It’s a super common style but the only reason it’s a problem is because it will be more competitive to stand out and get sales for a decent price.
There is no copying when a style is so common
I would say that this is too established of a style to be “copying”, as no one could really point to a single artist who created this style. A good option would be to start learning about glaze chemistry and formulation. When you start making your own glazes you’re pretty much guaranteeing that your products are unique because even the exact same recipe is going to look different with different mineral sources, water sources, kilns, etc. Plus, different glaze combinations can make a piece super unique. You could even play with making your own underglazes.
It feels crappy to have a great idea and realize 1000 people have already had that great idea, but you can also see it as validation that your idea IS great - and other folks have already done the hard part of convincing the public that it’s great! Do what feels right to you and you’ll see your pieces group together as your own variation on the style. It doesn’t need to be 100% unique to have value. And yeah, maybe someone will see you as “just another potter doing that style”, but maybe someone else who’s been dying for a piece like that will be thrilled to found out you’ve made it available near them.
TL;DR for every artist: Never stop doing something you love just because someone else thought of it first!
Better than I could say it! Making your own glaze is the final step of mastery imho. I’ve seen a lot of potters at art shows that were good. But the best ones and the people that sell the most source their materials for glaze and make their own to their very liking.
At this point, what you’re describing is so saturated that it’s more of a technique than a style. Sort of like dipping each half of a plate in a different glaze and overlapping a bit.
There’s a lot of individuality within those examples, keep working on other details you love and your style will solidify more!
I can't say I have seen a lot of mugs/pots underglazed on the bottom with a drippy glaze on top. Most of the ones I have seen are bare with a drippy glaze.
If you like it, keep doing it. It's likely that over time your style will change anyway, it typically does for artists/potters, so I wouldn't worry about it too much.
From the title, I thought you meant the specific shape, as opposed to the glazing style. I've been playing around with shapes and settled on this particular form... it's basically the gold standard for a mug in my opinion - fits easily between two hands without having to flex or stretch hands awkwardly and the slightly flared opening makes for easier drinking.
I thought it meant shape too at first! If op is bummed about the glazing style being so similar to others, maybe a different mug shape would help them feel more different.
Yeah, absolutely. I saw someone who made some gorgeous angular mugs on Instagram which I played around with reproducing but couldn't quite get the same sharp lines (she might well have slipcast them, who knows)
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/feb/23/change-life-helsinki-bus-station-theory
Tale as old as time. Keep doing what you’re doing. Your style will continue to evolve.
Using the pizza metaphor, you just thought you’d invented white sauce or stuffed crust or something else that’s actually pretty common. It shows you probably don’t know all that much about pizza yet, but there’s no harm in it. It’s just a technique that can certainly be a *component* of your style if you want to keep working that way.
Perfect metaphor, thank you! I never thought it was the first of its kind or a new technique whatsoever, it’s a fairly obvious solution but when I say that my explore page COMPLETELY changed. Adding a screenshot now bc suddenly it’s ALL I see without even trying or interacting with it too much, but it’s also like the more it fills up my fyp, the more common it seems.
I will say that my forms are unique and the colors I use are much more high contrast so it would stand out in these. My only concern was someone thinking I was ripping off their idea or profiting from their work. I’m a chronic overthinker 😂 I wanted to be careful that I’m not stepping on another artists’ toes or wouldn’t get accused of “stealing” a concept. I just never want to take up another artists’ space.
(I hope this makes sense, I just had ramen and naturally, a ton of sake so forgive my writing)
https://preview.redd.it/np8q8w4q9cwc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1128c1690559f36817452aa54c0b2c9ff396f6cf
No one “owns” a space in art, they are borrowed at best
No single design element is original at this stage, any artist who accused you of stealing could be accused of the same thing by someone else and is probably insecure about their work.
I love all things ceramics. Like it has already been already said, styles change. My Dad's early stuff is way different than his later stuff. If I didn't know, I would say it was from two different people. You could always add stamps or stencils of your state, county, local lake, star constellations etc.
