How to Throw a Cylinder on the Potter's Wheel, For Beginners!

1. Introduction: Hi Skillshare, I'm Molly Sanyour. I'm a ceramic artist and teacher coming to you from Richmond, Virginia. I'm currently a high-school ceramics teacher where I teach beginning level ceramics, both wheel throwing and handling. I also have my own ceramics business, Molly Sanyour ceramics, where I make my own wears, some of which had been seen with Lizzo most recently in her Dove campaign for body positivity, where she's naked with just my butt mud covering her boob. She also had them in her Vogue interview where she cheers with the interviewer. My work can also found at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and the Quirk gallery here in Richmond, Virginia. In business, I've also made partnerships with other pottery companies like LL kiln, diamond core tools, and speed ball bats, where we've just released the black Molly Sanyour ceramics bat. I've also started a membership called "Throwing with Molly", where clay enthusiasts from all skill levels and all over the world, join weekly to talk all things clay. If you're looking to join a community, looking at further, be sure to visit my website to learn more and sign up. I've been learning about ceramics since I became a ceramics major in college. I can't stop learning, taking workshops from all over the world from the Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Colorado. Do you flying all the way to Athens, Greece to learn about naked raccoon firings with Galli, Galli, this art through Skillshare. I'm really excited to bring all of my knowledge and tips and tricks to you to help you have a successful time in your studio practice. Let's get into it. In this video, I'm gonna be sharing all of my tips and tricks for how to throw the perfect cylinder. I'll be asking you to join me in the cylinder challenge that was slice them in half and see how we did. Let's get into it. 2. Part 1: Tools for Throwing a Cylinder: So let's get into it. How did there a cylinder? First off, the tools that you will need. I love for a cylinder using a rib with a 90 degree transition. That makes it really easy to get my vertical wall on the exterior wire cutter. This is going to be the cylinder challenge. So we will be slicing our cylinders in half when we're done. So you'll need a wire cutter. Sponges. I love several sponges. Sometimes they go missing and sometimes I like to double sponge. You'll need a bucket of water. Keep everything, go in and smooth. You'll need your wedge balls of clay. I recommend a ball of clay that fits in your hands. Too little or too big can be a challenge. I also recommend a bat. These pop right on your wheel according to your screw size. And that way when you're done, you can just take the whole bat off. Then I do like a towel to have handy so that as I need to dry my hands for different times I can. Then your wheel your wheel should be going counterclockwise if you're a right-hand or like I am. 3. Part 2: Prepping the clay for success!: Now that we have our tools, Let's get started first, you want to round the bottom of your clay. If you start with a little crease in the bottom and you're already trapping a little air bubble underneath. It makes sure that your clay is tap Smooth and it's tapped round into an egg shape that is going to help you. If you just take this and slam it on, it's gonna be more challenging to get it up until tone, which will be our first step. Tapping this round at the bottom and up into a cone. Next, you got to look at your bat. Is there dust on it? Doesn't need to be cleaned off. Is it wet? I'm using a plastic bats and these needs to be clean and dry, so I'll use my towel. Then I'm going to gently but firmly place the rounded wire edge at the bottom, wiggle it on there, make sure it's stuck. Then tap, tap, tap open hands. I'm using the palms of both hands tapping down and at an angle at 39 o'clock. Let us been really slow, tap it down and tap it up into a code. 4. Part 3: Coning up and Down!: All right. Time to cone up and down. Coning up and down is like wedging on the wheel. It's a time that prepares your clay. It works out inconsistencies that might be hiding under the surface. And it helps get your clay Center to count up and down. Now is the time that we need plenty of water. And I love loading the sponge up of water in my right hand. So as I need more, I can just squeeze it out. The left hand is the boss. That means that the elbow is gonna go in your hip socket so that as I lean forward, the whole forearm pushes into the clay. I'm flexing my hand really firm and I'm gonna be using from the palm up to my thumb, leaning on that clay, the thumb is going to be part of what helps keep the cone. So plenty of water pushing my forearm, you should have a straight line from your forearm through the center of the class. Plenty of now the right hand will be the assistant. I'm going to load up with more water. I'm going to start down on the back. I'm gonna latch this thumb on to that boss hands so that my right hand is connected as well. And I'm going to allow my fingertips to squeeze into the palm of my left hand, starting