Shaping the Curve from the Inside
Okay. Last lesson was opening wider for a bowl shape, which is really just deciding you're not making a cylinder anymore. Now we've got to actually shape that curve, and the way you do it is from the inside.
Most beginners try to shape a bowl the way you'd shape clay off the wheel. Pushing and molding it into a curve from outside, wherever you can reach it. That doesn't work here. On the wheel you shape a bowl by controlling the inside wall with your fingers, and letting the outside follow. Your outside hand mostly just supports. It's your inside hand doing the talking.
The setup
Wheel's spinning, medium speed, hands wet. Not damp. Wet. I run wetter than a lot of people teach it, and if your hands are dry right now, stop and get more water before you touch the clay. Dry hands drag on this stage and drag means tearing, and tearing means starting over. So, wet hands. That's not optional here, it's the one thing I'll actually stop you for.
Left hand goes inside the bowl. Fingers together, knuckle or two fingertips against the wall, whatever feels stable to you. Right hand goes outside, mirroring roughly the same height. You're not pinching the clay between two hands like you're squeezing it. You're supporting it from both sides while the inside hand does the actual pushing.
The move
Push gently outward and slightly up with your inside fingers, starting a couple inches above the floor, not right at the bottom. Your outside hand meets that pressure and controls how far it's allowed to go. You're negotiating the curve, not forcing it.
Move both hands up together, slow, steady, following the wall from the base toward the rim. The curve happens because your inside hand is pushing the wall out more as you go up, and your outside hand is letting it happen just enough and no more.
Do this in a couple of passes rather than trying to get the whole curve in one go. First pass, just start opening it. Second pass, refine it. You'll feel where the clay wants to move and where it's resisting. Listen to the resisting parts. That's usually where the wall is a little thicker or thinner than the rest, and pushing too hard there is how you blow it out.
If the rim starts flaring out faster than you want, ease off your inside pressure near the top. If it's staying too straight and not curving enough, you probably need a touch more inside push and a little less resistance from your outside hand. It's a conversation between your two hands. Neither one wins outright.
Where people go wrong
The number one mistake is people forget the outside hand is doing anything at all. They get excited pushing from the inside and the wall just balloons out unevenly, usually more on one side, because their outside hand went along for the ride instead of actually supporting. Keep both hands present the whole time. Neither one is just decoration.
Second mistake, people go too fast. The wheel doesn't need to be flying for this. Medium speed, controlled hands, patience. A curve that happens slow is a curve you can control. A curve that happens fast is a surprise, and surprises at this stage usually mean the wall's too thin somewhere and it's about to tell you so, loudly, by collapsing.
I had a woman in an early group class who kept saying sorry every time her bowl went a little lopsided. Sorry, sorry, I know this is bad. I told her, flatly, everybody's bad at this. That's the whole point of doing it. She stopped apologizing pretty quick after that, and her bowls actually got better, because she stopped tensing up every time something went sideways and just let her hands feel what was happening instead of bracing for failure the whole time.
That's the thing about this stage. If you're scared of the clay you'll fight it, and fighting it is exactly what makes it collapse. Calm hands, wet hands, slow moves.
If it goes wrong
Bowl walls fold in on themselves sometimes at this stage. It happens to everyone, including me, still. If you feel the wall start to wobble out of control, stop pushing, slow the wheel down, and just let it spin under your hands for a second without adding pressure. Sometimes that's enough to save it. Sometimes it's not, and you've got a lump again. That's fine. Wad it up, wedge it, start over. You're not behind. This is the whole process.
One real caution here: as the wall gets wider and thinner, it also gets more fragile, and a wet floppy bowl edge can fold and pinch a finger against the bat or the wheel head if you're not paying attention to where your hands are relative to the rim. Keep your hands moving with the clay, not static while the clay spins past them.
Before next time
Try shaping three or four bowls this way before you worry about anything looking "right." The goal right now is feeling the difference between your inside hand leading and your outside hand just following along for no reason. Your hands will figure it out faster than your brain will.