Write down the following terms in your
sketchbook:
Ceramics
 The
Ceramicist
art of making  An artist who
an object from
uses clay as
clay and hardening their art
them with fire.
form/medium.
also artworks
made by this
process.
Unit 2: Pinch Method
Pinch Pot Cereal Bowl
Craftsmanship
Write down the following definition in your sketchbook:
 Craftsmanship: the
skill at making
quality things; cleanness, neatness
Pinch Pot
How do I get started? How do I make a pinch pot?
Steps to making a pinch pot/bowl
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Start with a ball of clay.
Use your thumb and press it into the center of the ball, but
make sure you do not go all the way through. The thickness
of the bottom should be about ½ -1/4 inch thick. (Use a pin
tool to check the depth of the bottom. )
Now, with your fingers on the outside and thumb on the
inside, pinch lightly and rotate the pot. Start from the
bottom and work your way up.
Continue pinching and rotating until you get to the lip. Pinch
lightly to even out the lip.You don’t want your lip to be too
thin.
Once you have formed a pot, pinch out the ridges left from
your finger marks.
Smooth out any cracks with your finger or a damp sponge.
Check your Craftsmanship.
Craftsmanship

What things do well-crafted artworks have?

(write down six things)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Craftsmanship










Neat

Clean

Even glaze application

Attention to details

Techniques used properly

Even/strong structure of form 
Unique

Symmetrical (if intentional) 
Smooth/No fingerprints

Created a vent for enclosed
forms
Style is intentional
Recognizable
No cracks
Project is signed
Took time on the project
Clean lines/color
No clay boogers
Wedged clay
Not thicker than ½ inch/not
too thin
Ceramics Club
Meets on Thursdays from 2:30 – 3:30 on the
2nd & 4th Thursday each month.
 Sign up in the Cafeteria TODAY to join.


First meeting will be on Thursday, August 22.
Cereal Bowls
Creating a coil foot
Using the additive and subtractive method for surface
enrichment
Requirements:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
You will be making a cereal bowl.
Your Cereal bowl will be made by the pinch method.
It needs to have a coil foot.
Using the pinch method, the ball of clay you start will
needs to be bigger than a tennis ball, but smaller than a
grapefruit.
Once the bowl is leather hard, you will add a foot to
the bottom using the coil method.
You want your bowl to be nice and tall and wide.
Lip needs to be thick and even.
Forming a Coil foot
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
After the pot is leather hard, add a foot by rolling out a coil.
Turn the pot upside-down and place the coil on top to
measure the circumference.
Draw a line on the outside of the coil. Take off the coil and
score and slip both the coil and the bottom of the pot.
Press the coil to the bottom of the pot until it “ozzes” out
the sides.
Blend the seam with a wooden tool or finger.
Gently place your foot onto the table to make sure your
bowl does not wobble.
Check your craftsmanship
Requirements for design





Use shapes to create an irregular pattern that shows
movement.
Design should show movement throughout the piece.
No hearts, stars, letters or numbers.
Do not put a lot of designs on the inside of the bowl. You
may cover no more than 1/3 of the inside surface.
Complete 6 brainstorming sketches, then choose your
best one and do a life size drawing of the outside of your
bowl, front and back.
Pattern
 Using
half of a page…
 Draw a line down the middle
 Left side – draw an irregular
pattern
 Right side – draw a regular
pattern
Pattern

Pattern – repeated colors, lines, shapes, forms or textures
in an artwork; a plan or model to be followed when
making something

Regular Pattern – a pattern that keeps repeating the same
thing, over and over again in the same order

Irregular Pattern – a pattern that
repeats something, but not necessarily
in the same order
Here are a few more examples of irregular
patterns
Movement
Movement- Used to create the look and
feeling of action and to guide a viewer’s eye
throughout the work.

How do you make an uneven lip even?

Write down the answer in your sketchbook.

Do two drawings of two bowls.


One with an even lip and
One with an uneven lip.
Glazing your cereal bowl…

Using complete sentences, write the answers to the
following questions in your sketchbook:



What is glaze?
What does glaze do?
How can you glaze a piece of bisqueware?
What is glaze?

Glaze is made up of 3 main elements:



Silica-what turns into glass
Flux- what determines the temperature at which the glass
(silica) melts.
Clay- what keeps the glass (silica) from running off the
piece.
What is glaze cont’d:


Things can be added to the 3 ingredients to create
colors, different textures, etc.
Glaze seals the surface and makes it water-tight (nonporous).
How can glaze be applied?

Glaze can be…




Dipped
Poured
Brushed
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
To glaze your cereal bowl, you will be pouring and
dipping.
How to glaze your cereal bowl:
1.
2.
3.
First, wipe down your bowl with a damp sponge,
inside and out.
Paint the bottom with wax resist. Make sure your
wax resist begins to go up the sides 1/4”.
Once the wax resist dries, choose a glaze color.
Make sure that you stir up the glaze first so you get
an even application.
For All Over Color:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Using tongs, slowly dip your bowl into the glaze until it is
totally submerged.
Hold it there for no more than 3 seconds. If you use
more than 1 color, keep in mind that you do not want
your bowl in glaze for more than 3 seconds total!
After your bowl has been dipped, raise it up out of the
glaze. Keep it over the glaze bucket and shake off any
remaining glaze.
Set the bowl down on the table. Sponge off any glaze that
has beaded up on your wax resist.
Rinse your tongs off before using a 2nd color.
For All Over Color Cont’d:




For your 2nd color, you will dip between ¼ and ¾ of the bowl.
Do not dip more than ¾!
Shake off any excess glaze over the glaze bucket
Set your bowl down on the table and sponge off any excess
glaze on the wax resist.
Rinse off your tongs and put your cereal bowl on the
glazeware shelves.
Inside Different Color:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
If you are going to make the inside of your bowl a
different color from the outside, first use a cup of
glaze and pour it into your bowl.
Then, slowly pour the glaze out of the bowl and back
into the glaze bucket while turning the bowl in your
hands so that the entire inside is covered.
Sponge off any glaze that has gotten on the outside of
your bowl.
Now, holding the bowl from the foot, dip it straight
down into the glaze. This should trap an air bubble on
the inside of your bowl.
Hold for 3 seconds and slowly lift straight up and out.
If you do not lift straight, it will splash the inside color.
Inside Different Color Cont’d:
1.
2.
3.
4.
After you lift your bowl out of the glaze, hold it over the
glaze bucket and shake off any excess glaze.
Set the bowl on the table and rinse off your tongs.
Sponge off any excess glaze that has beaded up on the wax
resist.
Place your bowl on the glazeware shelves.