Talk:The Painter/@comment-39.60.232.8-20170616002223

"Those who aren't ken to fire cannot paint a world."

'Ken' means 'perception' or 'awareness'. So basically the Painter wants to say that she must have an understanding of flame and its qualities before she could paint a new painting. And when you look at it, the 3 desired qualities of the new painting are exactly opposite to the characteristics of fire- cold versus heat, light versus dark, still shadows versus fiery ardour. By seeing flame, she could gain a better view of how to create a world devoid of it. And those "absorbed by fire"- which I take to be obsessed or yearning for fire, like the Ashen One- must not paint a world because while they understand fire only too well, they are unable (or unwilling) to comprehend a world without it. Thier devoted search for fire blinds them to the concept of darkness, which would defeat the purpose of the paintings.