Primary colours colour is a property of light, not an object in itself. Objects have no colour of their own, but merely the ability to reflect a certain section of the visible spectrum. Objects reflect what we perceive, and absorb what we don't see. The additive and subtractive colour wheels. Additive Rays of light are direct light, whereas the colour of paint is reflected light.
Lights projected from different sources mix according to the additive method.
Overlapping, thus mixing, the three primaries, red, green, and blue in this manner results in white, yellow, cyan, and magenta. Absence of light results in black. Cyan, magenta and yellow are the photographic primary colours and are used to create separations for photographic and ink colour printing. Subtractive Pigments combine in the subtractive system. Artists that work with physical media are concerned with the subtractive method since we work primarily in pigments.