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The Clay Hole University · Electives

Do It Your Way, Nobody Else’sPrintable pottery guide

Finding your own way in pottery on paper: where it hides, six things to do at the wheel, the one trap, and a log for the thirty you throw and the six you keep.

$5.005 guides, 1 free
  • Skill level: All levels
  • 21 printable pages
  • 5 video picks
  • 7-question quiz + answer key

Flip through the free sample
  • Instant download
  • Prints on any printer
  • The lesson stays free
The printable, at a glance

What is the Do It Your Way, Nobody Else’s printable guide?

It is the free “Do It Your Way, Nobody Else’s” lesson rebuilt for paper: why copying is a step and not a destination, the six places your own way is already hiding, six things to do at the wheel that pull it out, the permission slips most people wait for, and the trap of calling a weakness a style. Built to be printed, kept beside the wheel and written in.

Prefer to read it online first? The “Do It Your Way, Nobody Else’s” lesson is free, and always will be.

  • 21printable pages, US Letter
  • 7quiz questions, with a full answer key
  • 5hand-picked videos, each with a QR code
  • 9glossary terms in plain language
  • 2workbook pages you fill in yourself
For anyone whose pots could have been made by somebody else

Learn the pot. Then make yours.

Every potter starts by copying. The mug from the class demo, the bowl from the video, the glaze the person at the next wheel used. That is how the skill gets into your hands, and there is nothing wrong with it, right up until the day you notice your shelf could belong to anyone.

The guide is about what comes after that day. Your own way is not invented, it is noticed: in your hands, your kitchen, the clay you reach for, the mistake you keep making and the pots you keep picking up. Then six slow things to do at the wheel, starting with throwing thirty of one form and keeping the six you cannot stop looking at.

It also gives you what a web page cannot: a log to write in. One row per form, the six you kept, why you keep picking them up, and the one rule you broke on purpose. A few forms in, the six start to look alike, and that is your way showing up.

Look inside

Real pages, for beside the wheel

These are actual pages from the guide, shown here with the sample watermark.

  • Page 3 of the “Do It Your Way, Nobody Else’s” printable guide: before you begin, shown with the sample watermark
    Before you beginOne page before the first pot: what you will learn, what you need, what is worth knowing, the common pitfalls and what a good result looks like.
  • Page 9 of the “Do It Your Way, Nobody Else’s” printable guide: the permission slips, and the one trap, shown with the sample watermark
    The permission slips, and the one trapSix things people wait for someone to sign, and why a weakness is not a style until you can do the strong version on purpose.
  • Page 12 of the “Do It Your Way, Nobody Else’s” printable guide: your method is welcome, shown with the sample watermark
    Your method is welcomeHow instructors teach a method, and what to say when your hands do it differently.
  • Page 8 of the “Do It Your Way, Nobody Else’s” printable guide: the thirty and the six, shown with the sample watermark
    The thirty and the sixA log to write in: the form, the six you kept, why you keep picking them up, whether you could make one again on purpose and the one rule you broke.
Flip through the free sampleTen pages, free, no email required.
Why this one belongs on paper

A shelf, a bat and a page to write on

Finding your way happens over weeks, one form at a time. Paper keeps the whole stretch in front of you.

  • The six places where you can see them

    Your hands, your kitchen, the clay you reach for, the mistake you keep making, the pots you keep looking at and what you refuse to do, all on one sheet to prop beside the wheel.

  • A log for the thirty and the six

    Columns for the six you kept, why you keep picking them up and the one rule you broke. A few lines of notes beat a memory of which pot it was.

  • A test you can hold

    Can you do the straight version tonight? The one trap and the order that works are laid out so you can check a pot against them with a pencil.

  • It does not mind clay dust

    A page stays where you put it. It does not lock its screen, and a smudge on it is a good sign.

How this one is built

Rebuilt for paper, not printed from a web page

Every guide in the series is set from scratch for print. Here is what that meant for this one.

  • Read against the studio’s own rules

    We checked the lesson against The Clay Hole’s rules and our other lessons. Where a card promised more than we do, such as who can use which equipment, the guide now says what those pages say.

  • Links that say what is behind them

    Two of the related lesson blurbs promised more than the lessons cover. We read the lessons and made the blurbs match.

