I am wanting to paint white gumpaste roses red (for Alice in Wonderland theme). I want them to look like they have been partially painted. I read somewhere that you can mix red food coloring with lemon extract to get a paint that will dry quickly when painted on. I used Americolor red and mixed with the extract, but I couldn't get the two to mix properly without it looking grainy. Am I way off track here? Any other suggestions as to how I should go about this getting this effect? Thanks in advance.
I personally sometimes just use airbrush colours. I don't have to mix them with anything, just use as is.
Is it grainy when you paint it on the gumpaste, or grainy looking in the dish? If it's grainy on the gumpaste, maybe it's because the gumpaste is grainy/bumpy.
Thanks everyone for your replies.
Rose_N_Crantz, the mixture looks grainy in the dish. I think I may have used too much extract. It sounds like I might need to use more color and less extract.
jmr531, I had wondered about the luster dust/petal dust. Thanks for the suggestion.
I had read about using vodka, but wasn't sure if I should do that for a child's cake.
wasn't sure if I should do that for a child's cake.
My understanding is that the vodka will evaporate and there won't be any alcohol left. The reason for using the vodka is that it's a liquid that will evaporate quickly, which will make the dust/vodka "paint" dry quickly. 
The vodka does evaporate. As soon as the "paint" is dry, the vodka is all gone from the cake. Most extracts have alcohol too, vodka is just cheaper if you're going to be doing a lot of painting.
If you're using Super Red, make it a little lighter than you want the end result. I learned the hard way that it dries to look almost black...an interesting effect but not what I needed.
Using vodka shouldn't be an issue anyway, since the gumpaste roses won't be eaten.
I use rose red petal dust and vodka.....
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