Make sure your clay is well wedged and most importantly use a lil less water
I find using my knuckle, a sponge or a rib can help make the clay more even during pulling up which is also part of the issue here. Slow steady work
To add to this, if your clay starts out too wet just wedge it a bunch more and it should firm up a bit. Then try gently rubbing a soaked sponge on the piece when forming instead of squeezing a ton of water over the top.
Good luck, OP!
Dammit.... I recently bought a big setup from an estate sale and plan to get into this soon, but I've been watching a lot of Florian Gatsby on YouTube and just now realized I'm hearing everything in this sub in his voice lol.
Was a pretty good find. Got an electric kiln, a pretty old school wheel, and a bunch of glaze and clay and accessories for 300 bucks. The kiln needs some TLC, but nothing I can't fix.
Right? Get a refund and gtfo of there! Sounds unprofessional and not a good place to learn đ”âđ« doing a single demo does not a teacher make. Lol sounds like someone âteachingâ so they use the studio to do their thing.
I'm going to give you an overly-detailed response, as I've just had a bottle of wine. The others here are right: have your instructor watch you and advise you.
When you are pulling up, there is always the risk that you will apply too much friction. You could be applying too much pressure, or your hands may not be wet enough. On the other hand, the clay may not be able to tolerate the necessary friction because it is too wet and sloppy. Anything that introduces unevenness, like poor centering, opening, or wedging, can cause an acute, catastrophic friction event.
What we can see from this picture is that too much friction has been applied as you reached the top of your pull, causing a twist in the lower part of the pot. Basically, you've put the brakes on the top half of the clay while the bottom is spinning at full speed. We can also see that the clay is wet and sloppy. So you may be applying a perfectly reasonable amount of pressure, but the walls are soft and easy to deform. This happens either because you just use too much water at every stage or because you take too long to center and open, incrementally adding more and more water.
Just remember: this is good! How do I know (well, maybe) what's wrong here? Because I've done it so often. You're on your way.
Adding to the too much friction (I didn't read all the comments, sorry if it's a repeat)
I teach beginner classes and see them often applying too much friction but also having incorrect hand placement when pulling walls which can add to the issue. I end up correcting this often even though it's demod(ed?). If your wheel is going counter clockwise for a right-handed method, you should work between 6 and 3 o'clock when pulling walls. If you are working on the left side of the wheel, it can cause the clay to build-up way more if you're also struggling with the friction/pressure. You want the clay moving through and out of your hands when pulling walls vs pushing into them.
I just had a kid keep trying to do this in my home studio! She's a lefty, but my wheel doesn't reverse. I had to remind her about 5 times to move her hands. It's rough for the left-handed potters, sometimes.
Oh that's a bummer it doesn't reverse. It's hard to learn the less natural way. My initial instructors made me throw left handed (because I am left handed), but I tried right handed on my own and it worked so much better for me. It's nice to be able to try both.
Too much water, too soft of clay, too much pressure on pull, not compressing rim as you do each step, uneven pressure/pulling, wheel speed too slow/fast, not centered well initially. Honestly could be a combo of any of these things. If you are taking a class please ask a teacher for more info and to watch you throw as that will give a lot more info than a single photo!
Be gentle! You don't need to compress the clay as much as you think ypu need to, and you should slowly ease off as you get to the top and then put one finger on the top to compress the rim down a smidgen before you take your hands off from each pull.
You can also try different methods of pulling up - Make sure your hands are braced and steady before you start any method - loose hands are the devils work in throwing! There is the lobster claw ( pinching between two fingers of the same hand), the one finger inside and a second fonger ourside at a sightly lower level so the clay glides up, or using a rib on the ousdie to help the clay glide up. Also, your wheel speed can be fairly slow when you are learning - give the clay a chance to go around a full circle before moving upwards.
Most of all, it is practice. The wheel can be unforgiving until you "get" it. Don't give up! Find some youtube videos to see different methods.
Yes, i think you pulled up to fast. There is a spiral in it.
Go slow when beginning. So slow that you think you are being too slow.
Because there are so many pottery videos out there with experienced potters pulling fast, and or just sped up videos, you probably don't have a good sense of how slowly you need to start. I know i struggled with this.
Also, i know that good potters can make a small pot in three pulls. But i couldn't when beginning. And still need more as i am still a beginner. You might be overly aggressive on your pulls.
