Shaping Your Jug

• 1). Throw your wet clay onto the pottery wheel, as close to the center as possible. Use enough force for the clay to stick to the wheel.
  
  
• 2). Press down lightly on the floor pedal, so that the wheel turns slowly. Wet your hands lightly and shape the clay on the wheel into a cone. Move the clay so that it sits perfectly in the center of the wheel, keeping your hands wet and increasing the speed at which the wheel turns while increasing the pressure from your body.
  
  
• 3). Press down on the clay with your right hand while the wheel turns. Use your left hand to keep the clay from flattening completely.
  
  
• 4). Push the clay upwards into a conical shape using both hands. Remember to keep your hands wet.
  
  
• 5). Press down into the center of the clay using your thumb while the wheel spins. This creates the opening for your jug.
  
  
• 6). Widen the opening of your jug using both hands until the bottom stands about 1/4 inch thick and the walls are about ¾ inch thick.
  
  
• 7). Pull the clay up with the thumb of your left hand on the outside of the jug and your fingers from the left hand on the inside. Your right hand supports the jug.
  
  
• 8). Continue shaping until your jug is shaped the way that you want it.
  
  
• 9). Allow the clay to dry to leather consistency.
  
  

Shaping the Face

• 1). Scratch the jug where you want to attach the brow ridge. Take a strip of wet clay and place on your leather-dry jug. Place it at the top third of your jug to represent the brow line. The piece should rise from the jug at least an inch. Push the clay hard enough against the jug so that it won't break later, but not hard enough to damage the jug.
  
  With every piece of wet clay you add, remember to scratch the jug before you put the clay on.
  
  
• 2). Create the nose, cheeks and mouth.
  
  Create the nose using the same method used for the browline. Make sure the nose lifts from the face closer to where you want the mouth, getting wider as it goes down.
  
  Roll two balls of clay, about two-inches thick, and press them to the sides of the nose to represent the cheeks. Do not let the cheeks touch the nose. Remember to wet the clay you plan on continuing to work with.
  
  Shape the mouth from two thin pieces of clay. At this point, you should begin to see the shape of a face.
  
  
• 3). Add clay features onto your jug, depending on how you want your face to look.
  
  
• 4). Glaze and fire your face jug.
  
  
• 5). Paint any additional features, such as irises, pupils or teeth onto your face jug after your clay is fired and cooled.