Colour mixing

Correct answer: A. Their red-yellow ratios or pigments differ

Explanation: The governing concept is that pigment mixtures depend on both proportion and pigment character. Orange is normally made by combining red and yellow, but a 1:1 mixture may look different from a 2:1 mixture, and warm or cool pigments can also shift the result. Paper size does not always change the hue, and adding only blue would not make orange. Thus option A is the most likely explanation.

Correct answer: A. Red contamination

Explanation: The governing concept is complementary contamination in pigment mixing. Green is made mainly from blue and yellow, but red is complementary to green. If even a little red enters the mixture through a dirty brush, palette, or contaminated paint, it reduces green’s saturation and makes it look dull or muddy. Clean yellow, clean blue, or the white paper beneath the paint does not ordinarily create this complementary neutralising effect.

Correct answer: B. Shade

Explanation: The governing concept is colour value: adding black lowers a colour’s lightness and creates a darker version called a shade. Therefore, black mixed with a secondary colour such as green, orange, or violet produces a shade, so option B is correct. A tint is made by adding white, while a complementary colour is a colour relationship, not a result of darkening.

Correct answer: A. A tone of violet

Explanation: The governing concept is the difference between tint, shade and tone. Adding grey reduces violet’s saturation or intensity and creates a more muted version, called a tone; therefore option A is correct. A tint is made by adding white, which raises lightness, while a shade is made by adding black, which lowers value. Grey does not produce violet’s complementary colour, so options B, C and D are incorrect.

Correct answer: A. Light yellowish green

Explanation: The governing concept is additive colour modification in painting. White raises the lightness of green, while a small amount of yellow shifts its hue toward yellow. The combined result is a light yellowish green, so option A is correct. Black or blue would make the colour darker or cooler, and neither violet nor orange follows from these ingredients.

Correct answer: A. Its value decreases and its colour intensity becomes lower

Explanation: The governing concepts are value and saturation. Orange is a mixture of red and yellow; adding excessive black lowers its lightness and makes the mixture less vivid. The resulting dark, dull orange can look brownish, so option A is correct. It does not become blue, turn into a primary colour, or separate into its original components.

Correct answer: A. Increase the amount of blue

Explanation: The governing principle is proportional colour mixing. Green lies between yellow and blue; a yellowish green contains a relatively greater yellow influence, while a bluish green contains a relatively greater blue influence. Increasing the blue component shifts the mixture toward the blue side without changing the basic green family. More yellow would produce the opposite result, and red or removing white does not directly make the hue bluish green. Option A is correct.

Correct answer: B. It becomes red-violet

Explanation: The governing concept is colour bias in subtractive pigment mixing. Violet is produced from blue and red, and increasing the red proportion shifts the mixture toward the red side of the hue range. Therefore it becomes red-violet. Increasing blue would instead produce blue-violet; green requires a yellow component with blue, and neutral grey would require balanced neutralising mixtures rather than simply more red.

Correct answer: A. Its intensity decreases

Explanation: Adding grey to a hue creates a tone and reduces its chromatic intensity or saturation. Green therefore becomes less vivid and more subdued, making option A correct. The hue does not automatically change to red, and the value cannot be said to become zero. The mixture also has no connection with becoming a primary colour of light, which is a different colour system.

Correct answer: A. White

Explanation: The governing concept is the distinction between a tint and a neutralised colour. Adding white increases violet’s value and creates a lighter tint while largely preserving its violet hue. Therefore, option A is correct. Yellow, green and orange are related to violet through colour contrast or complementarity and would reduce its chromatic purity, causing it to become duller or greyer rather than simply lighter.

Correct answer: A. The colour may become muddy and less lively

Explanation: The governing concept is shading and colour saturation. Adding black lowers the value of orange, but it can also reduce chromatic intensity and make the mixture look dull, dirty, or muddy. Therefore, option A is correct. Options B and D are false because black does not turn orange into blue or a primary colour, while option C is wrong because adding black lowers rather than raises the value.

Correct answer: C. Toward red

Explanation: The governing concept is colour bias in a mixture: the component present in the greater proportion usually has the stronger visual influence. Orange is made from red and yellow. If the mixture contains twice as much red as yellow, its hue will shift away from balanced orange toward red-orange, so option C is correct. It would lean toward yellow only when yellow predominated; green and blue are not the stated components of this mixture.

Correct answer: A. Add a small amount of yellow

Explanation: The governing concept is controlled hue correction. Yellow-green contains yellow and green, so if the mixture looks too blue, a very small addition of yellow shifts the hue toward the intended yellow-green. Red may neutralise or muddy the mixture, while white mainly increases lightness and black decreases lightness. Therefore, option A makes the most precise correction without unnecessarily changing value or saturation.

