Colour mixing

Correct answer: B. Add a little white

Explanation: The governing concept is value adjustment: adding white to a paint mixture raises its lightness and creates a lighter tint. If the poster colour is too dark, a small amount of white should be mixed in gradually, with testing after each addition. Adding black would make the problem worse, drying water does not reliably change the pigment value, and discarding the paint is unnecessary. Therefore, option B gives the most controlled correction.

Correct answer: C. Black can quickly dominate the mixture

Explanation: The governing concept is pigment strength and value control. Black pigment is usually visually strong, so even a small quantity can lower the lightness of a mixture dramatically and overpower its original hue. The artist should add it gradually, mix thoroughly, and test the result rather than adding a large amount at once. Black is not invisible or always transparent, and it affects many colours, not only yellow. Thus, option C is correct.

Correct answer: B. Store it in a suitable closed container

Explanation: The relevant practical principle is limiting air exposure and contamination. Extra mixed paint should be transferred to a clean, suitable, airtight or well-lidded container, with the colour or date labelled when useful. This slows drying and keeps dust out, so option B is correct. An open palette dries faster, while spreading or adding soil wastes and contaminates the paint.

Correct answer: C. Violet

Explanation: In the traditional school model of subtractive paint mixing, red and blue are combined to produce violet or purple. The exact appearance can vary with the pigments and with the amount of each colour, but violet is the expected classroom answer. Thus, option C is correct. Green is made from yellow and blue, orange from red and yellow, and yellow is a primary colour rather than the usual result of mixing red with blue.

Correct answer: D. Blue and white

Explanation: The governing concept is the formation of a tint. When white is mixed into a hue such as blue, the colour becomes lighter and brighter while retaining its blue character; the result is called a light-blue tint. Therefore, option D is correct. Black would darken blue, red would move it toward violet, and yellow would move it toward green. The result may vary in strength according to the amount of white used.

Correct answer: A. Pink

Explanation: The governing concept is a tint: adding white to a hue produces a lighter version of that hue. Red mixed with white therefore gives pink or a light red, so option A is correct. The precise pink shade depends on the ratio; a small amount of white gives a deep pink, while more white gives a pale pink. Brown, green, and violet require different pigment combinations and are not the normal result of only red and white.

Correct answer: B. Green and white

Explanation: The governing concept is tint formation. A tint is made when white is added to a colour, so mixing green with white produces a lighter green while preserving its basic hue. Therefore, option B is correct. Black would make a darker shade, while red or violet would alter and possibly dull the hue rather than create a simple light tint. The final lightness depends on the amount of white used in the mixture.

Correct answer: B. Dark olive or dull

Explanation: The governing concept is shading: adding black reduces the lightness of a colour and can also lower its apparent brightness. When black is mixed into yellow, the clean yellow becomes darker and may shift toward an olive, greenish, or dull appearance. Therefore, option B is correct. Pink, violet, and orange require different hue mixtures, not simply the addition of black.

Correct answer: C. It becomes lighter and less saturated

Explanation: The governing concept is a tint. When white is added to a mixed colour, the colour’s lightness increases, while its intensity or saturation usually decreases, making it look softer or paler. Thus option C is correct. Adding black would make the colour darker, whereas white does not change a colour into a complementary or primary colour; it mainly changes its value and visual intensity.

Correct answer: D. Violet and white

Explanation: The governing concept is the formation of a tint. Violet already provides the hue, and adding white increases its lightness without replacing the hue, producing light violet. Therefore, option D is correct. Yellow or green can shift or dull violet because they introduce other hues, while black produces a shade by darkening violet rather than making it light. The amount of white controls how pale the tint becomes.

Correct answer: D. To avoid unwanted colour mixing

Explanation: The governing painting technique is brush hygiene and colour control. Paint left on a brush can enter the next colour and alter its hue, value, or cleanliness, producing an unintended mixture. Cleaning the brush before changing or mixing colours keeps the result predictable and helps preserve clear, bright colour relationships. Thus option D is correct; cleaning does not dry paint, thicken paper, or shorten the brush.

Correct answer: D. Mix black and white in a suitable ratio

Explanation: Neutral grey is an achromatic colour, meaning it has little or no noticeable hue. The direct method is to mix black and white in a suitable ratio, so option D is correct. More white creates a lighter grey and more black creates a darker grey, while a balanced ratio approaches a middle neutral grey. Red with white makes pink, red with yellow makes orange, and blue with yellow makes green, so those distractors retain a hue.

Correct answer: A. White

Explanation: Light grey is produced by using a larger amount of white and adding only a small amount of black. White raises the value or lightness of the mixture, while black lowers it; therefore option A is correct. If black is used in greater quantity, the result becomes dark grey. Red or blue would introduce a chromatic hue rather than a neutral grey. The exact shade can be adjusted by adding black gradually to white and testing the mixture.

