Which clay to choose depends on your personal interest, and if you'd like to know more about the pottery clay, please refer to "Pottery clay" part for more details. Mixing clay is important because some types of clay may be lacking in specific properties. By mixing the clay, the missing properties can be added to the clay. For example, if the clay is lack of toughness, you should mix it with a tough clay.
Choosing clay does not mean that you've had the clay prepared. To properly prepare the clay, we need to wedge it. Wedging is a process which you roll the clay to make it air-bubble-free. Making sure there isn't any air bubble is important because it can cause the pottery to explode or crack during firing. This technique may take a long time to master.
Put your clay on the pottery wheel and start forming shapes with your hands. You will want to start off by pulling up the clay from the bottom base. There are some techniques when forming clay on the wheel like holding the wall of the clay and pull it up in order to make the clay a cup-like shape. You need to practice more if you notice your hands shake a lot. Any tiny shake will change the shape of the clay and make it look asymmetrical.
When you're done shaping your pottery, you will need to harden it. There are two ways to do so, bisque firing or glaze firing. Bisque firing heats up temperature slowly from low to high to prevent the water in the clay becomes steam too quickly and causes it to burst. The glaze firing is providing a layer to the pottery that makes fragile pottery harder and also makes it waterproof. Bisque firing usually goes before glaze firing.
After the firing process, you can start decorating your pottery. There are many ways to decorate it. For example, painting symbols or images on the pottery. This technique has been applied since pre-historical times. However, the color may change or the picture may be distorted after time. Carving is also a common way to decorate pottery.
After the glazing process,cut off any sharp edges. After that, the pottery is all done!
Most companies that are focused on the pottery industry will make it mainly by machines and not with human hands. Why? Because the cups we all use nowadays are mostly clay cups and in order to meet humans' demand, companies produce cups in a large quantity at a time. Not only it can seem like a selfish act for themselves to make money but they're also destroying the pottery-making industry, people making pottery are not able to survive because no one buys their products. But customers wouldn't buy the potters' product too since it is not guaranteed absolute safety throughout the making process. The pottering-making process is important for human history and we shouldn't simply replace it with technology. We should promote any kinds of activities that include the making process of "traditional pottery" and not "technological pottery"