Final answer:
Mixing a primary and secondary color that are opposite on the color wheel results in a neutral color, typically brown or gray, due to the neutralizing effect of complementary colors when combined.
Step-by-step explanation:
When mixing a primary color with a secondary color that are opposite of each other on the color wheel, the type of color produced is a neutral color. This occurs because complementary colors, which are opposite each other on the color wheel, neutralize one another when mixed. Therefore, mixing, for example, purple (secondary color) with yellow (primary color) will result in some form of brown or gray, depending on the proportions used. Understanding this principle can be important for artists when they wish to tone down the intensity of a color to create more subtle shades, or when creating shadow effects, where less saturated colors are often needed. This concept is a part of subtractive color mixing, where pigments combine to absorb certain wavelengths of light and thus show the combination of what's left, which is different than additive mixing that deals with light and can create white when all primary colors are combined.