Pinch Method Ceramics

While holding the sphere of clay press the thumb into the center of the ball half way to the bottom.

Pinch method ceramics.

The thing with using the pinch method is that no matter how much one pinches that clay or smooths it down the pot will never be perfect however that is the beauty of it it s perfect within its imperfection. Created from a single lump of clay pinch pots are often the first forms created when beginning to work in clay. A more recently made better version of this video can be found here in this playlist. Pinching ceramics is usually the first thing taught in a beginning pottery class because it requires very few tools and is a great way to get familiar with the properties of clay and the process of making ceramics.

You pinch and again the clay responds. That s what gives it proof that it was made by a human. This video is showing the beginning process of making a form with pinch pottery technique. But that doesn t mean you can t make sophisticated pottery forms with the pinch pot technique.

This method is similar to the way the native americans shaped clay into useful pots. Producing pinch pots is the most direct method there is for interacting with clay. To make a pinch pot one inserts a thumb into a ball of clay and continually pinches the the clay between the thumb and fingers while rotating to thin out and raise the height of the vessel. Simple clay vessels such as bowls and cups of various sizes can be formed and shaped by hand using a methodical pinching process in which the clay walls are thinned by pinching them with thumb and forefinger.

You can learn a huge amount simply through the experience of directly modifying the clay s form. The pinching technique is easy enough for even young children to learn. Begin a pinch pot by forming a lump of clay into a smooth sphere that fits the size of the hand. The pinching method is to create pottery that can be ornamental or functional and has been widely employed across culture.

In this era egyptians employed the pinching method to create remarkably thin walled vessels and representational figures out of hollowed out pieces of brownish red clay also known as terracotta.