"If you see a brush mark or a knife mark, a sponge or a rag, you are not succeeding, " he said.

WSJ: An Artisan Who Can Turn Paint into Stone | Creating

The cost drops 30% on a Mediterranean hand-painted dinner plate if you get a painter to use a sponge cut in the shape of a leaf instead of laboring over brush strokes.

FORBES: The logistics of a dinner plate