Gather your supplies:

Glazed china platter,
1in Taklon basecoating brush
Pebeo Porcelain 150 paints in Marseille Yellow, Olivine Green, Parma Purple, Anthrazit (black)
Artline water-resistant black pen
No. 6 Designer 909 Taklon Filbert brush
18/0 Designer 952Taklon liner brush
Wooden skewer

Here's how

STEP 1
Wash and dry platter. Dampen basecoating brush, load with yellow, and paint the platter's flat edges. When touch dry, use Artline pen to draw olives and leaves. Don't draw stems yet. Leave to dry for 10 minutes.

STEP 2
Use Filbert brush with Olivine Green to paint leaves: 2-3 strokes for large leaves, 2 small strokes for small ones. Wash brush and load with Parma Purple. Paint olives with 2 strokes. Before applying second coat, paint stems using Olivine and liner brush.

STEP 3
When the first coat is nearly dry, apply a heavier coat. Do leaves first and, while paint is still tacky, use the point of a wooden skewer to scratch away a little paint to highlight each leaf. When all leaves and olives have a second coat, outline them using the liner brush loaded with darker green and purple (Olivine and Parma Purple mixed with a hint of Anthrazit). Make outlines a bit heavier on the shadow side, then paint a vein on each leaf.

STEP 4
Leave platter 24 hours to dry, then bake 35 minutes in a 150°C oven. Turn off heat and leave platter in oven to cool. Wash painted ceramics by hand, not in a dishwasher.

Shopping

Pebeo Porcelain 150 paints $7.50, craft shops. Platter, Birkenhead Reject Chine, (02) 9787 4095 Salad bowl and jug, In House Collections, (02) 9879 7733.

Source: Better Homes and Gardens November 2002