Topic outline

  • Introduction

    • After a lump of clay has been centered on the potter's wheel, it must be opened up and the base formed. This tutorial will discuss this opening up procedure as well as showing you what to do when things go wrong. Much like this video, it goes over lots of little details about how and why certain things are done. In this detailed guide, we're going over one thing, and that's how to open up the lump of clay and form the base. A centered lump is our starting point.

◄Step 8: Different Techniques for Opening
►Step 10: Opening Up for Plates

  • Step 09: Opening Up for Bowls

    • 9.1
      So in this next part of the tutorial, I'll show you how I open up for bowls and for plates, as it's very different for both.

    • 9.2
      For bowls, I'll make my initial lump a little bit taller, and then I'll plunge in my finger and thumb as usual to create a sort of V-shaped indentation.

    • 9.3
      As for opening up and forming the base, that's it.

    • 9.4
      From this point, I'll begin to pull the curved walls of the bowl.



    • 9.5
      Another important thing to mention is that I've left a lot more clay in the base itself, which I'll show you in a cross-section.

    • 9.6
      My aim when making bowls is for them to have a very curvaceous interior surface.

    • 9.7
      I don't form a flat base whatsoever.

    • 9.8
      I also leave ample clay in the bottom, about a centimeter or a centimeter and a half, so that ultimately there's enough material to trim a nice tall foot ring from.

    • 9.9
      This again is something you can check by sticking a needle through the base when you first form the well.

    • 9.10
      The majority of the thick expanses either side will be pulled up into walls that overhang, and I'll just score in what a rough foot ring would look like to sort of demonstrate where the clay will be removed from later on.

    • 9.11
      There needs to be enough excess in the bottom to not only trim the foot ring from but also enough for the base of the pot itself, and an extra millimeter or so too to account for the clay that's lost when the piece is wired off.

    • 9.12
      Although this cross-section is deceiving somewhat, as the majority of the thickness in the wall here will have already been squashed upwards into the walls.


◄Step 8: Different Techniques for Opening
►Step 10: Opening Up for Plates