A fun and whimsical project that can be done on most any bisque ceramic item. Dotters work best on relatively smooth surfaces/areas. Let your imagination run wild!

Any ceramic bisque item (See photos top right of page)
Selection of Mandella Dotters - various sizes
White bristle brush of adequate size to base coat the turtle
Small detail brush
Ceramic tile or paint pallet
Paper towels or cloth
bowl of water
Assortment of non-fired paints as follows:
Mayco Softees:
SS-138 Flat black
SS-234 Medium mocha
SS-24 Chocolate fudge
SS-112 White metallic
SS-288 Bright green
SS-276 Forest green

Folk Art:
484E Ultramarine blue
99256 Smoky jade
2241 Apple orchard
651 Blue topaz

Ceramcoat:
02471 Hunter green
04102 Green metallic
02657 Bamboo

DecoArt Americana:
Sweet mint
Green lagoon
Bluegrass green
Light lime

Apple Barrell:
21489E Lite mocha

Spray fix sealant

Select bisque of choice that has been fired to at least cone 04

Wipe the piece down with a damp sponge to remove dust and soil. Let it dry thoroughly.

From the list of colors, choose one to be your base or background. In this case with the turtle, blue was chosen for the turtle with black for the background of the shell. You may change out colors on list with your own color choices at any time.

Base coat your turtle using a stiff bristle brush, applying it as smoothly as possible to prevent ridges and brush strokes.

BEFORE applying dots to your item, I suggest you do some practice on paper to get the feel of how much paint to apply to dotters. Read instructions first.

Using the turtle photos (top right of this page) pour out a few shallow puddles of different colors (beginning with center/larges dots first.) Add more colors as you progress through the design.

Taking the largest dotter, begin placing dots in a pattern by tipping the dotter in the selected paint color (not too deep, just the tip area). Press the dotter onto the center of the section. It is advised to place only one dot then apply more paint for the next dot. Trick is to not apply too much paint to the dotter with each dip - just enough paint to cover the tip of the dotter.

If paint begins to build up on sides of dotter, wipe it off with damp paper towel or rag. If you don't keep it clean, you will not get smooth dots.

After center dots are in place, move on to the surrounding color and size of dotter. Once you find center of each section, work out from there in applying surrounding colors.

Further accents like the circle around the dots on the border, lines in feet and eyes, use a small detail brush.

When done and colors have dried thoroughly, Apply two LIGHT coats of spray fix to set your colors.

CME would like to thank Melissa D'Arcy for sharing her adorable Turtle and allowing it to be posted for others to recreate.