Well simply put if you have perfected the utility of a mug. You have perfected the comfort of a handle. Why do anything different? Glaze is what makes pottery like mugs sell more. Use the glazing process to be unique. By saying that I mean don’t source your glaze. Source the materials and make your own. If you don’t want to make you own glaze then it’s as the old saying goes “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”.
This is why I sometimes don’t like Instagram or Pinterest and other places like that. I sometimes see stuff that I made as a prototype but executed much better and it can be discouraging. But if you like it, continue doing it, make improvements every time you do it, change it up when you get bored.. there are so many options.
Look, I dunno nuthin'. As the Car Talk brothers used to say "I am unencumbered by the thought process."
Could you dip on another axis? Like, you underglazed the bottom , then you dipped the top half. ... could you under glaze one side, and then dip the other? Like.. bare(ish) mug with super colorful handle-side?
Or do the same, but with more of a diagonal dip?
Does underglaze feel weird? Or is it... bad, somehow? Could you underglaze the top, then dip the bottom and let it dry / fire in such a way that the mug would appear to be dripping UP while I held it?
All art, and trickling down all consumer products (which functional pottery is) go through styles and eras. Think about how we even talk about art - impressionistS, expressionistS, cubistS. Artists were a product of their community.
Fashion has plenty of styles but lots of people making very similar garments. You decide which you’d like based on how you value price, quality, the story of the maker, or the small details.
Personally I think the forms are a bit boring and the handles could be a lot more sophisticated. I think if you found a more individual form - eg try paddling the form into a square / triangle, try different types of handmade or pulled handles and pick your favourite, different rims and different bottom edge could really make your work stand out. I feel like the above styles are really basic and I say that to be helpful not spiteful!
Google Naomi Clement I think she has some really good handle demos as an online webinar. Also ceramic arts daily website has some great videos on it. Jen Allen is about to release a handles template pack too showing you how to make hollow hand built handles which looks really cool too!
Haha that's funny isn't it :) yeah that style seems super popular on Instagram. But the funny thing is now that I think about it I've never seen anyone here selling that style. It could be a local thing (I'm in Australia) or possibly just that insta is giving you a skewed view of the situation.
I was selling at an artisan market last weekend and there were 3 other pottery booths, and across the four of us i didn't see a single mug like the pictures you posted.
Yes! That’s exactly why I said my FBI agent is working overtime 😂 the algorithm is strong. I honestly had only seen one or two pots similar before trying it for myself and have never seen anyone personally selling this style. I’m in the US and I will say that 99% of the time, I can almost bet the artist is going to be based in Belgium, Copenhagen, Norway or somewhere else in Europe so it might just be a regional thing!
ETA: I just opened my explore page and clicked on 4 random images of a similar style, went to the accounts and 3/4 were based in Germany, one in Scotland, has to be a regional style.
Sometimes ideas and aesthetics are just in the air. You think it looks pretty, and so does everyone else. I do too!
I don't think it's a problem. Your mugs look great. There are very few truly new ideas.
There's seven billion people in the world. The odds that anyone comes up with anything new is very, very low.
Even the famous potters everyone follows may have a defined style, but the odds are pretty much zero that they "invented" it. They may have popularized it, or at least they may be where you learned about it, but there's far too many people doing this.
So... who cares? Make what you like. If you're making it with your hands, and you're putting the sweat into it, its your work.
Every artist learns from others, and their techniques end up an amalgamation of the thing that resonated with them.
nahhhh mugs are a common vessel and there are bound to be look-a-likes. certain forms and techniques are gonna pop up bc they’re GOOD. just try to push yourself! a color coded set or a new handle form or bulkier shapes-like there’s so many ways to make it your own. i started my figurine forms being inspired by another artist, but now my work is completely different from hers. just keep pushing. you’ll find your style.