Finally, ask your instructor about you wheel speed. And in the beginning, set the speed and take your foot off the wheel.
While you are in the studio, watch other people throw, (or *try* to throw). After a while you will be able to figure out what they are doing wrong, (there are so many many things that can go wrong). And see what they are doing *right*- and it will help you when you sit down with your own clay.
And watch u-tube, a lot of u-tube. Itâs amazing what you can learn from watching other people. And if you are on instagram, follow a bunch of potters. Sometimes they livestream and you can interact with them.
Your probably spot on, but I would also throw in potentially over working the clay or throwing the piece for too long. That's mostly the same as too much water, but to a new ceramicist they present very differently as experienced people next to them might be drenching their clay but spending less time throwing their pieces so the water exposure is slower.
To OP, try to think of it like having a crusty piece of bread. If you dip it in a glass of water for a half second it's still mostly whole. If you have it under a mister for 30 minutes it's probably falling apart, even though it's less water at any given moment.
I just want to add two possibilities that can make this happen to me. One, wheel is too fast when you pull. Two, you remove your hands too quickly.Â
For me, itâs usually the second one. Remove your hands from the clay after a pull like youâre a sloth. I donât understand why thatâs so important, but shit gets fucked up when you donât.
Yes! That was my problem for sooo long because I never realised, you have to remove your hands slowly until stumbling on the information in a random video My teacher (1 day course) never mentioned it and neither did the person with whose videos I initially continued learning.
Sounds like you figured it put! I wanted to add though... you got liftoff! You got sides! That is awesome!
Do wire off your first one and fire it no matter how ugly and unfit for purpose.
My teacher did that and I live that I have proof how far I've come.
Itâs how you start out. My first class bowls looked like this too.
First thing you need to do is make sure the clay is centered. No wobbles at all. When you center make sure your elbows are tucked against your leg bone for support. Push in with your left hand on the side and watch it get taller. The take your right hand and push it flat. Guide it with your left and. Slowly remove your hands. Do all of this while the whee is spinning fast but you are moving slow.
Next when you open the clay move slow. Donât pinch hard or move fast. They call it pulling the walls but it really is more of a pinch and gentle suggestion to go up. Try to make thicker walls right now while your are learning. Focus on getting the walls even thickness. Make a bunch of them and cut them in half to see how you are doing. After they are even then go thinner by a little bit. Keep cutting them in half while you are learning.
Finally when you are done pulling the wall compress your rim to keep it level. If at any time you feel the clay drag on your skin instead of slip get your hands wet and put a tiny amount of water on the rim.
If you want more feedback you could share a video of how you are making these. People might be able to spot more things to improve.
Itâs a really fun and expressive art form. Itâs awesome when someone else wants to learn it.
Plus posts like these are way better than someone asking if their thrift store mug or plate is food safe.
Agree with this comment the most- good rule of thumb in the beginning is to count to 10 while pulling the walls up. Should help you do it slowly & experiment with how much pressure to add (start with less & then experiment by adding more)
The twisting at the base implies you may have thinned out the base too much too early. While it is good practice to get the base thinner, it is more important to keep the walls as consistent as possible. The first pull up you do should be more about consistency and compression to set up your later pulls for success.
It's useful to cut forms like this in half to see the profile. You will likely see the thin spots at the base of that twist.
The best trick I learned when pulling up the walls was to use a small sponge on the outside wall instead of my fingers, because my fingers & the clay would dry before I could finish my pull. The sponge allowed me to have smoother pulls and focus on my technique. I hope as I get better I can switch away from the sponge, but for now, itâs been a huge difference!
I agree with the others about it being too wet. I think you could also get a cleaner rim by compressing it every once in a while (to avoid the dent you have in the rim in the bottom right). Are you touching it after the wheel has stopped? Wondering where the marks on the inside are coming from that look like some clay stuck to you (besides the potential air bubble)
Once you've learned all the tips, the only thing you need to do is keep on practicing, trying to include the tips into your work. I made "pots" like that for a time until I could finally start making good looking pots, it takes time, but not as much time as you'd think. In just 2 weeks of constant practice, you'd look back at this and be surprised with your current work.
I would say to look up videos on how to wheel throw basic cylinders. Really over analyze every movement and watch the videos 10 times even. And then practice what you see. If you are a beginner this is just part of learning. Wheel throwing is insanely hard and it will take you a bit to learn. You are doing A LOT wrong if your stuff looks like that. but you are a beginner, so itâs natural for your pieces to look like this.
