  We present a simple description of the energy density profile created in a
nucleus-nucleus collision, motivated by high-energy QCD. The energy density is
modeled as the sum of contributions coming from elementary collisions between
localized charges and a smooth nucleus. Each of these interactions creates a
sharply-peaked source of energy density falling off at large distances like
$1/r^2$, corresponding to the two-dimensional Coulomb field of a point charge.
Our model reproduces the one-point and two-point functions of the energy
density field calculated in the framework of the color glass condensate
effective theory, to leading logarithmic accuracy. We apply it to the
description of eccentricity fluctuations. Unlike other existing models of
initial conditions for heavy-ion collisions, it allows us to reproduce
simultaneously the centrality dependence of elliptic and triangular flow.