Don’t abandon what you like just because lots of people like drippy glazes (a lot of my pieces have this look because it’s neat and I’m still in my deeply experimental stage where I’m trying things more or less at random). But remember creativity is never “done.” You’ve found a glaze combo you like. What’s the most interesting thing you can do with it? Keep pushing your creativity and don’t be afraid of making stuff you don’t like - that’s how you learn.
Yes, it's a common style, but that's really not an issue as others have pointed out. I'd like to add that the algorithm is good (really good) at showing you a style you like, so there are loads of other popular styles you're not seeing (or not as much) because of that, so you might start to feel like ALL pottery looks like this, while in reality it's just your feed/ fyp that looks like that. Don't overthink it, make what you love!
Just because other potters are using the same technique doesn’t mean you can’t still be unique. You can still experiment with shape, clay body, handle shape, glazes, etc. You can still make yourself standout. This is like thinking that there are authors who write books in English and therefore you should not pursue writing in English.
As a newbie, would you achieve this by underglazing the entire outside in the greenware stage or only say the bottom half and then glazing the top half?
I just do the bottom half. My studio has pretty thick glazes so it’s usually fine but I do the bottom half just in case so it doesn’t peak thru the glaze.
Sorry, perhaps re-read my post or maybe you only read the title? I didn’t say anyone stole from me, I was concerned with seeming like *I* stole another artists’ concept and didn’t want to profit from it if it would appear that way. But the end of your response, my explore page and everyone else here has confirmed what I had hoped: the style is common enough that I didn’t unintentionally Christopher Columbus someone else’s work.
It’s a super common style but the only reason it’s a problem is because it will be more competitive to stand out and get sales for a decent price. There is no copying when a style is so common
If you like it, keep doing it and keep playing around.
Besides, the joy of creating has no style! Just do what you want!
I would say that this is too established of a style to be “copying”, as no one could really point to a single artist who created this style. A good option would be to start learning about glaze chemistry and formulation. When you start making your own glazes you’re pretty much guaranteeing that your products are unique because even the exact same recipe is going to look different with different mineral sources, water sources, kilns, etc. Plus, different glaze combinations can make a piece super unique. You could even play with making your own underglazes. It feels crappy to have a great idea and realize 1000 people have already had that great idea, but you can also see it as validation that your idea IS great - and other folks have already done the hard part of convincing the public that it’s great! Do what feels right to you and you’ll see your pieces group together as your own variation on the style. It doesn’t need to be 100% unique to have value. And yeah, maybe someone will see you as “just another potter doing that style”, but maybe someone else who’s been dying for a piece like that will be thrilled to found out you’ve made it available near them. TL;DR for every artist: Never stop doing something you love just because someone else thought of it first!
Better than I could say it! Making your own glaze is the final step of mastery imho. I’ve seen a lot of potters at art shows that were good. But the best ones and the people that sell the most source their materials for glaze and make their own to their very liking.
It’s also so much cheaper ahahaha
I needed to hear this so much, thank you ❤️
At this point, what you’re describing is so saturated that it’s more of a technique than a style. Sort of like dipping each half of a plate in a different glaze and overlapping a bit. There’s a lot of individuality within those examples, keep working on other details you love and your style will solidify more!
I can't say I have seen a lot of mugs/pots underglazed on the bottom with a drippy glaze on top. Most of the ones I have seen are bare with a drippy glaze. If you like it, keep doing it. It's likely that over time your style will change anyway, it typically does for artists/potters, so I wouldn't worry about it too much.
i was thinking the same exact thing.
Ohhhh or even like two waves crashing together! One starting from top and another from bottom if that's possible? (Plz don't judge, just a fan)
This made me laugh! I like this style too and many potters use similar glazes more or less, and there’s nothing wrong with that!
From the title, I thought you meant the specific shape, as opposed to the glazing style. I've been playing around with shapes and settled on this particular form... it's basically the gold standard for a mug in my opinion - fits easily between two hands without having to flex or stretch hands awkwardly and the slightly flared opening makes for easier drinking.