  • Video notes that say what the videos say

    Each of the five video notes was rewritten from the video’s own description and chapter list, so it claims no more than they show.

  • Nothing to buy

    The method needs a bag of clay, a bat and a form you already know. The guide says so.

  • A search line for every video

    On paper a video cannot play, so each one has its title and channel to search for, and a code that opens it.

  • Codes that keep working

    Every link is a short Clay Hole address. If a page moves, we repoint the address and your printed copy still goes to the right place.

Why the University is free

The lesson is free. It always will be.

All of the teaching in this guide comes from the free “Do It Your Way, Nobody Else’s” lesson, and that lesson is not going anywhere.

Every potter starts by copying, and there is nothing wrong with it. What comes after is the part nobody can hand you.

If you want to find yours with us, bring a bag of clay and a form you already know, and tell an instructor when your way works. We would love to see what you keep.

Dan Pearce, founder of The Clay Hole
The series

Build a little pottery library

Every printable guide in The Clay Hole University series takes one free lesson and rebuilds it for paper, with workbook pages, a glossary and a quiz with a worked answer key. Each one keeps its number for good, so a guide you buy today is the same guide in the same place next year.

Put any five printable guides in your cart and the cheapest one is on us. Put in nine and the two cheapest are on us. It happens automatically at checkout, no code to remember.

See every printable guide

  • 5guides in your cart1 on us
  • 9guides in your cart2 on us
Sits next to

Three lessons that pick up where this one leaves off

Each one is free to read online, and the codes in the guide take you straight there.

Questions

Good to know

How is this different from the free lesson?
The teaching is the same, and the free lesson is not going anywhere. The guide is that teaching rebuilt for paper: a learning dashboard at the front, a log for the thirty and the six, a one page summary, a glossary and a quiz with an answer key that explains every answer.
Do I need to throw to use it?
No. The lesson says plainly that hand building, coiling, slab work and sculpture are whole traditions. Throw thirty is the example, and the same method works with any form you can make more than once.
Do I need to be a member of The Clay Hole to use it?
No. The method works with any clay at any table. Where a line is only ours, the guide says so.
Will it tell me what my style is?
No, and it says so. Your own way is not invented, it is noticed. The guide gives you the places to look and the things to do so you can notice it yourself.
Is this too early for me?
It is marked for all levels. The lesson starts with copying, which is where everyone starts, and the glossary fills in the words.
Do the videos play on paper?
No. Each video has its title and channel to search for and a code that opens it. The five videos come from other makers, and none of them is ours.
Do I need a fancy printer?
No. It is set for an ordinary home or office printer on regular US Letter paper, with nothing important near the edges, so normal printer margins cut nothing off.
Does it print in black and white?
Yes. The text, the tick boxes and the tables are black on white, and color is used for headings and small labels.
Can I print just part of it?
Yes, and most people do. The one page summary and the log are the two worth having beside the wheel. They are numbered pages like any other, so you can print those and leave the rest on a screen.
How does delivery work?
It is a digital download. The link arrives by email and on the order confirmation page right after checkout, so you can have it printed and beside the wheel the same evening.
What happens if the guide is updated?
Every edition carries its version number on the last page. When we correct or improve one, the new edition replaces the old one in the shop, and we can send the updated link to anybody who already bought it.
Can I share it?
It is licensed for your own use. Print as many copies for yourself as you like, on as many of your own devices as you like. Please do not pass the file on, upload it or use it with a class or a group without asking us first.

Throw thirty. Keep six. Make those again.

Learn the pot, then break one rule at a time and say which. The guide keeps the places to look, the things to do and your log in front of you at the wheel.

Get the guide · $5.00

The Clay Hole University Printable Guide Terms

Licensing, safety, digital delivery, and refund terms

Your copy is yours. The guide is not.

Your purchase gives one individual purchaser a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable license for personal use only. You may download the guide to your own devices, print copies for your own use, write all over them, spill clay water on them, replace a coffee-damaged copy, and generally use the heck out of what you bought.

What you may not do is distribute the guide to anyone else, whether you charge for it or not.

