I am having a hell of a time getting the intonaco smooth as glass. What is it i am doing wrong? I was able to do it once in one of my earlier attempts, but i had no marble so i ended up just giving it a shot with soap stone dust for that try, but for some reason i havn't been able to get it smooth with marble. I sift my marble through a window screen, my mixture is about half and half, but it seems to be too gritty to get smooth. I'm also using a cheap trowel at the moment, but i don't think that is the heart of my problem. Any help on surface preparation?

Another short curiosity if i may. - I have often heard that it is not the paint that sinks into the plaster, but that rather through the process of carbonization it is actually carbon crystals that form over the pigments and lock them in. Are you supposed to be able to see this upon close inspection? Because i can't see anything of the sort. It just looks like painted plaster for now. I am just at the stage where i am trying to refine the quality of my final surface cause at the moment it isn't too pretty. If anyone could find the time to give me some indepth help on this subject i would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.

Ryan