Alabaster is a material made of resin and pressed alabaster powder, which is far cheaper and manageable than marble. It is similar to plaster but far more resistant and durable. Another of its advantages is that decorating items made of this material is simple and result attractive and convincing.

The decorating methods are many and various and depend on the desired final result. These methods are very similar to those used to decorate plaster given the similarity of the materials.

Preparation
Before starting to decorate the chosen item it must be prepared. It should first be sandpapered down to remove any possible imperfection on its surface. Then the surface dust should be removed, preferably with a strong-haired brush.

There are common steps shared by all the alabaster decorating techniques. Firstly, the figures are painted with acrylic-based paints. Then, depending on the desired result sought, varnish or hues of different colours can be applied. Each technique seeks to mimic a certain material, be it woods, bronze or marble.

The most common techniques are:
- Bronze finish: Paint the figure with dark green acrylic paint and leave to dry. Then apply gold-coloured paint, brush over with a dry brush and varnish the figure with a mixture of gold dust and rubber-based lacquer. Finish off with more gold dust or green paint, depending on your individual taste. Finally, apply a layer of asphalt diluted in turpentine and rub the figure with green earth.
- Marble finish: The most common technique to achieve this finish is to paint the figure with butter-coloured acrylic paint, apply a layer of rubber-based lacquer and finally cover in asphalt mixed with colourless wax. For the best finish rub with a cloth to remove all traces of the lacquer and sprinkle on some talcum powder over the surface.
- Wood finish: This is one of the simplest techniques. Special wood paints are required to achieve this effect, along with a layer of wax and asphalt. If you prefer, you can also add gold reflections by applying a gold-coloured acrylic paint with a dry brush before extending the layer of wax and asphalt. Another option is to use gold-coloured turpentine and spread it across the figure with a finger or piece of cloth.