I am wondering what you would use to paint on a cake or cookies? This week I painted some butterfly cookies for cookie bouquets. I iced them with white royal icing and then painted the colors on top. I used the normal americolor and wilton colors that I use to color my frosting. I thinned this with water. I was worried about them having a bitter or funny taste due to the coloring, but I didn't notice anything bad when I tasted them... although the icing seemed kind of 'crispy'. Maybe that was just the RI? I know it dries hard.
I like the effect of the painting, so I think I will do that again in the future. Is there something better to use? Edible ink that is used for the images? Is there special ink used for airbrushing? Would that work? I don't have an airbrush so I have no clue.
Thanks for any help you can offer.
You don't need an airbrush to use the colors. I myself use Everclear. It has a higher grain alochol and drys even faster than Vodka.
Everclear is a grain alcohol and is not available in every state--VERY high alcohol content. I would use it if I could get my hands on it. And yup, vodka, gin or everclear don't leave a taste. Some debate about the lemon extract. Also, some people don't like to use it because some contain lemon oil and it affects the painting, but again, so love it and some don't. Others have mention using mint extract and ofcourse you can use a clear vanilla extract too. I just stick with vodka 1) because I can't get everclear where I am and 2) you can get a lot for real cheap! 
Royal does dry really hard. I have used Toba Garret's glaze here on cc and I like to use it a little thicker and with the corn syrup seems to be a bit softer yet dry hard. Only thing I learned is I need to use royal for the accents on cookies as the glaze stretches so dots don't work... 
Also, lots love antonia74's icing as well.
HTH
Judi
When I paint, I use my Amerciolor gels or dusts thinned down with vodka--that makes it dry real fast. Some people like to paint with aircrush colors because they have a great painting consistency already and dry quickly.
How much vodka do you use? What is the consistancy like? I have to paint a white Nightmare Before Christmas hill. I made it white and I want to make it black.
When I paint, I use my Amerciolor gels or dusts thinned down with vodka--that makes it dry real fast. Some people like to paint with aircrush colors because they have a great painting consistency already and dry quickly.
How much vodka do you use? What is the consistancy like? I have to paint a white Nightmare Before Christmas hill. I made it white and I want to make it black.
I put some color in a small bowl and add a bit of vodka at a time with a medicine dropper until I get a nice smooth paint consistency. If you add too much vodka, the color will dilute a bit and you may have to do many coats to achieve the color that you want. You just want to make sure that the color gel is not so "gooey" once you have added the vodka. 
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