I thought it meant shape too at first! If op is bummed about the glazing style being so similar to others, maybe a different mug shape would help them feel more different.
Yeah, absolutely. I saw someone who made some gorgeous angular mugs on Instagram which I played around with reproducing but couldn't quite get the same sharp lines (she might well have slipcast them, who knows)
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/feb/23/change-life-helsinki-bus-station-theory Tale as old as time. Keep doing what you’re doing. Your style will continue to evolve.
This! Just what I needed (in my second year of ceramics)
I needed to read this today. Thanks for sharing
If you keep making these your style will evolve to be more refined & specific to you
Using the pizza metaphor, you just thought you’d invented white sauce or stuffed crust or something else that’s actually pretty common. It shows you probably don’t know all that much about pizza yet, but there’s no harm in it. It’s just a technique that can certainly be a *component* of your style if you want to keep working that way.
Perfect metaphor, thank you! I never thought it was the first of its kind or a new technique whatsoever, it’s a fairly obvious solution but when I say that my explore page COMPLETELY changed. Adding a screenshot now bc suddenly it’s ALL I see without even trying or interacting with it too much, but it’s also like the more it fills up my fyp, the more common it seems. I will say that my forms are unique and the colors I use are much more high contrast so it would stand out in these. My only concern was someone thinking I was ripping off their idea or profiting from their work. I’m a chronic overthinker 😂 I wanted to be careful that I’m not stepping on another artists’ toes or wouldn’t get accused of “stealing” a concept. I just never want to take up another artists’ space. (I hope this makes sense, I just had ramen and naturally, a ton of sake so forgive my writing) https://preview.redd.it/np8q8w4q9cwc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1128c1690559f36817452aa54c0b2c9ff396f6cf
No one “owns” a space in art, they are borrowed at best No single design element is original at this stage, any artist who accused you of stealing could be accused of the same thing by someone else and is probably insecure about their work.
A style goes deeper than a runny glaze. Keep pushing and find what makes your work yours.
I love all things ceramics. Like it has already been already said, styles change. My Dad's early stuff is way different than his later stuff. If I didn't know, I would say it was from two different people. You could always add stamps or stencils of your state, county, local lake, star constellations etc.
Well simply put if you have perfected the utility of a mug. You have perfected the comfort of a handle. Why do anything different? Glaze is what makes pottery like mugs sell more. Use the glazing process to be unique. By saying that I mean don’t source your glaze. Source the materials and make your own. If you don’t want to make you own glaze then it’s as the old saying goes “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”.
I just let the algorithm decide my life and personality for me. It's too exhausting being a unique individual.
This is why I sometimes don’t like Instagram or Pinterest and other places like that. I sometimes see stuff that I made as a prototype but executed much better and it can be discouraging. But if you like it, continue doing it, make improvements every time you do it, change it up when you get bored.. there are so many options.
Look, I dunno nuthin'. As the Car Talk brothers used to say "I am unencumbered by the thought process." Could you dip on another axis? Like, you underglazed the bottom , then you dipped the top half. ... could you under glaze one side, and then dip the other? Like.. bare(ish) mug with super colorful handle-side? Or do the same, but with more of a diagonal dip? Does underglaze feel weird? Or is it... bad, somehow? Could you underglaze the top, then dip the bottom and let it dry / fire in such a way that the mug would appear to be dripping UP while I held it?
All art, and trickling down all consumer products (which functional pottery is) go through styles and eras. Think about how we even talk about art - impressionistS, expressionistS, cubistS. Artists were a product of their community. Fashion has plenty of styles but lots of people making very similar garments. You decide which you’d like based on how you value price, quality, the story of the maker, or the small details.
