According to Bambang Gatot Soebroto in a journal entitled Four Basic Techniques for Making Manual Ceramics (Without Rotary Tools) (2019), there are four basic techniques that often used in making ceramics:
Twisted technique
This technique is also often referred to as a coil. Usually applied on a rotary table, because the craftsman will add the twist step by step while rotating the ceramic shape as they want. The use of this technique can also be aimed at elevating or enlarging the ceramics being made. In order to be neat and beautiful, the strands must be held together by pressing them from top to bottom, every two or three piles of twists.
Press massage technique
This technique is also often referred to as pinch. Usually this technique applied by taking and using a lump of clay and then pressing it with your thumb. When pressed, the other four fingers should be placed on the outside of the clay to hold it neat and in shape. The pressing massage technique must be accompanied by rotating the clay, so that the result will have a balanced depth level.
Slab technique
This technique is also often referred to as a slab. Usually this technique is applied to make square or cylindrical ceramic crafts. Slab does not require a rotary table as a medium for making it. The way of making is done by forming clay sheets or slabs. Then rolled using a cylindrical object. For example, round wood, paralon, or other objects. In order for the results to be balanced, between the right and left sides of the clay must be given a cylindrical object of the same size and thickness.
Print technique
This technique is often used to produce ceramic crafts in large quantities. So it doesn’t have enough time to implement other processes or techniques. The application of this printing technique is done by making a mold from its shape first. Then the clay can pressed for solid printing and using cast for wet printing. Apart from the four techniques above, there is one more technique commonly used in the process of making ceramics, it is the rotary technique.
Rotary technique
This technique is often used to produce round or cylindrical ceramic crafts. The rotary technique has been very often applied by ceramic craftsmen. The way of making with clay put on a rotary table. Slowly turn the table while pressing the clay so that it produces the desired shape.
–sh
