Art · Unit 7

Colour Theory

The colour wheel and how colours work together

Colour theory is a set of tools for predicting how colours will behave together, which is far more useful than knowing what any single colour is called.

The unit covers the colour wheel, primary and secondary colours, complementaries and why they intensify each other, tints and shades, and the standard colour schemes.

This unit breaks down into 21 short steps and 128 questions, starting at difficulty 1 and building to 3. Below you can see exactly what it covers, how the path is structured, and worked examples with explanations.

Steps: 21
Questions: 128
Difficulty: 1-3

What this unit covers

The Colour Wheel
Primary and Secondary Colours
Complementary Colours
Tints and Shades
Colour Schemes

Where this fits

Follows Colours and Elements of Art.

Where people slip

A colour looks different depending on what surrounds it. The same grey reads as warm or cool against different backgrounds, which is why colours have to be judged in place.

How the unit is structured

Colour Theory runs as 21 short steps that unlock in order. 15 are practice rounds and 6 are challenge rounds that pull together everything before them. Questions start at difficulty 1 and climb to 3 as you progress.

Step 1 · easierStep 21 · harder

Challenge rounds

Example questions

30 real questions from this unit, with the answer and the reason behind it, grouped by what they practise. There are 128 in the unit altogether.

Colour Schemes

Build the sentenceLevel 2
1. Build a sentence about how a cool colour scheme feels.
Answer: A cool colour scheme feels calm
Cool colours like blue and green often make a picture feel calm and quiet.
Choose all that applyLevel 2
2. Which of these are real types of colour scheme? Pick all that apply.
- Monochromaticcorrect
- Analogouscorrect
- Complementarycorrect
- Tertiary
Monochromatic, analogous and complementary are colour schemes; tertiary names a kind of colour, not a scheme.
Fact or fibLevel 2
3. A complementary colour scheme, using two opposite colours, creates strong, eye-catching contrast.
Answer: True
Opposite colours clash boldly, so complementary schemes feel lively and high-contrast.
Fill the blankLevel 2
4. Red, yellow and blue spaced evenly around the wheel form a ____ colour scheme.
- triadiccorrect
- monochromatic
- analogous
- warm
Three colours evenly spaced on the wheel make a triadic scheme.
Match the pairsLevel 2
5. Match each colour scheme to its description.
Answer: Monochromatic = One colour in different tints and shades; Analogous = Colours side by side on the wheel; Complementary = Colours opposite on the wheel; Triadic = Three colours evenly spaced on the wheel
Each scheme picks colours from the wheel in a different way.
Multiple choiceLevel 2
6. A colour scheme that uses only one colour with its tints and shades is called what?
- Monochromaticcorrect
- Complementary
- Analogous
- Primary
A monochromatic scheme sticks to a single colour lightened and darkened in different ways.

Complementary Colours

Choose all that applyLevel 2
7. Which of these are reasons an artist might use complementary colours? Pick all that apply.
- To create strong contrastcorrect
- To make a key area stand outcorrect
- To add lively energy to a paintingcorrect
- To make everything blend into one dull colour
Complementary colours boost contrast, energy and emphasis, so they help important areas stand out.
Fact or fibLevel 2
8. Artists sometimes place blue next to orange to make a painting look more lively.
Answer: True
Blue and orange are complementary, so together they add lively contrast, a trick Van Gogh often used.
Fill the blankLevel 2
9. Colours found directly opposite each other on the colour wheel are called ____ colours.
- complementarycorrect
- analogous
- primary
- warm
Complementary colours sit across from each other on the wheel, like red and green.
Guess the numberLevel 2
10. How many colours make up a single complementary pair?
Answer: 2 colours
A complementary pair is always two colours that sit opposite on the wheel.
Match the pairsLevel 2
11. Match each colour to its complementary colour on the wheel.
Answer: Red = Green; Blue = Orange; Yellow = Purple
The complementary pairs are red and green, blue and orange, and yellow and purple.
Multiple choiceLevel 2
12. What usually happens when you mix two complementary paints together?
- They make a dull brown or greycorrect
- They make a bright new primary
- They make pure white
- They stay exactly the same
Mixing complementary colours cancels their brightness and makes a muddy brown or grey.

