When Colour Becomes a Form of Emotional Orientation
Colour is often treated as decoration, but in my surreal portraiture it behaves more like a compass. It guides the viewer toward the emotional centre of the artwork, drawing attention to what cannot be spoken aloud. Intuitive palettes allow the portrait to express clarity without literal explanation. Each tone, gradient, and glow becomes a direction—leading the eye, settling the mind, or revealing the emotional truth beneath the stillness of the figure.
Intuitive Colour as an Internal Signal
Rather than planning a palette in advance, I let the colours emerge instinctively. This intuitive approach creates a visual language grounded in emotion rather than theory. When the right colour appears, it feels like a signal—something aligning internally. The portrait absorbs this choice, and the entire atmosphere shifts around it. Intuitive colour becomes a way of locating the emotional core of the piece, allowing clarity to rise naturally rather than through conscious design.
Soft Black as the Space of Understanding
Soft black in my palettes often behaves like a grounding force. It is not the absence of colour but a quiet field where thoughts settle and tension softens. This shade acts as a stabilising presence within the portrait, creating visual calm around the more vivid or charged elements. It allows the viewer to focus inward, offering clarity through contrast. The soft black becomes a container for emotion, making it easier to understand what glows within it.
Luminous Colours as Points of Emotional Emphasis
The luminous tones—fuchsia, acid green, glowing mauve—carry emotional precision. They highlight what matters, directing attention to symbolic details like mirrored petals, glowing seeds, or the eyes of the figure. These colours serve as emotional markers, clarifying where the portrait wants the viewer to linger. The glow is never random. It behaves like a pulse, guiding perception toward the heart of the piece and making the emotional message more legible.
Intuition and the Feminine Gaze
The feminine presence in my portraits is tied to instinct, subtlety, and the quiet ability to sense what lies beneath the surface. The palette mirrors this emotional intelligence. It does not shout; it reveals. Each shade suggests awareness, restraint, or introspection. Through intuitive colour, the feminine gaze becomes more transparent—not through narrative, but through atmosphere. The clarity it creates is internal, a form of seeing that happens through feeling rather than analysis.
Botanical Forms Illuminated Through Colour
Botanicals in my work carry symbolic meaning, but they also act as vehicles for emotional colour. When a petal glows or a vine shifts from deep shadow to neon intensity, it reveals the portrait’s inner direction. The botanical shapes become illuminated thoughts, small indicators of what the figure holds inside. Colour transforms these plants into emotional echoes, clarifying the portrait’s psychological tone.
Multiple Faces and Chromatic Truth
When the face is mirrored, multiplied, or layered, colour becomes essential in guiding emotional focus. It helps differentiate internal voices or emotional layers within the same figure. A warm tone may soften one aspect, while a cooler or sharper colour intensifies another. Through this interplay, the palette clarifies the emotional structure of the portrait, mapping different states of mind without relying on literal storytelling.
Colour as the Shortcut to the Subconscious
Fairytales, surrealism, and dreamlike imagery all use colour to bypass rational interpretation. My portraits rely on the same principle. Instead of directing the viewer through narrative cues, they use intuitive palettes to access deeper emotional terrain. A sudden flash of acid green feels like a moment of recognition. A field of deep blue invites reflection. A luminous pink reveals vulnerability or longing. These colours guide the mind toward clarity by engaging the subconscious directly.
Clarity as an Emotional Experience
In the end, inner clarity within my artwork does not emerge from explanation but from resonance. The intuitive palette encourages the viewer to slow down, breathe, and recognise the emotional frequency of the portrait. The colours guide the internal focus, helping the viewer understand the mood before understanding the meaning. Through this process, the portrait becomes a reflective space—one where clarity arises gently, shaped by tone, light, and the quiet intelligence of intuitive colour.
