(1) Application of red ochre over the whole surface.
(2) Preliminary sketch for design with a blunt instrument.
(3) Painting of the design, the decorative motives, and the solid black surfaces.
The process of the figure painting was as follows: the outlines of the figures were indicated outside the spaces intended for them, first with a narrow line, then with a broader contour stripe; then the details within the red silhouette, and sometimes the outlines, were painted in black glaze lines; finally the background was filled in with the black glaze.
(4) Addition of accessory colors if needed.
IV. THE FIRING OF THE VASE
The most important revisions of current theories on the technique of Athenian vases which our treatment of the subject has suggested are:
(1) The use of turning as a regular process applied to the vases after they were thrown. To this operation they owe much of their finish and refinement.
(2) The application of a red ochre pigment on the surface of the vases in their raw state, before they were decorated or fired. It is to this red ochre application that the present orangey color of the Athenian vases is due, as against the pinkish hue shown in the fractures of the clay. Originally, however, this color was even deeper, approaching that of bright red copper.