Certified Professional Photographer (CPP) Practice Exam

What is the missing tertiary color in this sequence: orange, chartreuse, spring green, azure, violet, and ____________?

1. rose

2. lime

3. indigo

4. peach

The correct answer is: rose

In this sequence of colors, the pattern follows a progression through the wheel of colors, specifically focusing on the secondary colors and their corresponding tertiary colors. The colors orange, chartreuse, spring green, azure, and violet can be paired with their respective hues on the color wheel. The first color in the sequence, orange, moves to chartreuse, which combines yellow and green, moving forward in the green direction. From chartreuse to spring green represents a transition toward a bluish-green. Then from spring green to azure (a blue) follows the pattern as the next color moves toward the blue spectrum. After azure, the sequence goes to violet, a mix of blue and red. To find the missing color, it’s beneficial to recognize that we are looking for another tertiary color that might seamlessly fit into this color wheel. After violet, the sequence can logically flow to a color that connects somewhat oppositely on the wheel, leading us toward rose, which is a clear representation of red mixed with a hint of white, fitting well with the hues preceding it in the listed sequence. Thus, selecting rose as the missing tertiary color creates a balanced circular pattern in the color wheel of the primary, secondary, and tertiary hues.