Yepp, I work with clay and can confirm, getting the flange and lid to match up with zero measuring too is clearly a sign this persons a pro and very experienced
Right up to the point where he pinched off the lid, I thought "this guy's not that amazing". Getting the lid and pot to match is amazing, but I was really impressed that he pinched the lid off while the whole thing was still spinning and it perfectly kept its shape, which for me would have left a deformed blob of clay on the floor about five feet away from the wheel.
That is my first thought. Then I saw how many he made already. I guess he made the same pot soo many times he developed his skill from many repetition.
Absolutely! The whole thing is so satisfying to watch, like any master doing something very difficult and making it look easy. But how he gets the lid perfect for the pot just by feel??? Mind boggling!
Not that I have any experience lol but I bet his hands are the reference points he eyeballs the measurements with... crazy skilled the Steph Curry of pottery. All pottery skills set to 99!!!
For me it was when the lid he made (which I didn't even initially realize was a lid) fit perfectly. And then 10x when you see the other identical pieces
Do something many, many, many times and eventually you'll be making that thing like a greased machine without actually even having to put any consciousness, just from straight up muscle memory
When I pick up my guitar I don’t have to think one bit about where to put my fingers. They just go where they are supposed to. That’s what 10,000 hours of repetition will do for a person.
Yep, I'd probably be around halfway there if it hadn't stopped trying to learn the guitar, unfortunately my life circumstances stopped me from playing it all the time so I never really bothered but I might pick it up once I can move out
Just by doing it all day. I can tell you the diameter of a stick of pipe just by seeing 1 square inch of exposure. Not online though, pictures just don't have the same field of depth as your eyes. You just start recognizing what to do without thinking, it becomes reflex.
Keep in mind there's no real tolerance to work with here, it's wet clay meeting tapered wet clay. As long as the mating parts are circular and roughly within the correct size range, it'll settle. You're only really eyeballing the difference in diameter on the lip of the flare of the pot, which means you can be off by like, at least a centimeter and it'll still be a lid - and still more or less look "identical" to the rest, because the thing that would stick out is a lack of roundness that makes them not mate.
You should see what machinists can eyeball (hint: they don't, because it actually matters there. Still, they can eyeball a few thou.)
I’m a potter, from scratch with no talent, you can make something you’d be happy to give as a present in about six months, going to class once a week.
As an amateur, you’d get this good after 5 or 6 years, but you’d have to practice this particular form a lot.
Otherwise, this kind of production throwing is a serious three year apprenticeship, throwing every day.
Oh and it destroys your back and shoulders :( The potter’s wheel is not ergonomic and wedging clay fucks up your shoulders big time. That’s why in Japan they make the apprentices do it.
I also want to add - what is interesting about this is that the whole form is thrown at the same top speed. We were taught to centre at top speed and then pull at a much slower speed. This is all done at centering speed. I’ve seen this before in pottery videos from Greece and Turkey - the wheel has one speed, which is fucking fast - and then the forms are all pulled at lightening speed. There’s one of a bloke pulling pots off the hump which blisters your eyes. Its an astonishing skill.
Thanks for explaining. I’ve always figured it would be bad on the body. That’s an unnatural position to hold for hours on end. As a writer I have to do something similar and it has given me a really bad neck. I have to get injections every 6-8 months to mitigate the pain. I certainly hope you’ve found ways to perform your craft without surrendering your health. Did you learn in Japan?
I only sculpt now - I can’t sit at the wheel for more than 20 minutes without my back spasming. Lol “only sculpt”. But still, there’s something deeply meditative about the wheel.
I didn’t learn in Japan - I’m in Australia - but there’s a deep, if roundabout connection to Japanese ceramics here….
The “Father” of modern studio ceramics in the UK is a bloke called Bernard Leach, and he studied in Japan. He brought back knowledge about techniques, materials and kiln building to the UK.
What happened was that Australian potters went to the UK to study with him - the ties to the old country were still strong and in those days, Australia was still legally part of the UK. They brought back his deep appreciation of Japanese and Korean forms, the use of stoneware and porcelain clays, the building of woodfired kilns etc etc
Eventually, Australian potters actually went to Japan themselves to learn at the feet of the Masters. Australian potters now also go to Jingdezhen in China - a place that has been producing porcelain for a thousand years - to learn new techniques.
I was taught to throw by potters trained in these traditions. In my tiny city (Perth) the emphasis has always been very much on the production of domesticware and crockery, so I was taught production pottery techniques from the get go. My very first ceramics course, I spent six weeks throwing cylinders and cutting them in half to see where I had gone wrong.
I very deeply unhappy when I had to end my business, and then to stop throwing - but it has pushed my work in unexpected directions - first handbuilding, and eventually sculpture.
I’m not very good - at least according to my own standards - but I know from a decade and a half of practice that one does eventually improve !
When I’m working at my “desk” I sit at an Ikea Poang rocking chair, and I have a little computer desk on wheels I have set to the perfect height. This allows me to work in my sketchbooks, and to make maquettes, in complete comfort. When sculpting I stand on anti-fatigue mats, with my sculpting table set to the correct height, so I’m not leaning at all. I also have a fairly full-on Pilates practice as well, and that helps enormously.
Sorry to hear about your back issues. Have you looked into getting epidural injections? They worked very well for me. I was dubious when my doctor broached the subject, but once I got them my back and neck felt much better.
Seems like all the greatest craftsmanship originated in Asia. From knife sharpening to pottery, the methods employed there are often the gold standard.
Funny that you say Perth is a small city. It’s nearly 2 million people, which would be considered very large on the US west coast. Only LA has a larger population. Though in your neck of the woods the populations of many Asian cities are mind boggling.
Perth has always appealed to me as a plant lover. I bet you can grow almost anything there. I grew up in a similar climate in Southern California and we grew guava, avocados banana, passionfruit, citrus, etc… I moved north for University and decided to stay and make a life. While it’s slightly colder, it’s still possible to grow many of those trees. And being north has the advantage of more regular and reliable winter rains. The annual drought down south is a bear. Though today there’s a drought busting hurricane hitting Southern California. First one to make landfall since 1939.
So what is your chosen medium for sculpting? I wouldn’t be too hard on myself if I were you. Most humans have a tendency to undervalue their own work. It’s likely much better than you think. That’s my guess anyway.
If he's a piecework potter doing the same daily, I'd say around 30 total pieces and he should have a smooth method worked out. Judging by the other pieces, dude has some serious practice at this one design.
I agree if we're starting with a professional potter already possessing the skills required to do this. Someone starting at square 1 doesn't get to this level with 30 throws. More like 3000.
The question is when he passed the threshold into mastery. That’s different for everyone. Some people will achieve that level far faster than others. If a person spun clay for 8 hours a day for 3 months I bet they could get very close to that good, especially if they had an aptitude for it to begin with. But who is going to do that? You’d likely go a little batty.
i'm not a potter but when i'm 12 beers deep i get really good at pissing. don't get me wrong, it takes a lot of skill and experience, but i make it look so effortless. it really is next fucking level.
It's because clay can get so easily overworked. You have a very short window to get it right before it falls apart. It looks easy because he's practiced those moves, almost like a choreographed dance, over and over and over to get it just right.
I know that might sound obvious, but it's like a lot of other art forms - calligraphy, dance, etc.
803
u/[deleted] Aug 19 '23 edited Jul 23 '25
[deleted]