In Finishing The Sentence LV, I posted answers that one of my favorite unfinished sentences elicited in May 1989. Here's how various people I knew in college answered it in April 1993:
If I could paint a picture of something that would linger in an observer's mind for years after seeing it, I would paint...
...a vision of the viewer absolutely and completely happy and content in the surroundings that he/she loves most. That way, if they ever forget how it felt, they will remember that it is possible. (Rachel N.)
...Jesus with olive skin and woolly hair, as described in the Bible, (to) see how people of various races would react. (Aasim I.)
...this image of my mother that I've held in my mind for years. From a toddler's point of view, she was so tall, with flaming red hair flowing down her back and probably wearing some nasty '70s outfit. It's just that hair that makes the image memorable. (Liz F.)
...a 100-foot black square with the words, "It was a mistake," in white, in the middle of it. (Theo H.)
...Canal Street in New Orleans, (which) is the widest street in America. I would like to construct the frame of a giant television, say 100x100 feet, at the base of Canal Street, so that when you stand in the Riverwalk or take the ferry over from Algiers, it looks like you're watching Canal Street on TV, and when you're on the street, you're being watched. This isn't a painting, but it's a picture, and people will remember it. (Michael M.)
