NeeseDraws
Scorpio Season ♏: Personality, Aesthetic, Colours, Gifts & Scorpio Artwork
Scorpio Season ♏: Personality, Aesthetic, Colours, Gifts & Scorpio Artwork
Dark colours, mysterious energy, autumn evenings and one of the most intense signs of the zodiac — welcome to Scorpio season.
Scorpio season has officially arrived, and honestly, if there was ever a zodiac sign that deserved its own aesthetic, Scorpio would be pretty high on the list.
Think deep burgundy, black, dark purple, old gold, candlelight, autumn leaves, mysterious little objects, dramatic skies and the general feeling that somebody in the room probably knows something you don't.
Scorpio is traditionally associated with intensity, mystery, loyalty, determination, transformation and emotional depth. It is a fixed water sign, represented by the scorpion, and is associated with both Mars and Pluto.
But rather than simply listing the usual Scorpio traits, I wanted to look at some of the things that make this sign particularly interesting — including the colours, symbolism and aesthetic that inspired my own original Scorpio watercolour character.
♏ What makes Scorpio different?
Scorpio is the eighth sign of the zodiac, generally covering birthdays from around 23 October to 21 or 22 November.
It is a fixed water sign, which is an interesting combination.
Water is traditionally associated with emotions, intuition and depth, while fixed signs are associated with persistence, determination and staying power.
Put those together and you get a sign that astrology traditionally describes as someone who can feel things deeply but doesn't necessarily show everything they're feeling.
That is one of the reasons Scorpio has such a reputation for being mysterious.
A Scorpio doesn't necessarily have to be the loudest person in the room. They might actually be the person quietly watching everything that's happening.
And once they become interested in something?
Good luck getting them to let it go.
The Scorpio aesthetic 🦂
This is probably my favourite part.
If you were going to create a visual moodboard for Scorpio, you could go in so many directions.
Dark autumn
Scorpio season happens right in the middle of autumn, so the natural colour palette already works beautifully:
Burgundy · wine red · black · dark brown · burnt orange · deep purple · forest green · antique gold
You can almost imagine the lighting already.
Gothic and mysterious
Scorpio is also a natural fit for darker aesthetics.
Think old books, antique jewellery, candles, velvet, moonlight, mysterious forests, old buildings, dramatic shadows and objects that look like they have a story behind them.
Celestial
The night sky also fits beautifully with Scorpio.
Stars, moons, constellations and deep blue-black skies all work with the more mysterious side of the sign.
Elegant rather than simply dark
And this is an important distinction.
Scorpio doesn't have to mean “everything is black and covered in skulls.”
A Scorpio-inspired aesthetic can be elegant, luxurious and sophisticated too.
Deep wine colours, antique gold, dark chocolate brown, rich textures and subtle celestial details can create something much more refined.
That combination of dark + elegant + mysterious is actually what I find most interesting visually.
Scorpio colours
There isn't one official set of “Scorpio colours”, but several colours repeatedly appear in Scorpio-inspired astrology and aesthetics.
🖤 Black
Probably the most obvious Scorpio colour.
Black works particularly well with the sign's associations with mystery, privacy and the unknown.
🍷 Burgundy
Deep red feels much more Scorpio than bright cherry red.
Burgundy, wine and maroon bring in the passionate side of the sign without losing that darker autumn feeling.
💜 Deep purple
Purple adds something slightly magical and mysterious to the palette.
🌲 Deep green
Forest and emerald greens work beautifully with Scorpio's darker autumnal aesthetic.
✨ Antique gold
Gold provides the contrast.
Instead of making the whole palette dark, a little gold can make it feel luxurious and almost vintage.
If I were decorating a Scorpio-themed room, wrapping a present for a Scorpio or putting together a Scorpio-inspired art collection, this is the sort of palette I would reach for.
What does Scorpio like?
Obviously, not every person born under Scorpio is going to have exactly the same taste.
But if you're looking for a Scorpio gift, it can be fun to use the traditional personality of the sign as inspiration.
Rather than buying something simply because it has “SCORPIO” written across it, I'd look for something that feels personal, unusual or meaningful.
Some ideas:
🎨 Personalised artwork
This is probably my favourite option for an art-loving Scorpio.
A personalised painting can incorporate something that actually means something to the person — a favourite character, a beloved pet, a meaningful place, a person they love, a special memory or even a combination of several things.
It becomes something that belongs specifically to them.
🦂 Scorpio zodiac artwork
For someone who loves astrology, a Scorpio artwork is an easy way of combining their personality with something decorative.
And you don't necessarily need an obvious horoscope poster.
A beautifully illustrated Scorpio character or symbolic artwork can work as part of a gallery wall without looking like generic zodiac merchandise.
💎 Birthstone gifts
October Scorpios can be associated with opal, while November brings topaz.
A piece of jewellery or another small keepsake incorporating their birthstone can make a nice personalised gift.
🕯️ Something atmospheric
If your Scorpio friend loves darker interiors, consider things that create an atmosphere rather than simply being functional.
Candles, unusual ornaments, antique-inspired objects, dark artwork and interesting little decorative pieces can all work.
