@Trey Foster putting it on clay before putting in on a form, especially hump or mug. I tried using vegetable oil but it got stinky. Never used release agent. Good lesson topic. Also having lots of issues getting clay off from mug forms. It keeps getting stuck in one or more places(typically joins) no matter how careful I am to not get slip or even score marks on the clay that touches the form.

At this moment my focus is my upcoming show. This is my trial setup for my colored clay table.

I'm muddy several hours every day. I put a studio on my apartment patio last spring. Spring and summer were fine but fall and winter (in Oregon) this year are unusually wet and the balcony above me leaks and rain wicks in on the rafters. It literally drips all over my studio. I now have a canopy on my patio and feel l uke I am working in a 35 giant degree damp box. My wheel and clay stash are in my tiny storage room. It's cramped but functional. I use a space heater in the wheel room. Since I continue to use my throwing water till it's too thick to use, I put it near the heater a bit better I go out to throw. No more sticking my hands in cold water! On a whole, the hardest element to deal with is water. Having no access to water in my studio it's lugging water or using a power washer with a pump but the hose is not long enough. That should be next project: buying a longer replacement hose so I can run warm water from my tub. Thanks for the question and letting my talk out a solution to a bug issue in my Studio.

Indeed maker's mark stamp out of porcelain a couple months into my clay journey (10 months ago). I now also sign the bottom in black ceramic ink pen or underglaze marker. I still either stamp or sign my maker's mark (my initials).