|
The History of Black And Red Vase Painting Black Figure Painting
|
|
|
|
In Athens, in the Archaic period, potters continued to make the clay pots with mythological scenes on them. Gradually the scenes grew and took over more of the pot, and the geometric decoration took up less and less. At the same time, a new painting technique developed. Instead of painting figures of people in outline, the Athenian potters began to paint people in silhouette: this is called black-figure, because the people are all black. Actually black figure is done all with one type of clay. The clay found near Athens has a lot of iron in it, so it looks black when it is wet. So how do you get a picture? You make a pot the regular way, and let it dry a little ("leather-dry"). Then you mix a little of the wet clay with a lot of water, to make a kind of paint (called the slip), which you use to make the black part of the picture. (You can't see it now, because it is all the same color). And you let the whole thing dry. When your pot is dry, you fire it in a kiln, which is a really hot oven. By varying the temperature and oxygen levels in the kiln your get different colors in the design. At first the Athenian potters didn't know much about drawing people, and their people look a little funny. Later they got better at it. They began to care more about drawing the muscles and the eyes right. They were especially careful about arranging the people in the picture in a pleasing way. Information taken for Kidipedia Carr, Karen. "Black Figure Painting" Kidipede - History for Kids. 2007. January 19, 2008. . http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/greeks/art/pottery/blackfigure.htm |
 |
Links: |