Correct answer: D. Yellow

Explanation: The governing concept is complementary-colour neutralisation. Violet is produced from red and blue, and yellow is opposite violet on the traditional colour wheel. When even a small amount of yellow contaminates violet, the opposing pigments reduce one another’s chroma, making the mixture dull, brownish, or muddy. White would lighten it, black would darken it, and green would not be the direct complementary contaminant. Thus, option D is correct.

Correct answer: B. To mute it by reducing its intensity

Explanation: The governing concept is complementary-colour neutralisation. Yellow is complementary to violet, so a small quantity of yellow partially cancels violet’s chroma and makes it appear less vivid, more muted, or more neutral. It does not increase brilliance, change violet into a primary colour, or produce pure blue. The result also depends on proportion: too much yellow would strongly shift the hue. Thus, option B is correct.

Correct answer: B. By making a slightly lighter mixture

Explanation: The governing concept is practical colour mixing and adjustment after observing a dried test sample. If the dried green is darker than intended, the next wet mixture should be made slightly lighter, because drying may deepen or alter the apparent value. Adding black would make the problem worse, while mixing all primaries or blindly repeating the recipe does not provide a controlled correction. Thus, option B is correct.

Correct answer: A. The value or hue may change after drying

Explanation: The governing concept is colour testing in practical painting. Water, binder, and the drying process can make a wet layer look different from the finished dry layer; its value, saturation, or apparent hue may shift. Therefore, the final colour judgement should be based on the dry sample. Drying does not change a secondary colour into a primary colour, alter its complementary relationship, or make it disappear. Option A is correct.

Correct answer: A. Make a sample strip using different red-yellow ratios

Explanation: The governing concept is controlled colour mixing. Orange is a secondary colour produced from red and yellow. A sample strip with measured or deliberately varied red-yellow proportions provides an ordered range, such as yellow-orange through red-orange, so the painter can compare and select colours for different sunset areas. Option A is therefore correct. Blue tends to dull orange, while black and white mainly alter value rather than systematically changing its hue.

Correct answer: A. Different proportions of red and yellow, or different pigment undertones

Explanation: The governing concept is that a mixed colour depends on both proportion and pigment quality. Orange results from red plus yellow; increasing red makes it red-orange, while increasing yellow makes it yellow-orange. Two brands or pigments may also have different undertones, affecting the mixture even at similar amounts. Thus option A is correct. Paper size, brush size and written labels may affect handling or identification, but they do not determine the mixture’s hue.

Correct answer: A. Yellow

Explanation: The governing concept is the effect of complementary colours in pigment mixing. Clean violet is made from red and blue, and yellow is its complementary colour. Yellow contamination therefore reduces violet’s saturation and can make the mixture muddy or brownish. Option A is correct. White may produce a lighter tint, while black or grey may darken or dull the mixture, but they do not create the same direct complementary neutralisation described by the question.

Correct answer: A. Excessive use of black paint

Explanation: The governing concept is shade formation and control of value. Orange becomes a shade when black is added, but excessive black lowers the value too sharply and suppresses the colour’s brightness and warmth. The result can look muddy, nearly black, and lifeless. A little yellow may shift orange toward yellow, while a balanced red-yellow mixture creates orange and a clean palette prevents contamination rather than causing dullness.

Correct answer: A. A light, muted green

Explanation: The governing concepts are tinting and complementary neutralisation. White raises green’s value, so the mixture becomes lighter. Red is complementary to green; a small amount reduces green’s saturation and makes it muted. Therefore option A is correct. White cannot produce a darker green, and a little red does not turn the mixture into bright orange or pure violet. The exact appearance depends on proportions, but the stated direction of change is clear.

Correct answer: A. A tone is formed and intensity decreases

Explanation: The governing concept is a tone: a colour mixed with grey becomes less intense while its basic hue family can remain recognisably the same. Adding grey to orange therefore reduces saturation and produces a muted orange tone. Option A is correct. The mixture does not become a primary colour, turn blue, or acquire a different complementary relationship simply because its intensity has decreased.

Correct answer: A. Light passes through both layers and creates a combined colour perception

Explanation: The governing concept is optical mixing through transparent glazing. When light enters, passes through and reflects back through the yellow and red films, the eye receives a combined spectral signal that may be perceived as orange-like. The exact result depends on pigment transparency, layer order and illumination. The layers do not completely block light, no chemical conversion is required, and transparent layers can produce colour effects.

Correct answer: A. Direct mixing combines pigment particles while layers create optical mixing

Explanation: The governing concept is the difference between subtractive physical mixing and optical mixing. In direct mixing, pigment particles combine and selectively absorb wavelengths throughout the paint. In transparent layering, light travels through successive films and is filtered and reflected in sequence, so transparency, order and surface light can change the appearance. Therefore the two greens need not match; the other options incorrectly claim identity or deny colour formation.