This piece is HUGE. It almost didn't fit in the kiln we had. If you are wondering why there is a tennis ball under the armpit in one of the pictures, it's because I wanted you to get an idea of how huge he is. The shell has layers of clay to make that 3D layered look. After the turtle was out of the kiln I spray-painted it and used green acrylic paint in between the lines on the fins and head to make it stand out more.
I was inspired to make this because 3 years of my child hood was spent growing up in Hawaii and I've always loved the sea turtles.