Paint a black picture

Posted by RRC February 21, 2008 at 17:05:In reply to Paint a black picture posted by Mel on February 21, 2008 at 12:24:

Is there such a phrase as "To paint a black picture" (of a situation), or something to do with darkening a painting that might mean making things worse?

"To paint a black picture" is to describe something negatively. In "Oliver Twist", Charles Dickens paints a black picture of life in the workhouse. "The sky is falling," shouted Chicken Little, painting a black picture for the future of the world.