So the picture at left is how I used to think about protons (and neutrons, and electrons too, come to think of it). Like neat little balls. You know, like "Let me have men about me that are fat, Sleek-headed men and such as sleep a-nights."
Well! The real proton is something else, that's for sure! Three quarks, bound together by a "chromatic" force, representing the (very virtual!) colors red, green and blue, interact through their chromatics and through the binding force of gluons, which also come in three "colors". This description means nothing to me, but seeing the animation knocks my socks off.
So you must see the animation, too. It is here, but it is large, almost 2 MB. But it's really worth it!
Don't know about you, but the proton will never be the same to me.
Ann