i am teaching myself how to decorate cakes and i was wondering if anyone can help me? I was wondering what type of paint brushes i need to used to paint on fondant? Are there specific brushes for food? and most important what of food coloring would anyone suggest.

i just wanted to clearify my question. when i am painting on the fondant some times i will notice a brissle is left on the cake. It gets real frustrating picking off the brissles. can someone help me what am i doing wrong.

hello and welcome to CC.
i use crafters brushes. not those you buy 10/1.00. i find the crafter brushes are better quality. and there are a range of sizes. so far no problems with them.
you can find them in most hobby stores where they sell paint brushes.
maybe thats the term in thinking of - special paint brushes.
as far as type of food color. the list is endless with what you prefer to use.
i know wilton is most avaiable a the craft stores. or can order online different types of food colors.
HTH

If you have bristles left on your cake sometimes that means that is a bad quality brush, a good quality brush doesn't loose it's bristles. Try and pay a tiny bit more for a good one. The ones i have i bought from my cake decorating store are actually used for crafts like gauche painting etc and they have very soft bristles so anything like that would be good.

Also with colouring, the most recommended would be to buy Americolor Gel Pastes otherwise as said before you can also get wilton gel pastes.

HTH

My DH is a painter (fine art not houses) so he's taught me the true value of a great brush. You get what you pay for. If the bristles are coming out, throw the brush out.

For brushes, I get the nice-quality water-color brushes with the synthetic fibers--the white ones. They work best for me, and they're not hugely expensive. They range from $1 to about $10 a brush, in my area. As for what to paint with, you cau use any kind of food color dissolved in a bit of vodka, Everclear, or lemon extract, or straight out of the bottle or can; you can use airbrush food coloring; or you can use luster or petal dusts, either mixed with the aforementioned everclear et al. into a thick ink, or brushed on dry. I've been doing more with the brushing on dry lately, because it gives my stuff a lovely glow. I tried steaming it for the first time tonight! It went really well.

leah_s is right, too; throw your falling-out-bristle brushes in the trash. Not only is it kind of gross to find one that might have been left behind--even if it's foodsafe--you'll probably have better control over your painting if you have a better-quality brush.

thanks alot!!!!!!!!!!!!