PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING: ART INTERPRETATION

COLORS (Allan, 1989)

RED the most emotional color. It can show impulsiveness and spontaneity of expression, a need for affection from a significant person or a sign of aggression and hate. Red is also the color of martyrdom (Allan, 1989).

ORANGE similar to red but has greater control of emotions. Orange may indicate sympathy and friendliness or an indication of aggressive resistance to dependency (Allan, 1989).

YELLOW is a highly charged color like red indicating aggressiveness and hostility if over used. Lots of yellow may indicate self-destructive behavior if over used. Gold or light yellow represents intellect intuition, faith, and goodness. Dark yellows signify treachery, jealously, ambition, secrecy, and faithlessness (Allan, 1989).

GREEN tends to mean an escape from anxiety, a sense of controlled behavior, a return to an untroubled nature. On the whole, the use of green does not indicate strong emotions (Allan, 1989)

BLUE indicates an introverted person who has conscious emotional control. Pictures using blue heavily may indicate a need for self-control. Blue represents truth, intellect, wisdom, constancy, prudence, peace, contemplation, and the feminine symbolized by water (Allan, 1989).

PURPLE indicates a need for power that may border on paranoia. Purple has been considered to be a "power' color, because it is associated with royalty (Allan, 1989).

BLACK and brown represent inhibitions, repression, and depression with possible regression is used sloppily (Allan, 1989).

WHITE can mean anti-social attitudes or it can be transcendence, simplicity, perfection and purity (Allan, 1989).

EMOTIONS ASSOCIATED WITH COLORS O'Connor (1983)
Color Emotion
Red Anger
Purple Rage
Blue Sadness
Black Melancholy
Green Jealousy
Brown Boredom
Gray Lonesome
Yellow Happy
Orange Excitement
Pink Feminine Feelings
Blue Green Masculine Feelings


SYMBOLS COMMONLY USED

APPLES represent fertility, love, joyousness, knowledge, wisdom, divination, or deceitfulness and death. A child needing emotional nurturance may draw apples. Worms drawn in the apple may indicate that their nurturance has not been adequate or positive (Allan, 1989).

BIRDS represent transcendence; a need to mature beyond the current state, the soul, ascent of the soul to heaven. Birds in children drawings usually mean a change has taken place (Allan, 1989).

CATS can represent desire, liberty, and stealth. Black cats are associated with evil and death, playfulness and grace. The cat may be a representation of the child's affection for his or her pet, which can also indicate a need for affection (Allan, 1989).
DOGS can symbolize fidelity, watchfulness, nobility, depravity, scavenging, or fury. A dog can also indicate a need for affection or expression of affection toward a pet (Allan, 1989).

FIRE is a symbol of renewal of life, transformation, purification, passion, impregnation, power, defense, protection, or destruction. Fire can mean hostility (Allan, 1989).

FISH may be phallic symbols. Fish are also the ancient symbol of Christianity.

HORSES can symbolize life and death,instinctual animal nature, dynamic power, nobility, or the intellect (Allan, 1989).

HOUSE usually represents one of the following: the child's family life and relationships, openness to outsiders, the degree of protection that it offers, nature of the present ego structure, contact with reality, the relative roles played by the psychological past and future in the child's psychological field and the degree of rigidity in the personality (Allan, 1989)

MOON may be drawn by children to mean things that happen at night. The moon can also be a feminine power symbol (Allan, 1898).

MOUNTAINS are symbols of constancy, eternity, firmness, and stillness (Allan, 1989).

PEOPLE disclose how the child views the self physically and emotionally at the moment, what the child would like to be, and the attitude toward interpersonal relationships. People that do not represent the child may be significant others. The size of the person is equated with power: the bigger, the stronger. When and where the person is drawn indicates the status of the person in the relationship. An unusually small head may indicate depression or emotional disturbance. (Allan, 1989).

OCEAN / WATER are seen as the source of life. Bodies of water can mean life and death, regeneration, sea of life to be crossed, or chaos and formlessness in the present life of the child (Allan, 1989).

RAIN has two broad symbolic meanings: fertility and spiritual revelation. Rain often connotes sadness. A rainstorm indicates acute distress and tempestuous feelings (Allan, 1989).

SUN represents masculine power in most cultures. The sun can be a healer, restorer, source of wisdom and purity, or the inborn fire in man's libido. The sun usually represents warmth and the provider of growth. A setting sun can mean depression or death. A rising sun is usually representative of birth and renewal. A misplaced sun usually means an impaired father-child relationship (Allan, 1989).

EXCERPTS FROM:
ART INTERPRETATION
Karla D. Carmichael
The University of Alabama