The phrase "a devastating picture of" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to describe a situation, event, or condition that is portrayed in a very negative or impactful way.
Example: "The documentary painted a devastating picture of the effects of climate change on coastal communities."
Alternatives: "a harrowing depiction of" or "a bleak portrayal of".
But he paints a devastating picture of government mismanagement.
Members of his unit in Afghanistan paint a devastating picture of Sergeant Gibbs, 26.
"This is a carefully patterned novel, full of surprises, that paints a devastating picture of the world today.
He paints a devastating picture of the industry's fumbling, corruption, greed and bad faith over the decades.
A devastating picture of child protection failings in Haringey has been revealed by the report of an inspection team sent into the authority after Baby P's death.
The response to Hurricane Katrina gave Americans such a devastating picture of official failure that it suggested something fatally wrong with an entire approach to governing.
Local and federal officials painted a devastating picture today of a smuggling operation that killed at least 14 young Mexican immigrants in Arizona, saying a "coyote" had apparently abandoned more than two dozen men in one of the country's most brutal and desolate stretches of desert on Saturday with little water and no preparation.
It's one of the most familiar stretches of verse in the canon, but by the time Ms. Williamson has reached its conclusion, with Shakespeare's devastating picture of a bereft old age, you may feel you have stumbled by mistake into a performance of "King Lear".
I take issue with the devastating picture of New York under a property tax cap that you paint in a May 26 editorial, "Reject the Tax Cap".
The petition was launched after the devastating picture of Syrian toddler Alyan Kurdi washed up on a Turkish beach emerged, shocking thousands into action.
Ogden has made a subtly devastating picture (I was reminded of Barney Platts-Mills picture of late Sixties working class London youth, Bronco Bullfrog) that achieves its own humour, beauty and humanity.