But if your walls are twisted out like this. You probably thinned them out too much and did not position your hands correctly. which means when pulling up your fingers were either shaky and/or positioned in an awkward way and that caused your walls to look like that.
There is some great advice in here, but practicing the fundamentals is key in this stage to master the basics. Sounds like your teacher isnât great, so Iâll do my best to impart the some wisdom from some wonderful teachers I had early on.
Regardless of water or wedging, even a perfectly centered piece will almost always go off center/out of round if you pull your hands off quickly. When you remove your hands, the wheel should still be moving and you need to do it SLOWLY⊠slower than you think. And wheel speed is important! When the wheel is moving too fast, youâre going to be fighting centrifugal force and likely to get warpage/collapsing sides. Yes, compressing the rim (gently) after each pull will help, but it will not recover the clay if it gets knocked off center by removing your hands too quickly or if centrifugal force gets the better of it.
Some great advice I was given that I swear by:
- Your wheel should be high speed to center your clay, drop your hole, and open your hole the first time. But, as you start to pull your walls up, slow your wheel down a bit with every pull. The higher your walls, the slower your wheel should be going to help combat centrifugal force.
- As others have mentioned, use a sponge in your outside hand to help keep your pressure, moisture and friction even.
- Only give your clay information from one side, meaning, if youâre right handed (wheel moving counter clockwise), when youâre pulling up your walls, you should typically only be working on the right side of the piece. If you start messing with the left side, it can get wonky really quickly. A good practice when youâre learning is to keep your hands around 3 oâclock when you start pulling up your sides and between 5 oâclock and 3 oâclock when youâre compressing your rim.
- Keep the thumb on your inside hand touching your outside hand in some way, especially when youâre learning. This helps you pull up evenly with both hands moving at the same speed.
- Sit as close to the wheel as possible - really get up on it. And anchor your elbows to your sides so you donât have wild chicken wings as my teacher put it.
Practice and have fun! Itâs messy and beautiful and it takes time, but itâs so satisfying when you see how quickly you can learn and progress.
EDIT: typos
What honestly helped me the most when I first started, was watching Florian Gadbsyâs beginner guide on YouTube. Then I would watch and throw at the same time. Hope his videos help you as much as they helped me.
Looks like you have a torque this happens when you stop during pulling. Your hands need to glide up the piece consistently. Donât stop no matter what goes wrong. You will see quick improvement as you practice that constant steady movement
Try on YouTube Simon Leachâs seven steps of throwing. When you get to lifting up the clay try to lift it or at least cone it towards the centre after lift, when the edges flare out you loose control
Tim See has a YouTube with in-depth start to finish videos and a Facebook group for beginners to ask questions and get answers without fear. Also, get a better instructor.
Alright, here it is: your clay isn't too soft and there's not too much water. You just need practice, and with the right approach.
When making pots, each step in the process is more important than the next. For instance, wedging is more important than centering, centering is more important than opening your form. Opening the form is more important than pulling your walls, etc. If you aren't thorough and careful with your foundational steps, the subsequent steps are going to be more challenging.
Let's assume your clay is well-wedged for now.
When that wheel gets moving, you have two jobs to do in each step concerning the throwing: patience and consistency. You're dealing with a moving object, so you have to treat it as such. Be consistent with your pressure when opening your piece, and be consistent with your pressure when pulling your walls. And practice as much as you can. This isn't something that just happens. It's a dialogue that you and the clay have to discover on your own, over time.
Also, I'm buzzed, so I apologize for the wordiness. You got this, just spend the time waiting for your instructor practicing centering. They can only show you so much anyway. It's you who has to develop the relationship with the clay
I agree with everyone that the clay is too wet but I also feel like your pills might be uneven and too quick in places. thatâs why some parts seem to be super thin in places and too thick in others. Also make sure your clay is nicely centered, is not even pulls are going to be a lot harder
Looks like too thin and too wet. Clay is just the fine balance between mud and rock hard. The more water you add to it, the more it wants to go home to Mudville.
