaged and now is being repaired, could only support a few dozen of kilos, yet it seemed the only option. He tried to reach out to this embodiment of hope, but to no avail. He was wrong. For the last time. The falling quarter first...

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“And Guest ” by Clara 'CC' Carlyle

Submitted to Contest #225

"Don't forget my fan brush this time," Brian yelled to his assistant. He planned to pack his own tools but he's been stuck on the toilet since before the sun was in the sky. Brian "BA" Amaranth- ARTIST- has an audition. When he auditions, he suffers from diarrhea. "Sorry, sorry, so sorry," An overweight, graying, chaotic woman opened the door to BA's townhouse. "Sorry, did you say something?" Jade didn't know about Brian's nervousness. Today was only the third audition that she would assist him. "Hello? Hola? Bonjour?" She called o...

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“Kyra and You” by Nyla Alimohammadi

Submitted to Contest #225

Kyra and You She sketched her ideal self in a nude pose and a second of her in a simple and simply undeniably cute dress. This pencil version of her felt like a mirror image. How strange when she was the mirror instead of every single person she had to interact with. All her life, she’d had to blend in with all her brain cells firing to remain that chameleon. No wonder then, that walking the halls of high school she felt that she could not hold any more information in her head. For the rest of her life. Growing up she was raised a boy, ...

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“Pandemonium Mentis” by Ben Martin

Submitted to Contest #225

As of this week, I am 23 years old. I am going to kill myself before I turn 30, so I have 2542 days left to produce a great work of art and become a great artist. I will either die known or unknown. Here’s hoping I die known. I wish I could be complacent. I wish I could get a job, raise a family, and contribute to society slowly over time; but I can’t do that. I also wish that I could be content to produce art for its own sake, but I can’t do that either—my treacherous pride forbids it. I will either make a name, or I will waste away in an...

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“THE EYE OF THE TIGER” by Debbie Curtin

Submitted to Contest #225

It is so much harder than I ever imagined. I'm just now trying my hand at something I gave no thought to over the years, ever. And now here I am faced with the demons scratching my back. "No excuses." This was my push comes to shove moment that was do or die, make it or break it, shovel the sh#t aka dirt, and the plethora of swears just finished off the stress of the moment. Why am I harboring so much guilt and hate? This art therapy is matching my pain. Is this how everyone trying their best to be a so-called artist starts out by kicking th...

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“Stretch Marks” by Sarah Duffey

Submitted to Contest #225

CW: allusions to domestic abuse No matter how desperately she searched, Arianne couldn’t find the right foundations to hide the purple blotch under her eye. She pulled her blonde hair in frustration, exposing candy cane earrings and more bruised skin.“Jillian just made it,” her mom said from the other side of the bathroom door. “She put her stuff in your bedroom.” Arianne could almost hear her breathing, and the cracking of her knuckles as she wrung her hands. “We’re out here ready to open gifts when you come out.”In the bathroom, the s...

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“Not Quite Right, but Perfect” by Landon Christianson

Submitted to Contest #225

"That's not it at all!" I throw another canvas to the growing pile of failed paintings. I throw my hands in the air and give up. I take off my paint stained apron and throw myself onto my bed. I bury myself in my mess of pillows and blankets. I only stir when I hear a knock on my wall. I look up but find no one at my door. I knock on the wall near my bed in a pattern and my neighbor completes it. My neighbor is Mrs. Carlile. She is a 87 year old widow that has been living in my apartment complex for as long as I have been here. We would of...

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“The Portrait of Emma” by Meg Lagares

Submitted to Contest #225

“Just when I thought my life could not get any worse than it already is,” I thought to myself as I wailed into my pillow, “How could Mrs. Johnson assign us this project? A self-portrait! I don’t want to draw myself. I hate my own face." Everyone at school calls me ‘pimple girl’ or ‘bunny nose, Nancy’ Only I could have this kind of luck, especially in what used to be my absolute favorite subject at school. All the last semester, I couldn’t wait until I got to go into Mrs. Johnson’s art class. Some kids don’t even call her Mrs. Johns...

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“To draw what is lost” by Lyle Closs

Submitted to Contest #225

I hold a pencil to draw with. An approximation of God’s wand. Creation is creation, I insist, no matter what the scale. My room is freezing, the view of Paris rooftops apocryphal. Romance reticulated. Thoughts become noises and arcs. I, the artist, hesitate, put on one of my last vinyl records. Ludwig’s piano concerto crescendos. I wave the Faber-Castell 4B, drawing sounds in the air. Crashing chords, delicate trills. A waterfall of sound. The pencil lowers towards the paper, hesitates. A cathedral stone held aloft by a cage à ...

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“The man of the sorrowful eyes” by Venecia Alvarado

Submitted to Contest #225

As he crossed the threshold of the door, a storm erupted outside, carrying with it a resigned sigh from the twenty-four-year-old. Youthful years were exhausting too, he thought. Turns out, in a world where technology had consumed all fields, being passionate about art was almost unbearable. Avis considered himself a spontaneous artist, someone whose inspiration flowed at his whim. Rainy nights were perfect for letting his creativity flow. However, in his small apartment, he lacked a studio, so he was forced to work in the cramped living room...

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“Self Portrait of a True Artist” by B. D. Bradshaw

Submitted to Contest #225

Brush on canvas, draft pencil and paint strokes to define shape and tone... A piece of artwork certainly. Disgustingly, not art. I wasn't an art college undergraduate anymore. Back then I was young, naïve, ignorant and pathetic - a life yet to be lived and a person still to be defined. She had been moulded by societal indoctrination, and an education system contrived by a patriarchal government determined to keep her sick and stupid. I was not that woman, for years of misery and kindness had crafted within my form something and som...

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“Margaret” by A.J. Williams

Submitted to Contest #225

Friday Night – The Best of Nights After school, I wander along the train tracks, navigating the uneven rocks beneath my feet. My steps lack direction, mirroring the chaos within. Home or Margaret's place? Uncertain. It's been two days since I last saw her, and concern gnaws at me.I kick at the rocks, my mind consumed by thoughts of her. Imagining a potential delightful evening, our Fridays usually involve movies and music. My hair keeps falling into my eyes. I swipe it away, but it persistently returns.October brings ominous grey clouds, for...

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Write a story about someone trying to paint (or otherwise create) a self-portrait.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 66 stories

“In Pursuit of Being Remembered” by Katie Coffman

“Captured by Grace” by Kasie Gilbert

“Moments” by Elizabeth Sloughter

“Lily and Paul” by Tamás Pintér

“And Guest ” by Clara 'CC' Carlyle

“Kyra and You” by Nyla Alimohammadi

“Pandemonium Mentis” by Ben Martin

“THE EYE OF THE TIGER” by Debbie Curtin

“Stretch Marks” by Sarah Duffey

“Not Quite Right, but Perfect” by Landon Christianson

“The Portrait of Emma” by Meg Lagares

“To draw what is lost” by Lyle Closs

“The man of the sorrowful eyes” by Venecia Alvarado

“Self Portrait of a True Artist” by B. D. Bradshaw

“Margaret” by A.J. Williams

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story with someone buying a cursed — or perhaps blessed —mirror from an antiques store.

Write a story about someone coming across their doppelganger.

Write a story about a character who one day notices that their reflection has taken on a life of its own.

Set your story in a house of mirrors and make the atmosphere increasingly eerie.

Contest #225

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

282

Contest entries

106

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: