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The bold black lines that defined the designs were executed three ways: painted on with black glaze, applied using the cuerda seca wax process, or incised and filled with the black-tinted wax, a common modification of the cuerda seca process. In the ancient cuerda seca (Spanish for "dry cord" or "dry string") technique, the artist applys thin strips of black wax (tinted with manganese) to create the outlines of their designs. The wax formed a barrier that separated glazes, then burned off in the kiln, leaving scorched black outlines surrounded by thick, bubbling colors.