The ancient Greeks were some of the most detailed artists of all time. Their sculptures are good examples of this and are classified into three periods: Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic. Throughout the three periods, human figures dominated art. I have always enjoyed learning about different pottery in ancient art, and although sculptures were more detailed, vase painting was the "focus of development." Interestingly, I've learned that painters also worked as potters till the 5th century B.C. The periods of vase paintings are classified as Geometric, Black figures, and my favorite the Red Figure.
             The Geometric period was between the 10 – 8th Centuries B.C. The Geometric style was one of the first styles of Greek art. The vases were painted with lines and geometrically shaped bodies. I think these painted vases are a major source of information about artistic developments. I like the use of abstract design, with circles, semicircles, zigzags, triangles, diamonds, etc that the painters would use. It was as if they were working out a mathematical formula. We have been so accustomed to the art of the ancient Greeks that from the late geometric period until our own time of modern art, we've been primarily concerned with the representation of human beings and not enough abstract portrayal.
             By the mid-sixth century B.C. the art of vase-painting had made great progress. In my opinion, one of the best ways the ancient Greeks painted was with the Black-Figure Technique which was developed by the Athenians. They did this by using clay with iron in it and painted it with a black slip. When the vase was baked, the clay would turn red because of the iron it contained. The figures painted with this technique look very two-dimensional to me. A black-figure vase painter called Exekias, I think is one of the greatest black-figure painters. His style is somber and serious, unlike a lot of his fellow painters.
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