at the base of the clay, latching on and squeezing that thickness at the bottom and then coming up, squeezing the thickness there and then coming up letting the claim rotate and then moving, let it rotate and then move, let it rotate and move, and they get all the way to the top and hold onto that glider. Notice my that code, hold onto it and let the glade rotate, rotate, rotate, slow release. Anytime you work with the clay, you want to let it rotate, rotate, rotate, and then slow release now will come down. So just like we started off the bat, now we're gonna start at the top and go all the way to the back. So the left hand is still the boss. It's anchored in my hips. So as I leaned for that whole alarm can reach to that clay. My left thumb is blacks, that palm is against the glide in my right hand with a wet sponge, will hug around my thumb making a fist. The fist part is going to catch the center of the collect. My left hand, hugging my boss hand speed is my friend hands or slow wheel as fast and I'm slowly pushing down towards the back. Now as I push down, I have lost my cone. It is now flat. From here. If I cone up, I'm going to get a crater every single time. In a crater traps air. You don't want that as soon as you see that stop rehab that thumb for us that coming back down. The trickier is as you come down and as you approach the bat, the right-hand has to kind of open up and apply pressure from the top of the leg all the way down, all the way until you get to the base of the gland all the way. Rotate, rotate, rotate. Slow release. Left hand is still the boss. The cone up and down again because it's still is a little funky. So start at the base, get all that blurred out, play down their left hand is the boss. Left thumb is Flex fund up to the cone. Right thumb is attached onto I can squeeze into the left hand. Right fingertips are squeezing into my palm all the way to the top. Get to the top, hold it and let back leg rotate, rotate, rotate. You can already see just after two times of coding up now and it's looking smooth and it's looking centered. We'll cone down one more time, clean out your sponge, load it up with water. Boss hands supporting the tip of the clients flat, leaning from the forearm, Hub your boss thumb, press down with the right fist and patiently that clay rotate, rotate, rotate as I push down, as I get to the fat to keep that cone, the right-hand is going to open up and I could drop down until the prayer hands and let that right hand graph down. Or I can take my right fingertips from the top and just press on that clay from the top, press down, let it rotate, press down, let it rotate all the way until I get to the base, rotate, rotate, rotate. And there's that cone because that let them was supporting them. That's coning up and down. Anytime I'm thrown on the wheel, I'm gonna take that time to count up and down. Now let's talk about centering. 5. Part 4: Centering the Clay!: It to center your clay. You want to first make sure that it's ready. You have nice horizontal lines, it looks consistent and it looks pretty centered. Spinney to center the Clegg left-hand is still the boss speed is still our friend waters or friend. The right-hand is always going to connect to the boss hand. I'm making a fist around that thumb. And instead of dropping into a cone, I'm going to allow my break this depress down, down until this left hand gets to the base of the leg. There it is. I know it's at the base because I see that black circle. Now from here, I don't have that perfect center form yet. So that's going to take this left hand being flat, leaning on that clay in this right-hand is now going to open up flat like a karate chop across the center, the clay connecting against my thumb. So both hands are always connected. The left-hand to boss leaning into the clay, right hands on top and just hold it, squeeze want if you need it and left the club, rotate, rotate, rotate. Slow release. That's a train from centering, you can make a bowl, a place, a cylinder cap, a base, anything that you want. 6. Part 5: Opening the Clay and Establishing the Bottom!: Alright, now that we have centered our clay, let's talk about opening the clay. Now. How you open the clay will determine if it's going to be a bowl plate or a cylinder. For a cylinder, the trick is to keep the lip and the opening as narrow as possible the whole way. First things first left-hand is still the boss and looking for that form of push from my hip socket puts that whole form into the clay like thumb is flats. I'm leaning on that claim. It starts to wobble. Side note, I do have a loose fat into my clay jiggles around. Hopefully you don't. Speeds my friend water right hand is on top. Hold it to make sure it is centered. Now to open the clay, the right hand is going to hug on top of that left anchor boss thump. The right fingertip, just my middle finger for a cylinder is going to find the centre of the clay and I do like the wet sponge. I can squeeze water if I needed. Notice my fingertips are not working in just the palm. And that middle finger is going to find the center. And once I find it, I can drill down to the base of