That means you may not share, forward, email, upload, post, publish, copy, reproduce, resell, sublicense, redistribute, or otherwise provide the guide, or any substantial portion of it, to another person. You may not place it in a shared drive, group chat, membership library, online community, file-sharing service, studio resource folder, classroom packet, employee handbook, course, workshop, or other shared collection. You may not make copies for students, members, employees, friends, classes, studios, schools, groups, or organizations.

You may not remove or obscure copyright notices, watermarks, attribution, or other ownership information, or sell, republish, or commercially exploit modified or derivative versions of the guide.

Purchasing the guide does not transfer ownership of its copyrighted text, photographs, illustrations, graphics, layouts, worksheets, or other original content. Those rights remain with The Clay Hole and their respective rights holders. Copyright law protects the expression contained in these guides, while ideas, methods, techniques, and processes may have different legal treatment.

If you would like to use one of our guides with a class, studio, school, team, or other group, contact The Clay Hole about permission or group licensing. Please do not make twenty copies and call it manifesting.

Pottery is wonderfully unpredictable. It also carries real risk.

We work hard to make The Clay Hole University accurate, useful, practical, and ridiculously thorough. But pottery is a hands-on craft involving countless variables that no written guide can completely control or anticipate.

Depending on what you are doing, ceramics may involve extreme heat, kilns, electricity, gas, flame, sharp tools, spinning machinery, heavy equipment, pressurized equipment, silica-containing dust, fumes, chemicals, raw materials, stains, oxides, glazes, combustible materials, hot surfaces, breakable objects, and other hazards capable of causing serious injury, illness, property damage, fire, or worse.

These guides are provided for general educational and informational purposes. They are not a substitute for hands-on training, competent supervision, your studio’s safety procedures, applicable laws or codes, Safety Data Sheets, or the instructions and warnings supplied by the manufacturers of your clay, glaze, chemicals, tools, kilns, equipment, protective gear, or other materials.

Studios, kilns, clay bodies, glazes, firing schedules, electrical systems, ventilation systems, equipment, environmental conditions, application thicknesses, material formulations, and individual techniques vary enormously. Something that works beautifully in one situation may fail spectacularly in another. That is part of pottery. Occasionally, it is a very expensive part of pottery.

You are responsible for determining whether any technique, material, combination, firing schedule, tool, or process described in a guide is appropriate and safe for your specific circumstances before using it.

Use appropriate protective equipment. Use adequate ventilation and dust control. Read manufacturer instructions and Safety Data Sheets. Follow your studio’s rules. Obtain qualified instruction when a process or piece of equipment requires it. Test materials and techniques before committing important work to them. If you do not understand how to perform something safely, do not proceed until you do.

Never assume that a ceramic surface, glaze, clay body, firing method, finished vessel, repair, decoration, or other result is food-safe, microwave-safe, dishwasher-safe, oven-safe, structurally sound, chemically stable, or suitable for any particular purpose solely because it appears in or is discussed in one of our guides. Verify suitability independently when it matters.

Ceramics also refuses to sign contracts promising beautiful results. Colors change. Glazes move. Kilns have opinions. Pots crack. Materials interact unexpectedly. Manufacturers reformulate products. Equipment behaves differently. The Clay Hole does not guarantee any particular aesthetic, functional, firing, glazing, structural, or other result.

By choosing to use the information in a guide, you accept responsibility for your own materials, equipment, workspace, safety decisions, testing, methods, and results. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, The Clay Hole and its owners, employees, contributors, and affiliates are not responsible for injury, illness, property damage, lost work, failed projects, kiln or equipment damage, financial loss, or other loss arising from or related to your use of, or reliance upon, the guide.

Nothing in these terms excludes or limits any right or liability that applicable law does not allow us to exclude or limit.

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By completing your purchase and requesting immediate access to the guide, you consent to digital delivery beginning immediately. Where applicable law provides a cancellation or withdrawal period for digital content, you acknowledge that beginning the download, access, or delivery of the digital content may cause that cancellation or withdrawal right to end.

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If the file you receive is corrupted, inaccessible, materially different from what was described, or there is a genuine technical problem with delivery, please contact us. We would much rather fix the problem than leave you staring angrily at a PDF that refuses to PDF.

Terms version 2026-09-19b