Many of Greece's pottery was made from clay. Clay was an easily accessible element in Athens due to the clay beds in the city. The clay beds were distinctive for their chemical compositions iron oxide and calcium oxide which made the clay have a red-orange tint. Clay that came from Corinth was much lighter, and had a creamy-white appearance.
Greek pottery was usually made on a wheel. If an artist wanted to add more detail to a piece of pottery, they would do so by hand as opposed to on the wheel. This game them more control and helped them to play closer attention to the detailed marks. For pieces of pottery that were very complex, artists would make it in parts and then assemble them once they were leather hard. They would piece these together by returning to the wheel.
During this time, it was popular to decorate pottery with black illustrations. The black was achieved by changing the amount of oxygen present during the firing. The kiln needed to be heated to about 950 degrees celsius. All of the vents needed to be open to let in the proper amount of oxygen. When the kiln started to turn the pottery a reddish-brown color, the bents were closed and green wood was added. The green wood created carbon monoxide. Carbon Monoxide turned the hermatite (created early when letting oxygen in) black. After this process, the vents were opened back up again to preserve the black pigment. This technique is now known as the "iron reduction technique".
