Colour as Archetype, Not Decoration
In tarot, colour is never incidental. It carries symbolic weight, emotional temperature, and psychological direction. Each hue belongs to an archetype with its own inner logic—red for power and upheaval, blue for intuition, green for mystery, yellow for clarity. When I build the palette for my surreal portraits, I draw from that same symbolic system. Colour becomes more than atmosphere; it becomes an emotional guide, shaping how the viewer enters the inner world of the figure.
Red as Power, Will, and Breaking Point
Red appears in the Major Arcana through cards like The Magician and The Tower. In The Magician, it represents agency, desire, and the ability to shape one’s reality. In The Tower, it signals collapse, urgency, and a sudden shift in perspective. In my artwork, red often pulses at the edges of petals or glows softly within the figure’s face. It embodies intensity without aggression—an internal spark. It can signify emotional ignition or the moment when something long-hidden breaks open. Red becomes the portrait’s heartbeat, a sign of inner movement and transformative energy.
Blue as Intuition, Subconscious, and Emotional Distance
In tarot, blue belongs to The Moon—an archetype of introspection, uncertainty, and psychic drift. It suggests the quiet space where intuition gathers, and where the subconscious shapes perception. When I use blue, it often surrounds the figure like a soft atmosphere, placing them in a world slightly removed from everyday reality. It creates an emotional distance that invites contemplation. Blue becomes the colour of inner tides—slow, reflective, and full of hidden depth. It sets the tone for portraits that feel suspended, dreamlike, and gently disorienting.
Green as Mystery, Inner Knowing, and Hidden Realms
Green is intimately linked to The High Priestess. She is the keeper of secrets, the guardian of intuition, and the mediator between the visible and the invisible. Green in tarot is not simply “nature”; it is the colour of emotional undercurrents and subtle perceptions. In my palette, green often appears as an acid tone—slightly unnatural, glowing at the edges of botanicals or radiating through the portrait like an intuitive pulse. It represents the moment before understanding takes shape, the intuitive whisper that precedes clarity. Green introduces mystery, signalling that the emotional landscape holds layers that cannot be accessed through logic alone.
Yellow as Illumination, Vitality, and Conscious Insight
Yellow is the colour of The Sun—joy, clarity, emotional presence, and the stripping away of illusion. In my work, yellow tends to appear in glowing seeds, botanical centres, or soft highlights on the face. It suggests awakening, a small flare of understanding, a moment of inner warmth. Yellow balances the surreal atmosphere with a sense of grounded clarity. It brightens the emotional weight of blue and tempers the intensity of red, becoming a point of emotional orientation within the composition.
The Emotional Geometry of Colour
When these colours interact—red against blue, green within shadow, yellow emerging from darkness—they create a symbolic geometry similar to the interplay between tarot archetypes. A portrait with a red glow and blue surroundings may express tension between desire and uncertainty. A figure framed by green and yellow suggests intuition blossoming into clarity. The combinations become emotional equations: each hue shapes the next, and their interactions form the inner atmosphere of the piece.
Botanical Forms as Tarot Colour Vessels
The botanicals in my artwork often carry these symbolic colours. Their mirrored petals, luminous seeds, and spirals of growth become vessels for meaning. A red-tipped creature-like petal can embody Tower-like upheaval. A blue shadow within a bloom evokes Moon-like introspection. A green glow at the edge of a petal channels the Priestess’s intuitive mystery. A yellow core becomes the spark of Sun-like awareness. Through these forms, the colour logic of the Major Arcana enters the composition with emotional subtlety.
Contemporary Surrealism Through a Colour-Archetype Lens
Although my portraits are not tarot illustrations, the emotional logic behind tarot colours shapes the atmosphere of my work. The palette becomes a language of archetypes—softly influencing how viewers read the figure, interpret the mood, and sense the emotional layers beneath the surface. The interplay of red, blue, green, and yellow transforms the artwork into a contemporary reflection of age-old symbolic systems. Through these hues, the portraits speak in a quiet but resonant way, linking colour to intuition, transformation, clarity, and the unseen world.
