- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
Updated: 8 hours ago
The potter’s wheel was one of man’s earliest inventions. There’s an endless fascination watching an inanimate lump of clay transform into an object of beauty and function. All it takes is a good dose of centrifugal force and a pair of potter’s hands.
For all but the lucky few, throwing on the wheel requires a lot of practice and a commitment to regular throwing. But it’s also deeply addictive and for some of us it’s the skill we long to master. In Japan they say you need to throw 10,000 pots before you make a good one. So what are you waiting for? Let’s get started.
The first form to master on the wheel is a simple cylinder - from this you can go on to produce mugs, vases, bottles and whole host of beautiful and experimental forms.
TOOLS - apart from your wheel, there’s only a few basic tools you need
Bowl of water
Sponge
Needle tool
Wooden or plastic rib
Wire
STEP ONE - Centering
Centering the clay on the wheel-head is the foundation to good throwing
Start by shaping your ball of clay into a rounded cone and then firmly throw the wider base down into the centre of your wheel. Using a cupped hand, pat down the clay whilst rotating the wheel anti-clockwise at a slow speed - this starts the centering and ensures your clay is stuck to the wheel-head.
Increase the speed of the wheel and add a small amount of water to your clay to stop your hands dragging on the clay. Bracing your left arm against your body or the rim of the wheel-head so that your whole frame is stable, cone the ball of clay up between your two palms.
Now, keeping your body stable and centered over the coned clay use the palm of your right hand to push the clay away from your body and compress back down to the wheel-head while your left hand controls the base of the clay and prevents the clay splaying out. Repeat the coning up and compressing down two or three times until you feel the clay quieten and center.
It might take a while before you can tell whether the clay is sufficiently centered but try to resist the temptation to skip on to step two before the clay is centred as pulling up a half-centered ball of clay is next to impossible!
STEP TWO – Opening up
With the wheel running at moderate speed, place your index finger or thumb in the centre of your centered clay and using your left hand to stabilise, press your finger into the clay. You will want to leave enough clay at the base of your piece to trim away later, especially if you want to turn a foot.
You can stop the wheel and measure using a pin tool to check that you have left enough clay in the base.
With the wheel turning, support the outside of the clay with your left hand and gently pull the walls out towards you without putting pressure on the base. When you have opened out to the width you want, compress the base with a wooden tool to prevent cracks in your base later on.
Your lump of clay should now resemble a fat doughnut.
STEP THREE – Pulling up - the fun bit!
With the wheel at moderate speed, apply a small amount of water to the rim on the doughnut. Place your left hand inside at the base of the form at three o’clock and the knuckle or fingers of your right hand at the base of the outside of the form at the same point and squeeze the clay between the two as you smoothly and evenly pull up the clay. Try and keep the pressure even all the way to the top and avoid the clay splaying out too wide as you pull (or you will end up with a bowl not a cylinder).
When you reach the top of the wall gently move your hands away from the clay. Any quick jerky movements will pull the clay off center. It helps to keep both hands in contact with each other so they act as one as much as possible
Before going in for another pull, gently compress the rim with your fingers.
STEP FOUR - Shaping
You are now ready for final shaping, this is where you can refine the form of your cylinder.
To create smooth straight sides, use a wooden or plastic rib, holding the straight edge at an angle against your clay and moving the clay out to meet the rib using your left hand inside the form. Depending on what you want your cylinder to become you can refine and shape the rim, belly the form, create texture, add slip – the possibilities are endless.
When you are happy with the final shape, use a taught wire to wire the piece off the wheel head or batt.
Once you can throw a cylinder there are so many ways you can develop the basic form to become mugs, bottles, vases etc. A selection of work by Corisande Albert building on the basic cylinder form:
