The quality of the video and the content you deliver is just amazing. I don't think I've learned this much from actual instructors in the studio I was learning from. Thank you for sharing your time and knowledge with everyone

Besides the your talent as a thrower of course, the quality of this tutorial is bonkers. Such care went into sharing.

I truly think you're going to go down in history as a pivotal creator and educator of pottery for this generation. You have sparked the desire of creation in thousands.

Some potters are very talented but cannot teach a beginner well, you have combined both an excellent talent with even more excellent teaching skills.

The cross-sections are really interesting, especially when you use them to demonstrate how the clay moves when pulled.

Dear Florian, You are definitely one of the best teacher ever.. I feel so lucky that I can reach your videos.. I am watching the videos over and over to immerse every word you spill! Thanks a ton for your generosity.

This is by far the most informative, structured and well-narrated throwing tutorial I’ve watched. Thank you Florian for your effort put into making this video and sharing your techniques with us.

This man really should charge money for these sessions/classes. A wealth of knowledge and presenting it in such an understanding manner.

It's so incredible that you managed to address every single mistake I made and question I had regarding pulling the walls. Every single thing that confused me was addressed here. Thank you thank you thank you this has helped me so much.

I think others here have said it all. Many potters want to share techniques online, but very few have the ability to teach and demonstrate with the clarity you do. Music, jokes, excessive enthusiasm are not what learners need. You are focused and steady and never talk down to beginners. Your videos are as relevant for potters further on or even those who are accomplished. I appreciate your cross sections; they will help us "read" our own. And the minute detail you provide is what can make the difference between an "omg, it's standing" and a successful pull. I do like the idea of combining for a comprehensive "from scratch to finish" for the beginner.

I find pulling thin, even walls to be difficult and this is motivating me to try using more force, getting the clay up in three pulls and checking the cross sections - especially since the clay can be wedged again. Thanks also for sharing that you faced problems as a beginner and are still progressing even now. This series is much appreciated!

This is a really excellent instructive video! I’m currently taking an eight week beginners wheel class, and I asked asked, asked how to make a cylindrical pot, and all I get in responses is “with years and years of practice”. But just this video alone has taught me more how to do it, then in the last five weeks of class.

Just found your vids! Wish I’d seen them before. Have been trying to improve for years. Am 75! This one about lifting is the one I hope will help me to do what I’ve found-and you confirm!- is the really difficult part of throwing. Fingers crossed and thanks. Such a clear and perfect presentation!

What a masterclass of how to throw a pot, how to teach clearly in a way that builds technique plus understanding, and how to present visual images in an effective way. Thank you!

Thank you, Florian! I’ve been throwing for a number of years and your technique of using the side of the knuckle really works for me! Along with opening the clay properly, it has truly improved my throwing. From one teacher to another, you’re doing a great job providing educational content!

i started a pottery class this week and left the first class feeling like i didn’t learn enough. now i’m wishing i just used the money to buy a cheap wheel and used your beginner playlist as my class. your tips are so helpful in understanding where things can go wrong and how to fix them. thank you for putting so much care into your instructions ❤

I love these educational videos, they are so simple but incredibly useful and well made. A lot of tip videos skip over the small details, which are often crucial. A lot of your videos have helped me so much. For example, I used to only pull with my fingers for most of my time throwing (about 3 years), but over the past couple months I have been using my knuckle, the difference is unreal. While I was fine with my previous technique, pulling with my knuckle really helped me get so much more clay out from the bottom, and get more even walls. Pulling for me now feels incredibly natural, and I can now spend more time on refining the rest of my shaping processes. You're such a great producer and potter and I think that us potters out here watching your videos cannot thank you enough!

These videos are the best instructional videos for pottery I have found. I can't wait for the rest of the series. You go so in depth it really helps one understand the process

Just wanted to thank you for offering this resource for free, it will be invaluable for us teaching art in schools where students might not have consistent access or time.

This was so helpful. I was applying way too much pressure with a sponge and now I know it's because I personally need that direct connection with the clay. Thank you!

I just started throwing after avoiding clay altogether for my whole adult life. Now I am in love and I can't wait for the next chance to get behind the wheel. Watching these videos helps fill in the gaps and gives me clues on what to practice. Thank you! (I also really appreciate your attention to tidiness in the workshop and the decision to show clean up!)

Thank you so much! After having hand surgery last fall and attempting a return to pottery, I found myself completely discombobulated about the process, from throwing to pulling. This video (and the one on centering/centring) have proven to be so helpful to me that I want to weep and dance simultaneously. Again, many, many thanks!

What a fine contribution to the world of pottery! Thank you for sharing your years of hard-won expertise. Your stress on continued practice and improvement and your comments about how one should not be precious about throwing are very valuable things for us all to learn.

Thank you for taking the time to teach us in so much detail - This was like a pulling walls masterclass! The side section view was extremely helpful in visualising the pressure points. I've made every mistake you've shown here and now I have a better understanding on why they're happening with my throwing. Please never stop creating these videos.

By far the most in depth and best explanation of pulling walls I have ever heard. All of your videos are wonderful but this is so well done both through the visual and the explanation. Incredible.

What a brilliant tutorial! I never realized how important it is to throw pots from the elbows, not the wrists. Now I see why I’ve gotten such mixed results. Thank you.

Thanks Florian, I am retired and have the use of a studio here in The Royal Hospital Chelsea, a retirement home for soldiers of HMF. I have recently started to throw pots and your demonstration here will, I am sure, help me to throw much easier. thanks again, Bert :)

I truly appreciate all the time that you have put into these videos. The multiple examples through different camera angles along with the displays of cross-sections of thrown items are valuable visual aids to illustrate points . You are an effective and thoughtful teacher Florian. As I practice on the wheel I visualize your examples and mentally hear your guidance as I approach each stage of the process. It makes a difference. Thanks so much. I will also add that every time I see Ciro busily trotting by in the background it brings a smile to my face.

This is such high quality instruction! Every time you publish a video in this series, I put the things I learn into practice in the studio. It’s so helpful when you identify and articulate the things that have been causing issues with my pots. It helps me improve much more quickly than trial and error alone. Thank you so much, Florian!

I’ve just started pottery classes and my teacher recommended watching your video on how to centre clay. Now watched that one, opening up the pot and pulling the walls… Amazing. Thank you. Just want to sit at the wheel and try it out now. I’m enjoying the process so much and my only ‘grumble’ is that I only get to do it once a week for a few hours. Thank you for your beautifully, patiently delivered videos. Now off to look at shaping pots. Love the cross-sections… 🌷

As relatively new to pottery (started pre-pandemic) this series of classes are now my "go to" videos as I practice and work to improve my technique.

As a new potter I have watched countless videos on pulling up the walls. This is the absolutely most informative video I have seen! You slicing the pots and showing your knuckle and finger positioning was soooooo helpful!!!!! I loved your demos coupled with your instructions and descriptions of what was occurring!!! Awesome video!!!!

You did it so well that I have nothing to say! 😆 I'm so envious of that skill... 😭

I can only add to all the other comments as to how brilliant your videos are. So detailed and thorough and allowing time to go over the same motions numerous times. Thank you so much.

Fantastic instruction !! I am a beginner potter but a teacher with over 40 years of experience so I greatly appreciate your ability to so clearly and expertly explain the process. Thanks.

I find these videos immensely helpful. I’m on my 8th lesson in class and am making functional pieces I’m very happy with. Relative to other students with the same amount of time on the wheel, the pots I’m turning are much more polished. It’s not a contest of course, I’m just happy with my pots. Some key findings: - Wheel speed. It’s easy to see the frequency of your wheel. And while different wheels have different power, at least knowing a relative hertz (turns per second) helps form a baseline. - Being “inner driven”. Forming a bump with the inner finger sort of suggests the outer knuckle is “surfing” the clay. Also, when removing slip, the same kind of inner pressure is used. - Conical pull. It looks cool and makes sense. - Wall thickness. My pots are definitely bottom heavy. Some of that might just be innate preference (Sir Mix-a-lot gets me), but the goal of consistent wall thickness is good to think about. I tend to leave my bottoms thicker than usual because then I get to practice trimming with higher margins for error. - Reducing variance. I got this from other videos of yours, but bracing hands and creating one unit that moves together reduces degrees of freedom and helps consistency a ton. - Smooth top edges. My instructor helped me here just this last lesson, and the reinforcement was key here. Also the shape of drinking edges is something I probably wouldn’t have learned for a long time without this. I did try the potters needle one time with questionable results, but I certainly learned something. - Fail often. Pushing the envelope of my capabilities let’s me know where my edges are. Too often I try not to “waste” clay in class, but we do recycle it. I’m just not the one processing it. Maybe I should be. Thanks again Florian. This is my favorite KZfaq channel.

i love your videos; just what every student needs

I learned wheel throwing last year and it never really stuck or clicked with me. I was reading your book, and it just got me really curious about the wheel again and I wanted to practice some. I always had difficulties pulling up, so I looked up your video for it. And after practicing a few times, I actually pulled my tallest and thinnest and most even cylinder ever. I was also able to do it again, understanding more and more what you mentioned in your video. Thank you for being such an inspiration and teacher! Really appreciate the videos you make! ❤

This video should be a must for any beginner. Even as a more advanced potter, I find I go back to this video when I am having problems with pulling up, and I realize what I have done that is creating problems. Thank you Florian. You're the best!

Thank you so much for creating this series. I'm very new to pottery (just took my fourth class today), and after some beginner's luck with a few decent bowls and cups, today I broke four vessels in a row as I was raising the walls. I went to the class with the intent of testing the limits of the clay at your advice, and while it's frustrating to have no final product to show at the end, I do think I'm making progress in gauging the thickness of the walls and the amount of pressure I can apply. I kept finding that my fingers would dry out halfway through pulling up, so I really appreciated your suggestion to use water with more slip so that it sticks to the walls better. Your tips on how to hold your arms and fingers are also so, so helpful. Already looking forward to practicing again later this week and watching more of your videos.

Florian, you absolutely saved my pottery journey. I was so discourage because I didn't get to center my pieces at all, but thanks to you and your thorough explanations I was able to get my confidence back and was able to center my pieces!!!!. Its all thanks to you and your wonderful techniques, the way you explain things with such an ease! You are absolutely the best! Thank you so so much for sharing your knowledge!!!!

I want to thank you. I took an 8 weeks, 2.5hrs hours a week introduction to pottery class. First lesson my centring sucked, common I know. I found and watch your video on centring, since then my centring is pretty much bang on. After watching this video, I am going to go in just to work on how to pull even clay sides, cut through and check, then redo over and over again until I have it. Doing this because I am bottom heavy. It’s about not getting attached too a piece in the beginning. Thank you again for sharing such informative information clearly.

Thank you Florian for your very clear language and camera angle on your hands through out your video. It has helped me connect both the position of my hands with the feel of the clay as I make my pull up the cylinder. Patience and focus are my challenges in this process. I have also found that very important to this process, you can not rush the wedging step in the beginning. The result has been discovering air bubbles that ruin the walls and make the clay walls structurally weak. Thanks so much again, Fran

Thank you Florian for taking the time & effort to put this together. It is so important to go back over the basics again, just like drawing, practice, practice, practice & then just for good measure, in your spare time, practice some more. Thank you !!

Lately I've been coming back to your videos because your voice is really soothing and help me sleep. Soooo big thanks :>

Thank you so much for this series of tutorials. So very clear and extremely helpful. I can’t wait to get back behind the wheel tomorrow

my girlfriend is currently working on building her ceramics skills. found your channel and just had to send it to her. your content is clear, well-made, and very soothing to watch. your work is beautiful too. thanks!

The patients of this man is just *awesome*

Флориан, огромное спасибо за эти обучающие видео! Это еще раз подтверждает то, что талантливые люди очень щедры. Согласна со всеми комментариями, вы -- лучший!

By far the best pottery session ! Thanks Florian. You really transmit and teach, show, explain and take the time to go through each step in detail. I am so thankful ! you are so kind to share your knowledge and you put the focus on the exact struggle we face , and provide solutions, step by step and angle by angle. We couldnt ask for more Thank you so much !!

I’ve watched these beginner videos 3x each now. This has been an absolute game changer in my throwing! Thank you for making these Florian!

This video is exceedingly helpful. Thank you especially for stopping so many times to show the cross-sections with your fingers in position. I can't wait to get into the studio this weekend and try the techniques you've demonstrated here.

Not a beginner but your narration is fabulous! I’m keeping on save as a great reminder to pay attention

Your videos are amazing! You breakdown your movements at every step of the process. I really appreciate how many times you repeat and show the steps again and again because I need to hear and see it so many times to understand it. The cross sectional views that different perspective that is so very important. I can't wait to explore more of your videos

Your videos are priceless. The attention to detail, thorough explanations and demonstrations, are presented more concisely and with more clarity than the in-person classes I've taken. I started beginner classes back in 2019, but the pandemic kept me away from 2020 through now. I've started throwing again and my fledgling skills have definitely slipped back. These beginner videos are so helpful!

Just bought my first wheel...your tutorial videos are incredibly useful. The best I've watched on KZfaq. Thank you.

Ive been doing a poterie class once a week for 5 months and have been actually making and keeping bowl for only a month - thanks to your video I realised that I pull up with just my wrist ! I most definitely will do it properly now and pull up with my arm from my elbow !

The production value and care that's gone into explaining every minute details is absolutely nuts!! Thank you for sharing Florian!

Just had my first throwing lesson yesterday and wish I'd seen this series beforehand! Excellent videos thank you so much. I think I'm addicted already!

This is a free Master’s class. New to this art form and your videos are helping me so much. Thank you ❤

Excellent instructional .THANK YOU. Even though I’ve been doing this for a few years , I am always going back to my basics and this was so helpful!

Your video is as close to being hands on as possible. Thank you for such a visual and direct tutorial without the fluff. I can't wait to apply this to future throwing sessions (just started this month!)

This video was excellent and so helpful, and I plan to practice today. I loved the quick cameo of your cute dog!!

I've just watched the first three episodes in this series, and it's so helpful, thank you! I really appreciate you taking the time to go over the many ways of doing things, common mistakes, and the reasoning behind your way of throwing. Plus the videos look so beautiful! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Impressively comprehensive, yet simply presented. Addressed all the possible issues generally encountered by the beginners.

Thank you so much your calm speaking voice your excellent use of the English language and not using word whiskers not wasting time very succinct beautifully spoken I am mesmerized with your talent and your service to Ceramists everywhere thank you so much

first, i get creeped out by the needle scene and then excited for the sneak peek of doggy.. what a roller coaster.

Thank you!! You are a gifted instructor. I cannot wait to get to class to apply this and will watch several times before I do.

What is that precious creature running around in the background. And thank you for the amazing content. This was my day 1 ceramics class summarized so succinctly, I’m watching it over and over. THANK YOU.

Like Alex, just want to add how brilliant your tutorials are. So detailed and instructive. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

The cross sections and your attention to detail are invaluable. Thank you so much!!

Thank you Florian. These videos are extremely helpful, and so is your calm, patient and encouraging voice. You are a great teacher 🙏🏻 I am really looking forward to watching the next video where you show how to shape pots, as getting a ‘nice’ shape is something I am struggling with.

Phenomenal video from start to finish. We are all so lucky to have you here to teach us your wealth of knowledge. Thank you for everything you do.

Thank you so much for being willing to share your knowledge with beginners like me. The quality of your video demonstrates the time dedicated to editing and production.I'm grateful for that

rewatching over again . cross sections really help me

Very helpful. I’ve been throwing for a number of years but it’s helpful to see this explained in such detail.

I'm finding this series extremely helpful, as I do most of your videos. They are also always very enjoyable and interesting to watch. Thank you so much for posting!

Incredibly helpful descriptions of what you're doing and why. I've only recently started throwing and found this immensely productive instruction. I know you've done a video on spiral wedging before, but if you could do another one, with the same level of detail as this video I'd love it.

Thank you so much for being so detailed and showing different angles in your instruction. There were a lot of errors I was making without knowing why my pots weren't turning out right. The cross sections are especially helpful in visually what needs to be done.

Ceramics in high school was the best

Just about to go to my first class of wheel work. Your videos are excellent. Thanks

Thank you Gadsby. I believe you are the man who is going to make me a potter. You are one of the first and best potter videographers I've seen and you inspired me a lot. I am working for 3 mounts to get my first wheel and all I think about being a good potter. Next month, I will have a wheel... 😁😁😁

The quality of your teaching is fantastic. Thank you for sharing your knowledge. You motivate me to get better!!

The way you are teaching us it's brilliant😍👌

Brilliant! This series are a tremendous help for beginners like me who found other videos on these subjects covered so far, lacking. Thanks Much!

Great lesson! I have shared it with my students 😊 Some of them don't speak English, but the visuals are so didactic that they've understood almost everything! I gotta admit I've learned not only a few tricks, but a bunch of ways to instruct movements I didn't know how to explain better. Thank you for sharing!!

I discovered you last year and was captivated. To come back to your channel and find this comprehensive guide to getting started (or getting better/fixing poor habits) is such a gold mine. Thank you for your expertise, your fine skills as a potter and teacher, and your ability to put together expertly crafted videos!

A great demonstration. I just started throwing on the wheel. This video really helped me. thank you!

Dear Florian, your video's are absolutely amazing for detailled broken down step by step process for making pottery. I just started giving classes and I will definitely share with my students as they are so comprehensive and well filmed. This definitely gives me great tools for teaching to others. Thank you so much for this! I'll keep watching on!

The best pottery videos on KZfaq! Thank you so much 🙏🏼

I keep revisiting this video. There's always some little tip or trick I missed or forgot that speaks perfectly to my current struggle. ❤️

thank you for this series, you make it very easy to understand and I am learning so much from you Florian. Please keep the content flowing, i love it!

You are so very good at explaining ! I now have a much better understanding of the steps in wheel throwing. You make a great teacher! Thank you!

I'm new at pottery and your video lessons are truly very helpful.

I am so happy that I found you here. You have the best tutorial video . You are the best. Thank you.

The best video i have ever seen on the basics of pulling. Super informative, including the key concepts, mistakes, ... its Just perfect. Great job!!!

Very useful!! Thank you, I just started lessons a few weeks ago and I find here complementary information, You work quite the same of my teacher. I am from Québec (Canada).

Thank you for your wonderful videos. It is great to find someone so willing just to be helpful. I just started my first-ever pottery class this week. While in the class the group was mockingly referring to learning from the internet. Even though I was the only new student, the instructor spent no time with me and offered nothing in the way of constructive criticism. With that kind of help, I needed to seek information elsewhere. So thank you for helping me understand some of the basic goals of throwing a proper piece.

THANK YOU! Learned so much from your video. Especially the parts where you demonstrated your hand positions at different parts of the entire process. Also very helpful that you focused on just pulling in this video, which allowed you to share so much detail on this this step.

This is helpful beyond words. So detailed and well explained. It's an incredible resource for every potter! Thank you so much!!