I have tried everything that I have read on the forums about this subject and have had no success

I mixed my gels with the Lemon Extract (pure) and have tried the vodka to no avail.

When I paint, it either looks clumped up or smeared on...I'm so confused

Can someone, anyone help me with this problem?

TIA

Take a deep breath and WALK AWAY for about 15 minutes! The key is getting the "paint" consistency. When clumping starts that means it's time to add a little lemon extract. If it is watery looking add a little more dust. I play this "game" all the time! A little dust.....a little extract....a little more dust....OOPS! too much extract! LOLL

Good Luck! YOU CAN DO IT!!

Beth from KY

SORRY!! I haven't had an entire POT O COFFEE yet and didn't read "gels"! Actually, I have the SAME PROBLEM with gels clumping! Still haven't figured it out!

I've already had my first cup, working on the second and trying to figure out what I am doing wrong

Gotta bump ya here beacuse I am experiencing this same troubling phenomenom!!! HELP US!!!!!!

And 1 energy drink is my coffee......maybe I should switch to coffee to boost my cake powers hu?

The key obviously is the consistency, it needs to look like paint consistency. I use Vodka with mine.

What bethola said and try getting a good quality artist brush--that helps cutting down with the streaking.

I have only painted small areas like the hair of my ballerina and the sweaters etc on my polar bears and eyes and I used it straight..no diluting...I used a super fine brush (good quality) and took my time. I just put some on a toothpick and took the colour off the toothpick so Iwouldn't contaminate my gel colours (I used the Wilton as that is all I had)

..one thing I didn't realize is that is never dries but stays tacky..so watch your fingers or you might smear it...I had to "wash" my bears a few times...(if you muck it up, I was able to take a damp blue shop towel and literally wash it off and then dry it)...then start again..

I have an expensive brush and I have a paint consistency and it's still doing the same

How much gel color are you using? I only use a drop and then add my vondka, and stir. I like mine just a bit to the thin side of paint consitency. If I am painting really big designs, beacuse the vodka will start drying out as you paint. So I keep my container covered, too.

I used everclear to dilute the gel, and I still got the clumping. Is vodka better?

I swear by vodka. I have tried all the above mentioned and vodka works the best for me.

My problem is this: So that I am not having to create more of a color and in order to avoid two different shades, I usually make WAY too much and that is a bummer too! Touchy stuff, I hear ya!!!!

I only use vodka. I use a very small brush--size 0 for example. I dilute the gel to a water color consistency, mix with toothpick; dip the brush; wipe off on a soft paper towel. I usually have a small piece of gumpaste to practice on at first. Then I paint on the actual cake or plaque. The gumpaste must be totally dry. The brush too is dipped but wiped off, so it is moist NOT wet.

Good luck!!

Any more suggestions, please

Yes stephanie214, I have a painting technique suggestion. The best way to describe it is from Wikipedia, it is style of painting in which small distinct points of color create the impression of a wide selection of secondary colors.......Viewed from a certain distance, the points or dots in a pointillist painting can no longer be distinguished, and blend optically into each other.

You have to have a little patience but the outcome is lovely. So I suggest little dots of color

Okay one more little know secret of painting........to blend where you do not see the brush stroke you build up the color. Whether that is little tiny line over one another or dots as above. Building up the color is the key............

But again, takes patience.

It is so funny because I paint my walls and ceilings with no problem. It is just with fondant and gum paste

Maybe I should switch to using a small house paint brush and see what happens...can't be any worse

Thanks so much for all your help

Stephanie, I don't know if I can be of any help either, but it took me a couple of tries to get the painting thing right too! If you look in my pictures, the tile cake was painted with gel colors thinned out with orange extract.

Here's how I did it- I only worked with a pea sized amount of gel color at a time. I put it in a little palette and added the orange extract a drop at a time with an eyedropper, stirring with a toothpick. If you add too much extract at once, you will have a hard time getting the clumps smoothed out. Once painted, it took a couple of days to dry completely, but they did dry enough that I could stack and transport them.

I hope you are able to figure it out- good luck!

Amber

K here's an idea,
think of painting on fondant n gumpaste like you would painting a watercolor. (using vodka instead of course)
Don't try to get the darkest color that you are striving for right off the bat. Dilute your colors with the vodka til it's the consistency of strong coffee or ink. You keep going over a certain color til you have the shade that you desire. You can always go darker but you can't go lighter.
It's just a matter of glazing over your colors again n again till you get where you want to be. But your colors have be quite liquid for this to work. Have you tried just using air brush colors straight from the bottle for this? They are already diluted to the proper consistency and if you want a lighter shade just add more vodka. No lumps no "impasto" or heavy spots of color. Works great. I have a cake that I painted on buttercream (for work) that I am gonna post tonight after I get home from work (still waiting on the pictures to come back) You'll see what I mean. I did want the "dry brush" effect though and then I airbrushed it also to get a softer effect for her skin and hair. You'll see
Another thing is sometimes you want those painterly brush marks. Gives your pictures character and makes it look more like a painting than a coloring book picture or cartoon. I personally like the different textures that paint can give you, gives depth to the picture.
O btw, that painting with dots of color is called "pointillism"

Never thought of using airbrush colors

I brought my paint brush tonight and will try it with the airbrush colors that I already have.

I'm going to give it another go. If it doesn't work, I'll just airbrush or use the can spray

Painting and making bows are the two hardest for me

Thanks

heya steph that picture is in my photos now you can take a look if ya wanna.

I'm with the Vodka guys, although I have used Gin with the same success. Let us know how you get on.
I'm going to be doing some painting myself soon, hope it goes well.