I have been looking at pictures of gumpaste roses and I have realized that my roses do not look all that realistic. I plan on making a cake for a contest and I want the roses to look as realistic as possible. Does anyone have any good tutorials/tips? I want to make roses that look like this:

http://bogotablogger.com/wp-content/uploads/circus-rose.jpg

beautiful rose! I would start will pale lemon gum paste to make the petals, then when they are dry and you have assembled your rose, get a large soft sable-hair brush and some petal dust - blood orange is a lovely colour, and carefully dust the outer edges and the centre of the rose bud. You can steam the rose gently to set the dust colours, then re-dust to make them look velvety. You need to be sparing with the dusts though...once on, it won't come off. HTH

I agree with Moondance for the colors. Start with a yellow base and then brush the tips red.

As far as actually making the rose, I don't use cutters. I think it is the reason many gumpaste roses don't look real. It was very intimidating at first, but I actually found it to be easier.

This is the youtube video I learned from:

Thank you so much for the vidoe tutorial! What about that huge lump at the bottom of the rose when they are done? Do I cut it off or shape it somehow? Also, can I insert a wire into it? There are going to be a ton of roses on this cake and I don't want them falling off

To make the middle of the rose, roll a small ball of gumpaste and then lengthen one end into a cone. Bend a hook into a length of sturdy floral wire, moisten the hook and then insert it into the gumpaste cone. Let it dry overnight or until it's completely dry.

I looked at the rose in your photos. You need to make the center tighter. The gumpaste cone will help with that.

You shouldn't end up with a lump on the bottom if you're making it on wire. It's easier to make them on wire at least at first.

Also, try making them in a single color and see if it looks more like a rose to you It's hard to get an idea of how it looks when it's so colorful.

Thanks for the tip. The picture that I have posted of the rainbow rose does use a rose cone with wire inserted but I was wondering how I would go about inserting a wire in the rose in the video tutorial that was posted.

Right before the last rose of rose petals, I pinch off the hunk at the bottom and form it into a ball shape and then I put the last row of roses on, making sure not to leave any excess at the bottom of the petal.

When I do roses like the one in the video, I usually do not use wires and just set them on the top of the cake. Or, once in a while i stick a toothpick into a piece of Styrofoam with plastic wrap over it and then push the rose on the toothpick to let it dry. If you want to use something technically edible, you could used dried spaghetti.

I imagine that after you make the center of the rose like in the video, you could push a wire with a loop of top into the rose and build the rose around it. I don't the wire would be secure enough if you inserted the wire after the rose is finished.

Tonedna, a member here, has a terrific 5 part video on roses. I learned using it and it was brilliant! These are the very first I made using her video. They're not perfect. But for the first time using her method, I think they look darn good.