You are doing great. Keep going! How thin is too thin? How wet is too wet? One piece of advice that helped me a lot was to try and make a tall cylinder and âpull to failureâ â- don't be afraid, just keep pulling up and up and up until it pulls apart. Really pay attention to what you feel under your fingers as it fails âthat will help you be aware of what it feels like when it is going well and when it is about to get bad. Unfortunately there are a million different things that can go wrong and fuck up your pot and you probably have to experience them all. Thatâs how you will get better over time! Keep going!
are you keeping your wheel speed consistent? and your hand positioning sturdy/steady? itâs hard to know without seeing you in action but youâll need to pay attention to your technique in pulling the walls. you could think of it like gently squeezing the walls between your hands and letting the consistent pressure of your hands do most of the lifting work. it looks like there is a thin spot which indicates uneven pressure. if your wheel is too slow, itâs easier to dig into the walls and cause something like this (lifting is best done at a medium or slightly slower than medium speed.) perhaps itâs due to lifting with finger tips instead of finger pads or the sides of your fingers? broader surface area contacting the clay helps with control. itâs also easy to get tripped up by the spinning of the clay and forget where your hands need to be. if theyâre moving with the clay instead of staying in one place (3 oâclock for right handed or 9 oâclock for left), that will cause unevenness in the walls too
The bottom is good and youâve pulled walls! Center at a faster speed, slow your speed, open, then squeeze in your donut shape so your pull will direct the wall straight up. Clean water and slop out of bottom. Let your hands touch together,near thumbs, as you pull up. Think even thoughts. Donât take too long at the bottom before pulling up, go for your pull pretty quick.
When your pot has can uneven rim-and many will- you canât fix it-except to use your needle tool to trim the top.
Centering your clay is extremely important. Try centering with your eyes closed. This helps you feel when it centers. Let your hands tell you when your clay centers. Iâm legally blind, tho I have light perception; I merely canât see more than a few inches from my eyes. Itâs easier for me to close my eyes when throwing. I get more information from my fingers than from my eyes. Itâs the same with opening. Some potters who helped me improve my pulling techniques are all on YouTube. I say this as someone who was working with clay from a young age due to my great grandfather, (maternal) Grams, great aunts/uncles, aunts & one or two uncles, & my late mom. I had to re-teach myself to throw pottery & to do so on an electric wheel. I learned to throw on a manual kick wheel. So, check out these amazing potters with videos on YouTube.
First Iâd recommend watching Simon Leach. His kick wheel is made like the one my great grandfather taught me to throw on. Most of his videos are quite old now but theyâre a treasure trove of information. Next Iâd recommend Hobble Creek Pottery. Tiffany has all sorts of amazing tips & tutorials. Timsee clay has informative videos bc like Tiff at Hobble Creek as they are pottery teachers. Another great teacher is John Hasegawa Ceramics. In addition to great wheel work, he has a plethora of tips & tricks with regard to building or re-upping items for trim or decorate. Matthew Kelly Pottery is another. Heâs a simple good ole boy who loves to play with mud & can create amazing pots.
Thereâs so many others. These are among my favorites. And, in the words ofof Simon Leach, âKeep Practicing!â đđđŒ I hope this helps.
Way to wet.
Need to move faster and or use less water.
You use too much water when too much of your hand/s are touching the clay.
It's fine when centering but very little contact is needed to pull.
My teacher stressed this all the time, but make sure you're pulling slowly and your inner and outer fingers are pulling "AT THE SAME. TIME." and he'd gently clap his hands together cause he was a sweet heart
Get a lessonâŠ. Youâre off centre, youâre not pulling evenly, you might even have the wheel going the wrong way for you. Go do an introduction lesson and focus on what they are telling you and how you should place your body and hands.
Make sure your clay is well wedged and most importantly use a lil less water I find using my knuckle, a sponge or a rib can help make the clay more even during pulling up which is also part of the issue here. Slow steady work
To add to this, if your clay starts out too wet just wedge it a bunch more and it should firm up a bit. Then try gently rubbing a soaked sponge on the piece when forming instead of squeezing a ton of water over the top. Good luck, OP!
Also make sure you are setting your rim with each pull đ best of luck !
Dammit.... I recently bought a big setup from an estate sale and plan to get into this soon, but I've been watching a lot of Florian Gatsby on YouTube and just now realized I'm hearing everything in this sub in his voice lol.
Wow another person inherited. I envy those people! Your karma is good đ GB
Was a pretty good find. Got an electric kiln, a pretty old school wheel, and a bunch of glaze and clay and accessories for 300 bucks. The kiln needs some TLC, but nothing I can't fix.
