I've always loved arts and crafts.  This poor guy sat in a box with his paint for over 2 years before I got to him.  He is a Christmas Moose!  He is 100% ceramic and I used standard ceramic paint without a finishing clear coat of any kind.  Every portion of him was painted using various brush sizes and in some cases, I even used toothpicks!  lol  This was my second ceramic ever, so my methods are still primitive.  However, I wanted to share my learning experiences.

Ceramics like these are extremely porous.  It takes quite a bit of paint in order to cover the ceramic, unless you spray it down with a clear base coat first.  Also, lighting is very important for all projects.  I highly recommend using a room during the day with a lot of windows.  You can also use a high watt lamp.  Never try to paint in low lit places.  And one last thing:  make sure you are in a well ventilated area!  Don't use paint of any type in a small, enclosed area.