Correct answer: A. Add enough white to blue

Explanation: The governing concept is tinting. A tint is formed when white is added to a colour, reducing its strength and increasing its lightness. Adding enough white to blue therefore produces a light sky-blue shade, so option A is correct. Black would darken blue, red with yellow tends toward orange, and red mixed with green usually produces a dull neutral or brownish colour.

Correct answer: C. Adding a very small amount of yellow to white

Explanation: The governing concept is the creation of a warm tint. White acts as the main base, and a very small amount of yellow gives it a warm, slightly creamy appearance. Therefore option C is correct. Too much yellow would make the mixture pale yellow rather than cream. The other choices darken colours or neutralise them and cannot produce a light cream shade.

Correct answer: C. Light sky blue

Explanation: The governing concept is a tint: adding white to a hue increases its lightness without changing it into a different basic hue. Since blue is mixed with a large amount of white, the result becomes a very light blue, commonly described as light sky blue, so C is correct. More blue would make it darker, yellow mixed with blue could produce green, and brown requires a different combination of colours.

Correct answer: D. Unwanted mixing is reduced

Explanation: The governing principle is controlled colour mixing and palette organisation. Keeping each prepared colour in a separate area prevents a brush or tool carrying one colour from accidentally contaminating another. This preserves the intended hue and makes repeated use more reliable, so D is correct. Separation does not necessarily make paint dry faster, make all colours identical, or remove the need for brushes.

Correct answer: C. The mixture becomes easier to identify and repeat

Explanation: The governing concept is documenting a colour-mixing process. Labelling each sample records the colours and, when possible, their proportions, so the artist can identify the result later, compare samples, revise the exercise, and reproduce a useful mixture. Therefore C is correct. Writing labels does not change the sample’s size, make paper brighter, or cause paint to dry instantly.

Correct answer: A. Red-orange

Explanation: The governing concept is the effect of changing mixing proportions. Equal red and yellow produce orange, but increasing the red component shifts the resulting hue toward red while it remains in the orange family. Therefore the mixture becomes red-orange, so A is correct. Yellow-green requires yellow and green, blue-violet uses blue and violet, and adding red does not produce light yellow.

Correct answer: B. Blue-green

Explanation: The governing concept is proportional colour mixing. Blue and yellow together produce green, but when blue is used in greater quantity, the mixture shifts toward the blue side of the green range and becomes blue-green. Thus B is correct. More yellow would move the result toward yellow-green, while red-violet and yellow-orange require different colour combinations and are not produced by simply increasing blue in blue-yellow paint.

Correct answer: A. Mixing too many colours without planning

Explanation: The governing concept is pigment contamination and uncontrolled colour mixing. Each pigment absorbs and reflects different wavelengths; when too many pigments are mixed, especially in unplanned proportions, more wavelengths are absorbed and the mixture loses clarity, becoming dull or muddy. Therefore option A is correct. A clean palette, separate brushes, and a test sample help preserve colour purity and are not causes of muddiness.

Correct answer: A. Add a small amount of white to red

Explanation: The governing concept is making a tint by gradually adding white pigment. A small amount of white raises the lightness of red and produces a brighter pink while preserving some colour strength, so option A is correct. A large amount of white can make the pink very pale; black lowers lightness and creates a shade, while green is complementary to red and may neutralise it into a dull or muddy mixture. Add white in small steps and test each step.

Correct answer: B. Adding colours gradually in small amounts

Explanation: The governing concept is proportional control in colour mixing. When colours are added in small amounts and step by step, the artist can observe the hue, value, and saturation after each addition. The mixture can then be corrected before it goes too far, making option B correct. Large amounts, a dirty brush, or ignored proportions reduce control and may produce a dull or unexpected result.

Correct answer: C. Unwanted colours may enter and make mixtures muddy

Explanation: The governing concept is avoiding contamination between mixtures. A dirty brush retains traces of the previous colour and transfers them into the next mixture. Those unwanted traces alter the hue and may make the new colour dull or muddy, so option C is correct. A dirty brush does not purify colours, guarantee that every colour becomes lighter, or make paint dry automatically. Cleaning or rinsing the brush prevents this problem.

Correct answer: D. When a deep shadow is needed

Explanation: In colour theory, adding white creates a tint by increasing lightness. A deep shadow, however, requires a darker value and often a slightly cooler, warmer, or complementary adjustment depending on the subject. White would lighten the paint instead of deepening the shadow, so option D is correct. The other situations can reasonably require a lighter tint or highlight.