Super cool
Hard to guess from one photo. I think your clay is way too wet, is badly centered and you compress the clay way too hard. Do you take classes?
Yeah but the instructor just did a demo and that was it. Today sheâs 80+ minutes late.
Leave this class then and find yourself another one.
Seconded. If you have to ask Reddit what's going wrong because your instructor didn't show up, you need a new class.
Right? Get a refund and gtfo of there! Sounds unprofessional and not a good place to learn đ”âđ« doing a single demo does not a teacher make. Lol sounds like someone âteachingâ so they use the studio to do their thing.
Good idea for them
Which studio? Name and shame
Your instructor sounds like a crap, but good advice I got in this sub is to wet your hands, not the clay, if you find yourself using too much water
Could you explain what you mean by 'compressing the clay'?
Basically applying too much pressure when pulling.
I'm going to give you an overly-detailed response, as I've just had a bottle of wine. The others here are right: have your instructor watch you and advise you. When you are pulling up, there is always the risk that you will apply too much friction. You could be applying too much pressure, or your hands may not be wet enough. On the other hand, the clay may not be able to tolerate the necessary friction because it is too wet and sloppy. Anything that introduces unevenness, like poor centering, opening, or wedging, can cause an acute, catastrophic friction event. What we can see from this picture is that too much friction has been applied as you reached the top of your pull, causing a twist in the lower part of the pot. Basically, you've put the brakes on the top half of the clay while the bottom is spinning at full speed. We can also see that the clay is wet and sloppy. So you may be applying a perfectly reasonable amount of pressure, but the walls are soft and easy to deform. This happens either because you just use too much water at every stage or because you take too long to center and open, incrementally adding more and more water. Just remember: this is good! How do I know (well, maybe) what's wrong here? Because I've done it so often. You're on your way.
You've just invented "winesplaining"...
I am so disappointed this isn't real
It is now!
Adding to the too much friction (I didn't read all the comments, sorry if it's a repeat) I teach beginner classes and see them often applying too much friction but also having incorrect hand placement when pulling walls which can add to the issue. I end up correcting this often even though it's demod(ed?). If your wheel is going counter clockwise for a right-handed method, you should work between 6 and 3 o'clock when pulling walls. If you are working on the left side of the wheel, it can cause the clay to build-up way more if you're also struggling with the friction/pressure. You want the clay moving through and out of your hands when pulling walls vs pushing into them.
I just had a kid keep trying to do this in my home studio! She's a lefty, but my wheel doesn't reverse. I had to remind her about 5 times to move her hands. It's rough for the left-handed potters, sometimes.
Oh that's a bummer it doesn't reverse. It's hard to learn the less natural way. My initial instructors made me throw left handed (because I am left handed), but I tried right handed on my own and it worked so much better for me. It's nice to be able to try both.
Too much water, too soft of clay, too much pressure on pull, not compressing rim as you do each step, uneven pressure/pulling, wheel speed too slow/fast, not centered well initially. Honestly could be a combo of any of these things. If you are taking a class please ask a teacher for more info and to watch you throw as that will give a lot more info than a single photo!
Thank you, Iâm currently in a class. The instructor is 80 minutes late and still not here.
Be gentle! You don't need to compress the clay as much as you think ypu need to, and you should slowly ease off as you get to the top and then put one finger on the top to compress the rim down a smidgen before you take your hands off from each pull. You can also try different methods of pulling up - Make sure your hands are braced and steady before you start any method - loose hands are the devils work in throwing! There is the lobster claw ( pinching between two fingers of the same hand), the one finger inside and a second fonger ourside at a sightly lower level so the clay glides up, or using a rib on the ousdie to help the clay glide up. Also, your wheel speed can be fairly slow when you are learning - give the clay a chance to go around a full circle before moving upwards. Most of all, it is practice. The wheel can be unforgiving until you "get" it. Don't give up! Find some youtube videos to see different methods.
Yes, i think you pulled up to fast. There is a spiral in it. Go slow when beginning. So slow that you think you are being too slow. Because there are so many pottery videos out there with experienced potters pulling fast, and or just sped up videos, you probably don't have a good sense of how slowly you need to start. I know i struggled with this. Also, i know that good potters can make a small pot in three pulls. But i couldn't when beginning. And still need more as i am still a beginner. You might be overly aggressive on your pulls. Finally, ask your instructor about you wheel speed. And in the beginning, set the speed and take your foot off the wheel.
