Art · Unit 2

Colours

Primary colours, mixing, and how colours feel

Colour is the element people respond to first and understand least, because how colours mix depends on whether you are mixing light or pigment.

The unit covers primary colours, mixing, the colours of the rainbow, warm and cool families, and the associations colours carry - which are partly physiological and partly cultural.

This unit breaks down into 20 short steps and 122 questions, starting at difficulty 1 and building to 2. Below you can see exactly what it covers, how the path is structured, and worked examples with explanations.

Steps: 20
Questions: 122
Difficulty: 1-2

What this unit covers

Primary Colours
Mixing Colours
Warm and Cool Colours
Colours of the Rainbow
Colours and Feelings

Where this fits

An early unit. Colour Theory is the systematic version.

Where people slip

Mixing paint and mixing light give opposite results. Red, green and blue light make white; red, yellow and blue paint make something close to brown.

How the unit is structured

Colours runs as 20 short steps that unlock in order. 15 are practice rounds and 5 are challenge rounds that pull together everything before them. Questions start at difficulty 1 and climb to 2 as you progress.

Step 1 · easierStep 20 · 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 122 in the unit altogether.

Colours and Feelings

Fact or fibLevel 1
1. Lots of black can make a picture feel dark or spooky.
Answer: True
Black is a dark colour that can make a picture feel spooky or mysterious.
Fill the blankLevel 1
2. A calm, peaceful picture often uses lots of ____.
- bluecorrect
- red
- orange
- yellow
Blue is a calm colour, so peaceful pictures often use a lot of it.
Match the pairsLevel 1
3. Match each colour to something that is usually that colour.
Answer: Red = Apple; Yellow = Sun; Blue = Sky; Green = Grass
Colours remind us of things: red like an apple, yellow like the sun, blue like the sky and green like grass.
Multiple choiceLevel 1
4. Which colour is most often used to show happiness and sunshine?
- Yellowcorrect
- Grey
- Brown
- Black
Bright yellow often stands for happiness and sunshine.
Sort into groupsLevel 2
5. Sort each colour as loud and lively or quiet and calm.
Answer: Bright red = Loud; Bright orange = Loud; Soft blue = Quiet; Soft green = Quiet
Bright warm colours feel loud and lively; soft cool colours feel quiet and calm.
Spell itLevel 2
6. Spell the bright, sunny colour that often looks cheerful and happy.
Answer: yellow
Yellow is a bright, happy colour like sunshine.

Colours of the Rainbow

Build the sentenceLevel 1
7. Build a true sentence about the rainbow.
Answer: Green is in the middle
Green sits right in the middle of the rainbow's seven colours.
Choose all that applyLevel 1
8. Which of these are real rainbow colours? Pick all that apply.
- Orangecorrect
- Greencorrect
- Indigocorrect
- Pink
Orange, green and indigo are rainbow colours, but pink is not one of them.
Fill the blankLevel 1
9. The first colour at the top of a rainbow is ____.
- redcorrect
- violet
- blue
- green
Red is the first colour at the top of a rainbow.
Multiple choiceLevel 1
10. How many colours are in a rainbow?
- 7correct
- 3
- 5
- 10
A rainbow usually has seven colours.
Odd one outLevel 1
11. Which colour is NOT in a rainbow?
- Browncorrect
- Red
- Yellow
- Blue
Brown is not one of the rainbow colours.
Picture questionLevel 1
12. 🌈 What do we call this arch of colours in the sky?
- Rainbowcorrect
- Sunset
- Cloud
- Shadow
This colourful arch in the sky is called a rainbow.

Mixing Colours

Fact or fibLevel 1
13. Adding white to a colour makes it lighter.
Answer: True
Adding white to a colour makes a lighter, softer version of it.
Fill the blankLevel 1
14. Red and yellow mixed together make ____.
- orangecorrect
- green
- purple
- grey
Red and yellow mix to make orange.
Guess the numberLevel 1
15. How many secondary colours are there?
Answer: 3 colours
There are three secondary colours: green, orange and purple.
Multiple choiceLevel 1
16. What colour do you get when you mix blue and yellow?
- Greencorrect
- Purple
- Brown
- Pink
Blue and yellow mix together to make green.
Choose all that applyLevel 2
17. Which of these are secondary colours made by mixing? Pick all that apply.
- Orangecorrect
- Greencorrect
- Purplecorrect
- Blue
Orange, green, and purple are secondary colours made by mixing two primaries; blue is primary.
Match the pairsLevel 2
18. Match each pair of colours to the colour they make.
Answer: Blue + Yellow = Green; Red + Yellow = Orange; Red + Blue = Purple
Mixing two primary colours makes a new colour.

Primary Colours

Fact or fibLevel 1
19. Yellow is a primary colour.
Answer: True
Yellow is one of the three primary colours, along with red and blue.
Fill the blankLevel 1
20. Red, yellow and blue are the ____ colours.
- primarycorrect
- secondary
- warm
- rainbow
Red, yellow and blue are the primary colours, the three colours you start with.
Guess the numberLevel 1
21. How many primary colours are there?
Answer: 3 colours
There are three primary colours: red, yellow and blue.
Multiple choiceLevel 1
22. Which of these is a primary colour?
- Bluecorrect
- Green
- Orange
- Purple
Blue is a primary colour, while green, orange and purple are made by mixing.
Build the sentenceLevel 2
23. Build a true sentence about a primary colour.
Answer: Blue is a primary colour
Blue is one of the three primary colours.
Choose all that applyLevel 2
24. Which of these are primary colours? Pick all that apply.
- Redcorrect
- Bluecorrect
- Yellowcorrect
- Purple
Red, blue and yellow are the primary colours; purple is made by mixing.

Warm and Cool Colours

Fact or fibLevel 1
25. Warm colours can remind us of fire and the sun.
Answer: True
Warm colours like red and orange remind us of fire, sunshine and heat.
Fill the blankLevel 1
26. An artist paints a bright sunset using ____ colours.
- warmcorrect
- cool
- grey
- quiet
A bright sunset is full of warm colours like red, orange and yellow.
Multiple choiceLevel 1
27. Cool colours often make people think of what?
- Water and icecorrect
- Fire
- Sunshine
- Hot sand
Cool colours like blue make people think of water, ice and cold things.
Odd one outLevel 1
28. Which word does NOT describe warm colours?
- Icycorrect
- Hot
- Cozy
- Sunny
Icy sounds cold, so it does not describe warm colours like red and orange.
Choose all that applyLevel 2
29. Which of these are warm colours? Pick all that apply.
- Redcorrect
- Orangecorrect
- Yellowcorrect
- Blue
Red, orange and yellow are warm colours.
Picture questionLevel 2
30. ☀️ The warm sun is often painted with which colours?
- Yellow and orangecorrect
- Blue and purple
- Grey and black
- Blue and green
The sun is painted with warm yellows and oranges.

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 Colours

122 questions across 20 steps. Start with step one and crawl at your own pace.

Play this unit

Read about Colours

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

More units in Art

See all 18 units in Art →