 Okay, today we're going to take a fresh look at centering. We shot our video three or four years ago And it hasn't gotten any lighter So today we're going to shed a little bit of light on centering. I'm going to center this piece of clay to throw a cylinder I like to throw on a bath. I like to make sure my bath is clean and moist And I like just and you want to sit at the wheel at a height that feels comfortable for you We're all different heights so find a chair that feels right And I want to sit with the wheel with my elbows on my knees and my hands in the center Again, it should feel comfortable. I'm going to put my ball of clay on with a bit of Attitude if you do miss the middle, it's not a big thing. You just push it to the middle And I want to put my elbow on my left my left elbow my left leg At a place that it feels comfortable. Some people like to Push it into the body or wherever on your leg. It feels right for you That's where it feels that's what's right. It doesn't feel right. It's not a little bit of water on that If you notice my left hand Is in the middle of the ball because my pressure is is square in the middle for not to 1 1 3rd or 2 3rds it's cutting the clay in half and It pushes the clay up Now my right hand is going to go across again with the pressure drop in the middle It's going to push the clay down. Again, my right arm is on my leg. Wherever it feels comfortable Again, if it doesn't feel right, it's not. So I'm going to push it up And my right hand is going to push it down and it's a it's a slow transfer of pressure as your left hand pushes the clay up Your right hand is still applying pressure to keep it in control And then you slowly transfer the pressure to down and as your right hand pushes down Your left hand is still applying pressure to keep it in check It's just less of to allow it to move and get some movement in your clay If you do find a little thing, I like to get rid of those little messy things We're centered to throw a cylinder We're just keeping in mind with the pressure cutting in half this way pushing it up and This way pushing it down The clay has nowhere else to go in the middle of both pressures in the middle Notice my hands are joined when I can And if you have your elbows on your knees and your hands joined you have this sort of triangle of string And you want to make sure you get some movement in your clay You have to push it hard enough to move the clay but not push it right off the wheel and also keep your clay quite moist Don't worry about a lot of water at this point when you're sitting down the first time the pot You have to worry about Where your hands are where your elbows are are they joined when your knees are how fast should I go and Then the last thing that you need to control or worry about is water It will come I throw quite dry because I choose not to throw in a splash pan I throw a lot of larger pieces and they simply just don't fit inside So that's centered for a cylinder. Let's look at this again from another angle I'm going to put the clay down the bit of attitude If it's not near the middle, you can tell it to go there. My arms Are at a comfortable place on my knees and a comfortable distance away from the wheel And my pressure my left hand as you can see is in the middle I have the same amount of clay on this side as I do on that side, and I'm going to push it up with the heel of my left hand Meaning this part right at the bottom of my the end of my bone Just gonna push it up and then my right hand is going to push it down again My pressure is in the middle of the clay. It's not off to one side of the other And I'm using this fat thing underneath my little finger and it's a slow transfer pressure pushing it up I'm pushing it down Pushing it up Pushing it down and if both pressures are in the middle The clay has nowhere else to go but center when you're centering your clay make sure you have enough moisture So your hands slide freely. I don't like to use a lot of moisture Use whatever feels right and make sure you get some motion up And down and then it has nowhere else to go but center you can see where I was working there and there And it's centered if you do get Messy bits you can get rid of them But the secret to centering is centered pressure