Colour as Emotional Archetype in Tarot
Tarot’s emotional power lies not only in its symbols but in its colours. Red, blue, green, and gold form a chromatic vocabulary that shapes the mood of each card before any imagery is fully processed. These hues work like emotional triggers—quiet, immediate, and deeply symbolic. In my surreal portraiture, I treat colour with the same intuitive respect. Each tone carries psychological weight and gives shape to an inner world. Colour becomes an archetype in itself, guiding the emotional reading of both tarot and art.
Red: Desire, Awakening, and the Quickening of the Inner Fire
Red in tarot is always alive. It appears in cards that demand movement—The Magician’s passion, The Tower’s rupture, Strength’s inner vitality. It signals desire, change, and the heat of emotional truth. In my work, red often glows from within the portrait: a petal lit from the centre, a cheek warmed by emotion, or a botanical form with a quiet burn. Red becomes a pulse, an announcement of transformation. It conveys the moment when a feeling becomes impossible to ignore, echoing tarot’s use of crimson as a catalyst.
Blue: Intuition, Mystery, and the Subconscious Field
Blue holds the emotional space of The Moon, The Star, and the quiet background of many introspective cards. It is the colour of inner oceans—intuition, dreams, memory, and hidden thought. My surreal portraits lean on blue when I want to create softness, depth, or a feeling of drifting inward. Blue surrounds the figure like a psychic mist, forming a bridge between conscious perception and subconscious movement. It makes the portrait feel contemplative, mirroring the mood of tarot’s most introspective archetypes.
Green: Inner Knowledge, Growth, and Mystical Perception
In tarot, green embodies both intuition and regeneration. It shows up in The High Priestess, The Empress, and nature-forward minor arcana. It marks a connection to the unseen rhythms of the world—cycles, patterns, instinct. When I work with green, it often appears in neon or acid shades, turning intuitive knowledge into something electric. Green becomes a signal rather than a backdrop. It expresses emotional growth that is still forming, vibrating quietly in the surreal landscape. Like in tarot, green represents truths that rise slowly and organically.
Gold: Illumination, Clarity, and Spiritual Ascension
Gold is the light of The Sun, the halo of Judgement, the radiance of Temperance. It represents clarity, transcendence, and the understanding that arrives with emotional maturity. Gold in my portraits is rarely loud. Instead, it appears as tiny sparks—a ring of dotted light, the centre of a glowing seed, or a faint aura around the face. These subtle illuminations feel like insights emerging inside the composition. Gold becomes the moment of recognition at the centre of the surreal, reflecting tarot’s use of warm radiance as a sign of awakening.
When Colours Interact, Archetypes Deepen
Tarot rarely isolates colour; it creates meaning through contrast. Red beside blue suggests the tension between desire and intuition. Green emerging from black hints at mystical growth rising from shadow. Gold within darkness signals revelation appearing inside uncertainty. My portraits echo this chromatic interplay. Colours blend, overlap, or interrupt one another, creating emotional contradictions that feel lived rather than symbolic. Through these juxtapositions, the portrait becomes a field of emotional nuance rather than a single narrative.
Chromatic Atmosphere in Surreal Portraiture
The surreal figures I paint exist within atmospheres shaped by these tarot-like hues. The palette holds emotional information: red stirs, blue quiets, green vibrates, gold reveals. These tones help construct the emotional identity of each figure. A portrait with an internal red glow feels charged; one surrounded by cool blue feels inward-facing. A neon green accent suggests intuition rising, while gold introduces clarity. As in tarot, colour becomes an emotional guide.
Colour as Emotional Reading
Both tarot and surreal portraiture rely on colour as a form of intuitive communication. Hue becomes a shortcut into feeling. The viewer responds before analysing, understanding on a level that is bodily rather than intellectual. Through these chromatic archetypes—red, blue, green, and gold—my art connects to the same emotional logic that makes tarot so powerful. Colour becomes a symbolic language, a way of revealing truth through atmosphere rather than explanation.