the climb on that. Now, what I'm doing for mine is really actually using connection from my palm around that thumb and really supporting that clay all around, keeping it center. That ready fingertip is again, just drilling down. And I'm thinking how deep visit in the bottom. You can always check by stopping or we'll first get all the water. Then you can stop your wheel and take a needle tool, press it all the way to the bottom. Take a finger, reach sounds where it meets the leg, pull it out. And that's how thick your bottom is? A little on the thick side, but we'll leave it there. Now I have an opening. It's time to establish the bottom opening. And establishing the bottom is where you really want to make sure your containing this lip. If this lip opens up, it wants to be able to open the bottom. What's going to happen is this fingertip that's reached down to the bottom. Just the fingertips will pull back to make like a volcano or Hershey Kiss shape underneath. I'm gonna be very mindful not to lean on the slip, but just my fingertips along the bottom of the plate is pulling towards my belly button to open that bottom. And then when I get it where I wanted, I hold it and let it rotate, rotate, rotate, slow, release. You can see I have an open bottom in there but my lip a more contained. Now that I have a bottom, I can smooth the bottom, reach in re-up my sponge. No, not too much water. It's all wrong out reach and while it spins and I can press where it's taller, I can be easy where it's thinner, but I started in the center of the glide, let it rotate, press over, let it rotate. And my pressure while my elbows are against my body can press on that claims from the center slowly over to three o'clock, all the way to make sure that bottom is flat. With a cylinder, we're looking for a flat bottom. A 90-degree transitions, evenly thick walls and horizontal throwing lines. So this right here will help create that flat bottom. Now, if it has opened up, you're going to want to close it back in before you do any pulling. Also, if my form is not at a continuous angle, I want to kind of establish that before I pulled one more thing as we open and established the bottom, I'm also going to take a run-out sponge, elbows against my body at three o'clock on the wheel and just lean on it a little bit. This will push that form into that more continuous volcano form, allowing me to have a nice successful first pole leaning on that clay to make sure it goes from wide to narrow. My bottom is opened up a little wider than my lip. 7. Part 6: Pulling the walls!: Alright, now that we have combed up and down, we have centered our play. So they have opened and established the bottom. We are ready to pull. All right, when we pull it is now the right hands turn to be the boss. That means that my left elbow is in my hip socket not allowed to wobble around and that therefore my left hand is not anchored. So whenever possible they connect and work together. I usually like to connect the meat of my thumbs so that they can hold onto each other. Now before I pull it as water at three o'clock while it's been encoded. So it'll slip through my fingertips. Now, when you pull, it's the pressure between the outside hand, which is the boss squeezing against inside hand. Do you want to be careful that the inside hand doesn't open up and make constant pressure at different points. You only want to apply pressure against where the outside hand is. Right hands, the boss, I do like a wet sponge. I'm going to anchor against my body right fingertip. I use my index finger over the wet sponge just going to press at the base of the club. And already you can see that claim moving up. The last hand goes in and connects into this first Bull. I didn't get everything. I'd get the inside pressure of the outside pressure. This thumb can latch around and everything's applying pressure from the outside, the inside, even a little holding onto this top lip because I can reach it. Right hands. It lost inside hand is there and down here where it's fat, we're gonna squeeze that leg and let it rotate. And then we can come up here and squeeze that clay and let it rotate. And then I can come up here and squeeze that clay and let it rotate, come up here, squeezed back clay and let it rotate. And notice this little index finger, my left and I swear it's coming on top. And that's allowed me to compress the lip all at one time. So as we get to the top, I just hold it and let it rotate, rotate, rotate and then slow release. You see I'm containing this volcano shape as long as possible, and that is the trick to getting a tall cylinder. Oftentimes our wheel goes too fast and those we'll consider it out of control and into a bowl. And sometimes the left-hand wants to be the boss and it opens outward for eating a bowl. Now here are just like counting up and down. You do it as many times as it takes. When you pull it up and down, you do it as many times to make it smooth. But when we pull, we're doing it as many times as it takes to get the thickness evenly thick from the bottom to the top. Right now you can see it's much thicker down there and it's thinner down here. What