📚 Something with a story
Books, art, unusual collectibles, historical objects or anything connected to a person's particular obsession can make a much better gift than something generic.
If you know what your Scorpio actually loves, lean into it.
A personalised gift will always beat a random “Top 10 Scorpio Gifts” list in my opinion.
Scorpio birthstones
Scorpio is particularly interesting because Scorpio season overlaps two different birth months.
October: Opal
November: Topaz
Opal is especially fascinating as an artistic reference because no two pieces necessarily look exactly the same.
The shifting colours and almost magical appearance of opal work beautifully with the mysterious side of Scorpio.
Topaz gives you a completely different direction, depending on the colour — from warm golden tones to cooler blues.
If you're designing a Scorpio birthday gift, you could therefore use the person's actual birth month rather than simply choosing a generic Scorpio symbol.
Why I wanted to turn Scorpio into a character
This is where astrology becomes particularly interesting to me as an artist.
When I create my zodiac characters, I don't want to simply draw the zodiac symbol and stop there.
I like the idea of asking:
“If this zodiac sign were a character, what would they actually look like?”
What would their personality be?
What colours would they wear?
Would they look mischievous, elegant, sweet, mysterious, serious or completely chaotic?
What little details could communicate their personality without literally having to explain it?
For Scorpio, I immediately found myself drawn towards the darker, richer side of the sign.
Instead of making the character simply “a scorpion”, I wanted the design to feel like a character who happens to represent Scorpio.
That distinction is important to me because these illustrations are intended to be artwork in their own right, rather than simply zodiac graphics.
Creating my Scorpio watercolour
Once I have the character idea, the actual painting process starts much more traditionally.
I don't jump straight into the finished illustration.
I begin with sketches and studies, working out the character's pose, proportions, expression and overall composition.
This stage is where I can be quite messy.
There might be several versions of an idea before I decide which one actually works.
Once I'm happy with the drawing, I develop the final artwork using traditional watercolour techniques.
Watercolour is particularly nice for this sort of character artwork because it allows me to build colour gradually.
Instead of everything being perfectly flat and uniform, I can allow the paint to move, blend and create subtle variations.
For a Scorpio-inspired painting, those darker colours are especially fun to work with.
Deep reds can be layered into shadows, darker areas can be built up gradually, and small touches of lighter colour can be left visible to stop the painting from becoming completely flat.
From sketch to finished painting
One of my favourite parts of traditional painting is that the finished artwork doesn't appear all at once.
It develops in stages.
You start with a fairly simple drawing.
Then the first washes of colour.
Then shadows.
Then details.
Then tiny corrections and adjustments that might not even be noticeable when you look at the finished piece.
And eventually you reach the point where the character actually starts to feel like a finished little person rather than a drawing on paper.
That's something I particularly enjoy about watercolour.
You can still see traces of the painting process in the finished artwork.
The colour isn't necessarily perfectly uniform. There can be little variations, textures and changes in tone that come from the physical paint and paper.
My original Scorpio artwork
This is my original Scorpio zodiac character, created as part of my growing zodiac watercolour collection.
Each character in the series is my own interpretation of the personality and visual ideas associated with its zodiac sign.
I wanted Scorpio to feel recognisably Scorpio without simply relying on the obvious scorpion symbol.
The result is a character that brings together the things I find most visually interesting about the sign — mystery, darker autumn colours, personality and a little bit of drama.
And because the artwork is originally painted by hand in watercolour, the final print comes from the actual physical painting rather than being a digitally generated illustration.
Scorpio season inspiration
Even if you're not a Scorpio yourself, I think the sign makes a particularly fun source of artistic inspiration.
There is so much visual material to play with:
Autumn + water + darkness + transformation + mystery + rich colour + the scorpion + celestial imagery.
It is practically asking to become an illustration.
And that's one of the reasons I wanted to create an entire collection of zodiac characters rather than simply making one zodiac-themed artwork.
Each sign gives me a completely different personality and visual world to explore.
♏ Scorpio quick facts
Dates: Approximately 23 October – 21/22 November
Symbol: The Scorpion
Element: Water
Modality: Fixed
Traditional ruler: Mars
Modern ruler: Pluto
Glyph: ♏
Birthstones: Opal for October, topaz for November
Commonly associated colours: Black, burgundy, deep red, purple, dark green and gold
Traditional lucky day: Tuesday
Looking for a Scorpio gift?
If you're looking for a Scorpio birthday gift, zodiac gift, astrology artwork or something a little more unusual for a Scorpio, you can find my original Scorpio watercolour artwork here:
And if you would like something created specifically for someone rather than choosing an existing zodiac artwork, I also create custom watercolour commissions.
A commission can be created around a person, character, pet, memory or collection of ideas, making it possible to create something completely personal rather than buying a generic gift.
[EXPLORE CUSTOM WATERCOLOUR COMMISSIONS →]
More zodiac artwork coming soon
Scorpio is only one character in my growing zodiac series.
I'm creating my own interpretation of the zodiac signs as a collection of original illustrated characters, with each one developed individually through sketching, traditional painting and my own artistic process.