Ok, so I haven't used very much fondant on cakes but I think I may use fondant for my next cake which is fishing themed and I want to shape out a fish as one of the toppers but I want it to look some what realistic so what do I do to make it look more so? I don't have an airbrush kit yet so that is a no. I have seen pictures of fish cakes and they describe painting them? What do I paint it with just regular food coloring?

Hi... I made the fondant fish in my photos...
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo_499963.html
I waited till the fondant set up, and used petal and luster dusts to paint it with.. I dusted it dry, it's much easier to blend colors that way...

wow that fish looks awesome, thanks for the tip. You say you used 50/50 gumpaste and fondant, is there a reason for using both? I have never tried gumpaste. Is it better to work with than fondant?

Using the gumpaste will make it dry faster, and harder; that's all. Fondant alone will work, just takes longer. You can make your own gumpaste, or purchase it already made. Or... you can mix in some tylose with the fondant to get the same effect. I know, I probably just confused you even more.. sorry... But those are your options, so you can decide which is best for you.. hth

I've done them using powders and paste colors. The trick to "painting" with a liquid, or paste is that you have to work relatively fast and you can't go over it again and again without it starting to "pull" color off. I've also done some combinations with painting and airbrushing. I've attached a pic of a sailfish that I airbrushed with a pearlizing (Can be painted if you don't have the airbrush). Then I went back with some royal blue and took a large brush and blended in some of the blue and drybrushed in areas. Good luck!