I'm gonna do now is talk my left hand all the way on so I can make that pressure against my outside hands. Tuck it in, get right in that corner, right hands. The boss says I'm an anchor up, drop that fingertips all the way on the back and you'll see what's happening is I'm actually using three fingers and pressure to press that clay into itself as I press up the clay at the face as being squeezed by my right Fosse hand, the inside and the squeezing back down there because it's really fit. Then I taught here in squeeze as soon as I can I connect that thumb to give me more support, more stability. And then as I come up here, I let it rotate and then I got going. I let it rotate here. It's not so thick. So I relaxed my pressure. I'm gonna go ahead and press that lip all at one time. Let it rotate, rotate, rotate, slow release. All right. Let's do it again as water reach all in and get all this flared out play down there at this Fosse hand. Get all that clay inside him is waiting, helping to create that 90 degree pushing in that corner, pushing back against the spat in his boat. They're squeezing hard at the base where it's thick, go a little faster, which will now help me contain that clay. And as I rise up with that clay, it bends out. So I kinda relaxed my pressure, come all the way to the top and put a finger on the top to depress that lived all at once. Let it rotate, rotate, rotate, reach in there and get all the water. Spin, check that it's so flat. And we can maybe do one more. I'm going to add a little water. Now our goal here for a cylinder is a flat bottom, a 90-degree transition and evenly thick walls from the top to the bottom. I'm going to reach in there, make sure I'm not gonna lean on the lipid, open it up, starting down here, squeeze that back leg to ensure it's gonna be evenly thick even down there. Come up here, hold it, let it rotate, rotate, rotate, come over here, hold it, let it rotate, rotate, rotate, hold it here. Let it rotate, rotate down fairly squeezing because not very thick at all right here, it's nice and even I'm just holding the clay. In fact, my inside hand is doing this. I'm actually pressing against the straight edge of my index finger there. Just hold that clay and let it rotate, rotate, rotate. All right. I think the thickness is pretty good. What we can do now is put a rib on it. 8. Part 7: Using a Rib to Shape the Walls!: So what we can do now is put a rib on it, that 90 degree rib, I can start by just putting it on the bat and it will skim off some of that extra clients a base. And you can see where we did a good job containing that clay doesn't even reach the rib tool. This inside hand is gently going to press against the rib. You want to be sure that your fingers don't open up and press where the rib is not so open your cylinder. So starting at the bottom, the right-hand is the boss. The 90 degree goes on the bat sliding against the cylinder inside pen goes all the way starting at the base of the clay. I'm going to apply a little pressure from the inside until it translates to the air outside. Slowly come up, let it rotate here, let them again slow and come up with that reus tool, feeling the thickness of the clay, making sure it feels, even making sure that this feels straight and vertical. And again, connecting this insight thumb as soon as I can to that red to give me more stability and let it rotate, rotate, rotate. Alright, so we have counted up and down, we have centered, we have opened and establish the bottom, and then we have pulled and shaped our cylinder. So before we cut this in half, I'm going to ring out my sponge, reach all the way to the bottom, make sure it's dry. Make sure I've got my 90 degree happening. Hold it and now we're ready. 9. Part 8: Cut it in half!! For the Cylinder Challenge!: So with this project, I encourage you to take part in throwing with Molly cylinder challenge. You can use hashtag, PWM cylinder challenge and posted on all of your social medias. What you're going to want to do is throw your cylinder. Then when you're done, you're gonna take a wire cutter nice and tight like dental floss. Drag your thumbs underneath. I'm just gonna go halfway and then you want to pull up through the cylinder. This is going to allow you to dissect your cylinder and see how you did if you're just learning pottery, I recommend partaking in this cylinder challenge to really advance your skills. When you slice it open, you're looking for a 90 degree transition of flat bottom, evenly thick and horizontal throwing lines. If you see anything different, you can kind of pinpoint where you need to work on. We'll open this up and we'll take a look. We've got our flat bottom, that 90 degree transition. It's a little thick, a little thin, and then a little thick. So I could really kind of maybe squeeze a little bit more right there, ease up there and relax there. I do see these nice horizontal throwing lines. So that is what we're going for with a throne with Molly cylinder challenge. I hope this video helps and I hope that you'll tune in for my other videos to come. And I can't wait to see your cylinder challenges posted. For the next video.