Transparent colours

The governing concept is the covering power of paint. Opaque colour blocks or hides much of the layer beneath it, while transparent colour allows the underlying layer or surface to remain partly visible. This difference affects blending, glazing, and the appearance of depth. Option A states the distinction accurately. Option B ignores the two different behaviours, option C confuses transparency with colour, and option D is factually unrelated to painting.

The governing concept is the difference between optical mixing and physical pigment mixing. In transparent layers, light passes through one film, reflects from the surface, and passes through the layers again; the eye combines the coloured effects. Direct mixing blends pigment particles before application, changing absorption and scattering throughout one paint mass. Transparency, layer order, and surface colour can therefore alter the resulting red-orange. The other options contradict how transparent and mixed paints behave.