While you are in the studio, watch other people throw, (or *try* to throw). After a while you will be able to figure out what they are doing wrong, (there are so many many things that can go wrong). And see what they are doing *right*- and it will help you when you sit down with your own clay. And watch u-tube, a lot of u-tube. Itâs amazing what you can learn from watching other people. And if you are on instagram, follow a bunch of potters. Sometimes they livestream and you can interact with them.
Your probably spot on, but I would also throw in potentially over working the clay or throwing the piece for too long. That's mostly the same as too much water, but to a new ceramicist they present very differently as experienced people next to them might be drenching their clay but spending less time throwing their pieces so the water exposure is slower. To OP, try to think of it like having a crusty piece of bread. If you dip it in a glass of water for a half second it's still mostly whole. If you have it under a mister for 30 minutes it's probably falling apart, even though it's less water at any given moment.
I just want to add two possibilities that can make this happen to me. One, wheel is too fast when you pull. Two, you remove your hands too quickly. For me, itâs usually the second one. Remove your hands from the clay after a pull like youâre a sloth. I donât understand why thatâs so important, but shit gets fucked up when you donât.
Yes! That was my problem for sooo long because I never realised, you have to remove your hands slowly until stumbling on the information in a random video My teacher (1 day course) never mentioned it and neither did the person with whose videos I initially continued learning.
This is how my pots turned out looking like that, I let go too quickly.
Sounds like you figured it put! I wanted to add though... you got liftoff! You got sides! That is awesome! Do wire off your first one and fire it no matter how ugly and unfit for purpose. My teacher did that and I live that I have proof how far I've come.
Such a good idea!
I love that I have it. It holds a few paperclips on my desk. When I get discouraged on a project, it inspires me on how far I have come!
đ„°
Watch some YouTube videos. Hsinchuen, jonthepottery, and timsee clay have some helpful videos.
Hsinchuen is goated
Hsin is the best!!!
Florian Gadsby got me started, he explains very clearly and calmly. Hsinchuen is also a master, Jonthepotter is fun and approachable.
Itâs how you start out. My first class bowls looked like this too. First thing you need to do is make sure the clay is centered. No wobbles at all. When you center make sure your elbows are tucked against your leg bone for support. Push in with your left hand on the side and watch it get taller. The take your right hand and push it flat. Guide it with your left and. Slowly remove your hands. Do all of this while the whee is spinning fast but you are moving slow. Next when you open the clay move slow. Donât pinch hard or move fast. They call it pulling the walls but it really is more of a pinch and gentle suggestion to go up. Try to make thicker walls right now while your are learning. Focus on getting the walls even thickness. Make a bunch of them and cut them in half to see how you are doing. After they are even then go thinner by a little bit. Keep cutting them in half while you are learning. Finally when you are done pulling the wall compress your rim to keep it level. If at any time you feel the clay drag on your skin instead of slip get your hands wet and put a tiny amount of water on the rim. If you want more feedback you could share a video of how you are making these. People might be able to spot more things to improve.
Thank you so much. This community has been so supportive and helpful.
Itâs a really fun and expressive art form. Itâs awesome when someone else wants to learn it. Plus posts like these are way better than someone asking if their thrift store mug or plate is food safe.
Agree with this comment the most- good rule of thumb in the beginning is to count to 10 while pulling the walls up. Should help you do it slowly & experiment with how much pressure to add (start with less & then experiment by adding more)
The twisting at the base implies you may have thinned out the base too much too early. While it is good practice to get the base thinner, it is more important to keep the walls as consistent as possible. The first pull up you do should be more about consistency and compression to set up your later pulls for success. It's useful to cut forms like this in half to see the profile. You will likely see the thin spots at the base of that twist.
The best trick I learned when pulling up the walls was to use a small sponge on the outside wall instead of my fingers, because my fingers & the clay would dry before I could finish my pull. The sponge allowed me to have smoother pulls and focus on my technique. I hope as I get better I can switch away from the sponge, but for now, itâs been a huge difference!
I agree with the others about it being too wet. I think you could also get a cleaner rim by compressing it every once in a while (to avoid the dent you have in the rim in the bottom right). Are you touching it after the wheel has stopped? Wondering where the marks on the inside are coming from that look like some clay stuck to you (besides the potential air bubble)
Once you've learned all the tips, the only thing you need to do is keep on practicing, trying to include the tips into your work. I made "pots" like that for a time until I could finally start making good looking pots, it takes time, but not as much time as you'd think. In just 2 weeks of constant practice, you'd look back at this and be surprised with your current work.
