- Start your wheel at about 3/4 to full and THEN put both your hands on the each side of the ball of clay
- If you put your hands on the wheel before starting the wheel you can take your piece off center defeating the purpose of this step
- Add water to your piece
- Place your hands on both sides of the ball of clay squeeze your clay to start getting the clay to go up
- Brace your left elbow into the side of your thigh and put both your arms braced on your splash pan
- Place your right hand on top right of the tall mound of clay
- Place your left hand on the side of the clay
- Push down with the palm of your right hand
- Brace your left elbow on the inside of your thigh so that the clay goes down but your hand doesn’t move too much
- Don’t allow your clay to move your hands, make your hands move the clay
- SLOWLY remove your hands from the wheel
- Count to about 5 when taking your hands off the wheel
- Do this several times till your hands are still and your clay is in the center
- Next step is open the hole
Note: The reason that you center your clay is to get all the clay particles to align and go in the same direction. This gives your piece a little bit more structure.