Here are a few of my favourite pottery channels on YouTube. As a self taught potter, the internet has provided a lot of very useful information to help me learn. I also just enjoy watching other potters throw, and probably spend way too much time staring at the screen, mesmerised by spinning clay.
The 5 Best Pottery Videos
Simon Leach is without doubt my favourite YouTube channel full stop! I suppose his meandering English sensibilities won’t appeal to everyone. In fact if you are after fast, well edited throwing tutorials this is probably not your best option. If you do enjoy a more relaxed approach though, there are some exceptional pearls of wisdom to be found here on all aspects of pottery and ceramics.
Goldmark Gallery have produced a series of documentaries on potters from around the world. These are really well made, and are all worth more than one viewing. There is also a few pottery demonstrations y the likes of Phil Rogers.
Ingleton Pottery demonstrates the throwing skills of Dan, working as a production potter at Ingleton, throwing items very quickly. There is a huge range of videos here, and most forms are covered so it’s a very useful resource to see the stages involved in creating different shapes.
Hsinchuen Lin creates some very delicate, intricate pottery. His channel introduced my to the chattering technique, and the results he gets from it are quite amazing. There is a lot of trimming going on with his work, which makes him poles apart from potters such as Simon Leach, but I do like to watch a broad range of ceramic styles.
Bill van Gilder is worth watching just for the relaxing music! There are also lot of other great pottery tips from Bill such as making a ’rounder’ for keeping a nice round rim on mugs and bowls.
More Great YouTube Ceramics Channels
Since writing the original post I've found a few other great pottery videos...
Matthew Kelly is a super fast production potter. His videos are well produced and have introduced me to some new methods of throwing pottery. He explains his work methods in the video below, making things for other potters while building a kiln himself. I'm really looking forward to seeing how his big wood kiln will turn out.
I thought I'd included Steve Booton already but it seems I've missed him. As a fellow Sheffield potter that won't do! He makes really beautiful pottery, and his most popular work seems to be his super crawling glaze effect.
Pottery Documentaries and Demonstrations
These other YouTube videos are just ones I've liked in the past. I've watched a whole range of pottery from all over the world. Each time I want to try new things but have to remind myself I can't do everything with clay!
Here is a really long but interesting demonstration on the slipware technique.
This video show how potters in Ghana and Nigeria work. It's really fascinating to see how precise and beautifully shaped these pots are, even with very basic materials and tools.
I love this video by John Christie, even though it is only one of two videos on his YouTube page. Making pottery in the Scottish countryside, he talks really well and makes awesome pottery. His wood fired kiln makes me a little jealous :)
This video from Michael Kline may show its age a little. Cameras looked rubbish 10 years ago! Apart from that, the techniques he uses to decorate this vase are absolutely stunning. Really fluid brushwork, not as easy as it looks - I should know!
But if you want to go really old-school; this ceramics YouTube channel by Mark Peters has 4 episodes on a documentary about Issac Button. He worked in his Soil Hill Pottery in Halifax, not far from where I grew up.
These videos were filmed around 1965, near his retirement from what I understand. One of the videos states he can throw one tonne of clay a day! Not sure I'd throw that much in a year.