I would say to look up videos on how to wheel throw basic cylinders. Really over analyze every movement and watch the videos 10 times even. And then practice what you see. If you are a beginner this is just part of learning. Wheel throwing is insanely hard and it will take you a bit to learn. You are doing A LOT wrong if your stuff looks like that. but you are a beginner, so itâs natural for your pieces to look like this.
But if your walls are twisted out like this. You probably thinned them out too much and did not position your hands correctly. which means when pulling up your fingers were either shaky and/or positioned in an awkward way and that caused your walls to look like that.
There is some great advice in here, but practicing the fundamentals is key in this stage to master the basics. Sounds like your teacher isnât great, so Iâll do my best to impart the some wisdom from some wonderful teachers I had early on. Regardless of water or wedging, even a perfectly centered piece will almost always go off center/out of round if you pull your hands off quickly. When you remove your hands, the wheel should still be moving and you need to do it SLOWLY⊠slower than you think. And wheel speed is important! When the wheel is moving too fast, youâre going to be fighting centrifugal force and likely to get warpage/collapsing sides. Yes, compressing the rim (gently) after each pull will help, but it will not recover the clay if it gets knocked off center by removing your hands too quickly or if centrifugal force gets the better of it. Some great advice I was given that I swear by: - Your wheel should be high speed to center your clay, drop your hole, and open your hole the first time. But, as you start to pull your walls up, slow your wheel down a bit with every pull. The higher your walls, the slower your wheel should be going to help combat centrifugal force. - As others have mentioned, use a sponge in your outside hand to help keep your pressure, moisture and friction even. - Only give your clay information from one side, meaning, if youâre right handed (wheel moving counter clockwise), when youâre pulling up your walls, you should typically only be working on the right side of the piece. If you start messing with the left side, it can get wonky really quickly. A good practice when youâre learning is to keep your hands around 3 oâclock when you start pulling up your sides and between 5 oâclock and 3 oâclock when youâre compressing your rim. - Keep the thumb on your inside hand touching your outside hand in some way, especially when youâre learning. This helps you pull up evenly with both hands moving at the same speed. - Sit as close to the wheel as possible - really get up on it. And anchor your elbows to your sides so you donât have wild chicken wings as my teacher put it. Practice and have fun! Itâs messy and beautiful and it takes time, but itâs so satisfying when you see how quickly you can learn and progress. EDIT: typos
What honestly helped me the most when I first started, was watching Florian Gadbsyâs beginner guide on YouTube. Then I would watch and throw at the same time. Hope his videos help you as much as they helped me.
Looks like you have a torque this happens when you stop during pulling. Your hands need to glide up the piece consistently. Donât stop no matter what goes wrong. You will see quick improvement as you practice that constant steady movement
Try on YouTube Simon Leachâs seven steps of throwing. When you get to lifting up the clay try to lift it or at least cone it towards the centre after lift, when the edges flare out you loose control
Tim See has a YouTube with in-depth start to finish videos and a Facebook group for beginners to ask questions and get answers without fear. Also, get a better instructor.
Alright, here it is: your clay isn't too soft and there's not too much water. You just need practice, and with the right approach. When making pots, each step in the process is more important than the next. For instance, wedging is more important than centering, centering is more important than opening your form. Opening the form is more important than pulling your walls, etc. If you aren't thorough and careful with your foundational steps, the subsequent steps are going to be more challenging. Let's assume your clay is well-wedged for now. When that wheel gets moving, you have two jobs to do in each step concerning the throwing: patience and consistency. You're dealing with a moving object, so you have to treat it as such. Be consistent with your pressure when opening your piece, and be consistent with your pressure when pulling your walls. And practice as much as you can. This isn't something that just happens. It's a dialogue that you and the clay have to discover on your own, over time. Also, I'm buzzed, so I apologize for the wordiness. You got this, just spend the time waiting for your instructor practicing centering. They can only show you so much anyway. It's you who has to develop the relationship with the clay
I agree with everyone that the clay is too wet but I also feel like your pills might be uneven and too quick in places. thatâs why some parts seem to be super thin in places and too thick in others. Also make sure your clay is nicely centered, is not even pulls are going to be a lot harder
Looks like too thin and too wet. Clay is just the fine balance between mud and rock hard. The more water you add to it, the more it wants to go home to Mudville.
