– What happens when an artist mixes paint for a painting? Are the pigments actually changing physically/chemically? What is actually happening to make the paints change color?

Question

– What happens when an artist mixes paint for a painting? Are the pigments actually changing physically/chemically? What is actually happening to make the paints change color?

In: 4221

Answer 1

There’s two basic ways to mix colour; additive and masking.

Additive (not sure if that’s the correct word) increases colours like the way a colour tv or monitor does. Masking partially masks colours by mixing in other shades and black like the way a colour printer does.

There’s no chemical change, just a difference in the way light bounces off the paint and the way our eyes perceive it