Primary and Secondary Colours

Guess the numberLevel 1
13. How many secondary colours are there on the basic colour wheel?
Answer: 3 colours
There are three secondary colours: orange, green and purple.
Match the pairsLevel 1
14. Match each pair of primary colours to the secondary colour they make.
Answer: Red + yellow = Orange; Blue + yellow = Green; Red + blue = Purple
Red and yellow make orange, blue and yellow make green, and red and blue make purple.
Multiple choiceLevel 1
15. In traditional painting, which three colours are the primary colours?
- Red, yellow and blue
- Red, green and blue
- Orange, green and purple
- Red, yellow and green
Red, yellow and blue are the primary colours that all other paint colours are mixed from.
Choose all that applyLevel 2
16. Which of these are secondary colours? Pick all that apply.
- Orangecorrect
- Greencorrect
- Purplecorrect
- Yellow
Orange, green and purple are secondary colours; yellow is a primary colour.
Fact or fibLevel 2
17. Mixing two secondary colours together always makes a bright primary colour.
Answer: False
Mixing secondaries usually makes a muddy brown, not a bright primary colour.
Fill the blankLevel 2
18. Colours that cannot be made by mixing any other colours are called ____ colours.
- primarycorrect
- secondary
- tertiary
- cool
Primary colours are the starting colours that cannot be mixed from others.

The Colour Wheel

Build the sentenceLevel 1
19. Build a sentence that describes the colour wheel.
Answer: The colour wheel is a circle of colours
The colour wheel arranges the colours in a circle so their relationships are easy to see.
Fact or fibLevel 1
20. Warm colours and cool colours sit on opposite halves of the colour wheel.
Answer: True
One half of the wheel holds warm reds, oranges and yellows; the other holds cool blues, greens and purples.
Fill the blankLevel 2
21. Colours that sit right next to each other on the colour wheel are called ____ colours.
- analogouscorrect
- complementary
- primary
- neutral
Analogous colours are neighbours on the wheel, such as yellow, yellow-green and green.
Guess the numberLevel 2
22. A basic artist's colour wheel is usually drawn with how many colours?
Answer: 12 colours
A standard colour wheel shows 12 colours: 3 primary, 3 secondary and 6 tertiary.
Choose all that applyLevel 3
23. Which of these are tertiary colours? Pick all that apply.
- Red-orangecorrect
- Blue-greencorrect
- Yellow-greencorrect
- Violet
Tertiary colours mix a primary with a neighbouring secondary, giving names like red-orange, blue-green and yellow-green.
Match the pairsLevel 3
24. Match each primary-plus-secondary mix to the tertiary colour it makes.
Answer: Red + orange = Red-orange; Yellow + green = Yellow-green; Blue + violet = Blue-violet; Yellow + orange = Yellow-orange
Mixing a primary with the secondary beside it makes a tertiary colour, such as red plus orange giving red-orange.

Tints and Shades

Fill the blankLevel 1
25. A colour mixed with white to make it lighter is called a ____.
- tintcorrect
- shade
- tone
- hue
A tint is any colour lightened by adding white, like pink from red.
Choose all that applyLevel 2
26. Which of these are tints, made lighter by adding white? Pick all that apply.
- Sky bluecorrect
- Lavendercorrect
- Mint greencorrect
- Charcoal
Sky blue, lavender and mint green are pale tints; charcoal is a dark shade.
Fact or fibLevel 2
27. Soft pastel colours are tints made by adding a lot of white.
Answer: True
Pastels are pale tints because plenty of white is mixed into the colour.
Match the pairsLevel 2
28. Match each mix to the colour it makes.
Answer: Blue + white = Light blue; Red + black = Dark red; Yellow + black = Olive
Adding white lightens a colour into a tint, while adding black darkens it into a shade.
Multiple choiceLevel 2
29. When you add white or black to a colour, which of these changes?
- Its value, how light or dark it is
- It turns into a primary colour
- It becomes its complementary colour
- Nothing about it changes
Adding white or black changes a colour's value, meaning how light or dark it appears.
Odd one outLevel 2
30. Which of these does NOT change a colour's value?
- Adding more of the same colourcorrect
- Adding white
- Adding black
- Adding grey
Adding more of the same colour keeps the value the same; white, black or grey change it.

Where these questions come from. Each unit starts as a plan of the concepts it should cover and the difficulty it should span. Questions are written against that plan with AI assistance, then checked by a validator that rejects anything without a single defensible answer, an explanation, or plausible wrong options. How we write questions sets out the whole process, and corrections are fixed in the bank and reach the site and the app the same day.

How you practise

This unit mixes 14 different question formats, so you are recalling and applying rather than recognising the same layout every time.

Build the sentence
Choose all that apply
Fact or fib
Fill the blank
Guess the number
Match the pairs
Multiple choice
Odd one out
Picture question
Put in order
Sort into groups
Spell it
True or false
Type the answer

Practise Colour Theory

128 questions across 21 steps. Start with step one and crawl at your own pace.

Play this unit

Read about Colour Theory

Explainers from our blog on what this unit covers. Each one ends with real questions from the bank.

More units in Art

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