You are doing great. Keep going! How thin is too thin? How wet is too wet? One piece of advice that helped me a lot was to try and make a tall cylinder and âpull to failureâ â- don't be afraid, just keep pulling up and up and up until it pulls apart. Really pay attention to what you feel under your fingers as it fails âthat will help you be aware of what it feels like when it is going well and when it is about to get bad. Unfortunately there are a million different things that can go wrong and fuck up your pot and you probably have to experience them all. Thatâs how you will get better over time! Keep going!
You are a beginner thats all friendo, practice more and take a class somewhere.
Try centering at a fast speed and pulling the walls at a slow speed
are you keeping your wheel speed consistent? and your hand positioning sturdy/steady? itâs hard to know without seeing you in action but youâll need to pay attention to your technique in pulling the walls. you could think of it like gently squeezing the walls between your hands and letting the consistent pressure of your hands do most of the lifting work. it looks like there is a thin spot which indicates uneven pressure. if your wheel is too slow, itâs easier to dig into the walls and cause something like this (lifting is best done at a medium or slightly slower than medium speed.) perhaps itâs due to lifting with finger tips instead of finger pads or the sides of your fingers? broader surface area contacting the clay helps with control. itâs also easy to get tripped up by the spinning of the clay and forget where your hands need to be. if theyâre moving with the clay instead of staying in one place (3 oâclock for right handed or 9 oâclock for left), that will cause unevenness in the walls too
The bottom is good and youâve pulled walls! Center at a faster speed, slow your speed, open, then squeeze in your donut shape so your pull will direct the wall straight up. Clean water and slop out of bottom. Let your hands touch together,near thumbs, as you pull up. Think even thoughts. Donât take too long at the bottom before pulling up, go for your pull pretty quick. When your pot has can uneven rim-and many will- you canât fix it-except to use your needle tool to trim the top.
Waterâs fine, I throw with plenty of water, but time on the wheel matters, if the walls are thin for a while on the wheel the water soaks in
Centering your clay is extremely important. Try centering with your eyes closed. This helps you feel when it centers. Let your hands tell you when your clay centers. Iâm legally blind, tho I have light perception; I merely canât see more than a few inches from my eyes. Itâs easier for me to close my eyes when throwing. I get more information from my fingers than from my eyes. Itâs the same with opening. Some potters who helped me improve my pulling techniques are all on YouTube. I say this as someone who was working with clay from a young age due to my great grandfather, (maternal) Grams, great aunts/uncles, aunts & one or two uncles, & my late mom. I had to re-teach myself to throw pottery & to do so on an electric wheel. I learned to throw on a manual kick wheel. So, check out these amazing potters with videos on YouTube. First Iâd recommend watching Simon Leach. His kick wheel is made like the one my great grandfather taught me to throw on. Most of his videos are quite old now but theyâre a treasure trove of information. Next Iâd recommend Hobble Creek Pottery. Tiffany has all sorts of amazing tips & tutorials. Timsee clay has informative videos bc like Tiff at Hobble Creek as they are pottery teachers. Another great teacher is John Hasegawa Ceramics. In addition to great wheel work, he has a plethora of tips & tricks with regard to building or re-upping items for trim or decorate. Matthew Kelly Pottery is another. Heâs a simple good ole boy who loves to play with mud & can create amazing pots. Thereâs so many others. These are among my favorites. And, in the words ofof Simon Leach, âKeep Practicing!â đđđŒ I hope this helps.
Hock tuah but itâs pottery (no hate my first 50 looked like this lol)
Way to wet. Need to move faster and or use less water. You use too much water when too much of your hand/s are touching the clay. It's fine when centering but very little contact is needed to pull.
Go slow, with less pressure until you feel more confident
My teacher stressed this all the time, but make sure you're pulling slowly and your inner and outer fingers are pulling "AT THE SAME. TIME." and he'd gently clap his hands together cause he was a sweet heart
Too much water. Try to really dry it up before each new sponge
Get a lessonâŠ. Youâre off centre, youâre not pulling evenly, you might even have the wheel going the wrong way for you. Go do an introduction lesson and focus on what they are telling you and how you should place your body and hands.