Dinosaur Cake

It was time to put my painting skills to the test with this realistic dinosaur cake that we were asked to do.  I also had to do a bit of sculpting to get the shape I wanted and to carve out the main features.  Once that was done we covered it in white sugarpaste icing and began to create the look of skin by using tools to create lines and circles to add some texture. 

Next was the paint job, this is where an airbrush would come in handy, so I could cover a large area in a short amount of time, but I don't have one so had to make do with a tiny paintbrush.  I really must invest in some more paintbrushes, in an assortment of sizes, I have tons of paintbrushes but seeing as they've been previously used with proper paint, they can't be used for use with food.  But never mind that, on with the painting.  I use sugarflair gel food colouring to paint with and use it just like watercolour paints, you can use water to thin the gel or even vodka or rejuvenator spirit, alcohol will dry quicker than water and will stop the icing from becoming too sticky, using alcohol or rejuvenator spirit is also good to mix with lustre dust to create a paint.

It was a nice change to do a cake that required a bit more artistic skill, it's been a while since I've done a spot of painting, just hope they didn't mind disecting the dinosaur when it came to eating it!!