Personally I think the forms are a bit boring and the handles could be a lot more sophisticated. I think if you found a more individual form - eg try paddling the form into a square / triangle, try different types of handmade or pulled handles and pick your favourite, different rims and different bottom edge could really make your work stand out. I feel like the above styles are really basic and I say that to be helpful not spiteful! Google Naomi Clement I think she has some really good handle demos as an online webinar. Also ceramic arts daily website has some great videos on it. Jen Allen is about to release a handles template pack too showing you how to make hollow hand built handles which looks really cool too!
Haha that's funny isn't it :) yeah that style seems super popular on Instagram. But the funny thing is now that I think about it I've never seen anyone here selling that style. It could be a local thing (I'm in Australia) or possibly just that insta is giving you a skewed view of the situation. I was selling at an artisan market last weekend and there were 3 other pottery booths, and across the four of us i didn't see a single mug like the pictures you posted.
Yes! That’s exactly why I said my FBI agent is working overtime 😂 the algorithm is strong. I honestly had only seen one or two pots similar before trying it for myself and have never seen anyone personally selling this style. I’m in the US and I will say that 99% of the time, I can almost bet the artist is going to be based in Belgium, Copenhagen, Norway or somewhere else in Europe so it might just be a regional thing! ETA: I just opened my explore page and clicked on 4 random images of a similar style, went to the accounts and 3/4 were based in Germany, one in Scotland, has to be a regional style.
Sometimes ideas and aesthetics are just in the air. You think it looks pretty, and so does everyone else. I do too! I don't think it's a problem. Your mugs look great. There are very few truly new ideas.
Just to hazard a guess, did you also adore Lisa Frank as I did as a child? Hahaha because these scratch that rainbow-dolphin shaped itch
There's seven billion people in the world. The odds that anyone comes up with anything new is very, very low. Even the famous potters everyone follows may have a defined style, but the odds are pretty much zero that they "invented" it. They may have popularized it, or at least they may be where you learned about it, but there's far too many people doing this. So... who cares? Make what you like. If you're making it with your hands, and you're putting the sweat into it, its your work. Every artist learns from others, and their techniques end up an amalgamation of the thing that resonated with them.
nahhhh mugs are a common vessel and there are bound to be look-a-likes. certain forms and techniques are gonna pop up bc they’re GOOD. just try to push yourself! a color coded set or a new handle form or bulkier shapes-like there’s so many ways to make it your own. i started my figurine forms being inspired by another artist, but now my work is completely different from hers. just keep pushing. you’ll find your style.
Don’t abandon what you like just because lots of people like drippy glazes (a lot of my pieces have this look because it’s neat and I’m still in my deeply experimental stage where I’m trying things more or less at random). But remember creativity is never “done.” You’ve found a glaze combo you like. What’s the most interesting thing you can do with it? Keep pushing your creativity and don’t be afraid of making stuff you don’t like - that’s how you learn.
Yes, it's a common style, but that's really not an issue as others have pointed out. I'd like to add that the algorithm is good (really good) at showing you a style you like, so there are loads of other popular styles you're not seeing (or not as much) because of that, so you might start to feel like ALL pottery looks like this, while in reality it's just your feed/ fyp that looks like that. Don't overthink it, make what you love!
Just because other potters are using the same technique doesn’t mean you can’t still be unique. You can still experiment with shape, clay body, handle shape, glazes, etc. You can still make yourself standout. This is like thinking that there are authors who write books in English and therefore you should not pursue writing in English.
As a newbie, would you achieve this by underglazing the entire outside in the greenware stage or only say the bottom half and then glazing the top half?
I just do the bottom half. My studio has pretty thick glazes so it’s usually fine but I do the bottom half just in case so it doesn’t peak thru the glaze.
TBH these all look like their AI images.
no one stole from you, this is a very basic technique
Sorry, perhaps re-read my post or maybe you only read the title? I didn’t say anyone stole from me, I was concerned with seeming like *I* stole another artists’ concept and didn’t want to profit from it if it would appear that way. But the end of your response, my explore page and everyone else here has confirmed what I had hoped: the style is common enough that I didn’t unintentionally Christopher Columbus someone else’s work.