Help!! Colour-Dust Painting Has Cracked!

Decorating By libragirl1980 Updated 25 Aug 2015 , 12:25pm by Shockolata

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libragirl1980 Posted 20 Aug 2015 , 4:46pm
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Hi, I am new to this site and for the first time ever, I have tried to paint onto flowerpaste. I left the flowerpaste to dry as it said too and then mixed the colour dusts with a little vodka to form a paint. I painted it onto the model but it either clumped in places or cracked when dried and now looks a mess!! :-( have I done something wrong? do I just need to paint over it several times? I am at a loss and this is for my son's birthday cake. worried.png

Thanks in advance,

Claire

10 replies
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julia1812 Posted 20 Aug 2015 , 4:49pm
post #2 of 11

Hi Claire.  I hate painting with dust. Whenever possible, I use food coloring gel. You can dilute it with vodka if you want a more watery colour or straight from the tin. Good luck!

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Shockolata Posted 20 Aug 2015 , 7:52pm
post #3 of 11

If it clumped, it means you used too much. You only need a tiny bit of dust and a few drops of alcohol. You need to replenish the alcohol frequently as the dusts dry. Paint small areas at a time. Do not go over what has been painted. Set it with steam. It is worth trying out the technique on a scrap piece of fondant before venturing out on the proper cake. Also please note that any imperfections on the fondant will be picked up by the addition of colour dusts. 

@julia1812  my gel colours will not mix with alcohol, only with water. I use QFC. But they can be used directly from the bottle (which is actually not ideal to do as you get to contaminate the gel each time you dip your brush in, so I recommend putting a tiny bit with a toothpick on a palette and take it from there.)

If anyone has any questions re the use of colours, I'll be happy to help as I have done a lot of painting.


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julia1812 Posted 20 Aug 2015 , 9:51pm
post #4 of 11

Shockolata: yes, you are absolutely right regarding the contamination issue. I should have specified that. I normally pour little amounts  (drops) onto plastic plates which I was and reuse. Oh - and I use a clean "cake paint only" brush. 

Sorry your gel colours don't mix well with alcohol. Try wilton food coloring gel next time, they mix very nicely with vodka. Or if you can't get those try americolour. You should have any issues with them.

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julia1812 Posted 20 Aug 2015 , 9:52pm
post #5 of 11

*You SHOULDN'T have*

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libragirl1980 Posted 21 Aug 2015 , 11:58am
post #6 of 11

Thanks all for your help. The bit I have painted is now tacky and still not dry and just looks a mess! I am so disappointed. Will have to start over again. :-/

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julia1812 Posted 21 Aug 2015 , 1:31pm
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Sorry! :-/ Good luck for the next time. 

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Shockolata Posted 21 Aug 2015 , 10:17pm
post #8 of 11

@julia1812  obviously my comment was not a dig, just an afterthought to help others organise their painting. :)

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libragirl1980 Posted 24 Aug 2015 , 10:59pm
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Thanks everyone. I went back to the cake store and asked their advice, it turns out the vodka had reacted with the dust. I brought some Rejuvenator fluid and tried again with new flower paste and here is the finished articles. A little annoyed that my fingers were dirty and I've marked the face!  55dba1e044a39.jpeg

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julia1812 Posted 25 Aug 2015 , 5:41am
post #10 of 11

Good job!

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Shockolata Posted 25 Aug 2015 , 12:25pm
post #11 of 11

Happy to hear you resolved the issue. Always try to paint from top to bottom to avoid smudging your already painted surfaces. If you do get smudges, you can use some rejuvenator spirit with a clean brush to wipe it off. Then start again. You will need to keep wiping the brush on paper to clean it with some spirit before going back to the painting otherwise you'll just be transferring smudges back and forth.


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