Why is pigment color subtractive?

Why is light color additive?

Subtractive color mixing occurs when light is reflected off a surface or is filtered through a translucent object. For example, a red pigment or filter only appears red because it absorbs (subtracts) all of the light that is not red and only reflects or allows the red light. if you mix blue with red light, you get magenta light. When you mix (add) all the colors of light together, you get white light. This is why it is referred to as additive color. With subtractive color, you see color because some wavelengths are being reflected and others are being absorbed (subtracted).