Hi, I'm wondering how to paint on fondent without using alcohol? Any ideas or suggestions are highly appreciated. Thank you![/b]

You can use extract, I use vanilla and it works fine, or lemon. I've heard you can use airbrush colors also.

Forgot to say you mix it with pearl dust. Just make sure you don't add alot of the extract.

Airbrush colors, straight out of the bottle with a brush.

you could try lemon extract or water. if you do use water it's supposed to not dry fast and stay sticky for longer. hth

Extracts also contain alcohol, so depending why the no alcohol that could be an issue?

I've seen people say they have thinned color gels with water, but I would only use a tiny bit.

Depending on the look, I would say you could also mix your color gel with piping gel and paint it on.

Roll out a small piece of fondant, pull out some brushes and try a few different thing to see if you can get the results you are looking for.

TexasSugar is right...extracts contain alcohol. It evaporates. That's why it dries so fast. there's no alcohol left! I personally would NOT use water unless you want a sticky mess that will take forever to dry.
My favorite thing to use is lemon extract. To me it dries faster than vodka or any other, though I have not tried Everclear. Remember to look for clear lemon or vanilla extract though.

Thank you all for the tips. I read in a book that many use gin or vodka to dilute the colors, I feel uncomfortable buying alcohol. That's why I asked. Thank you all once again! =)

Carm, I lOVE everclear!! It's so high in alcohol that you find yourself adding more to it, because it evaporates before you get done.

Sara, you can buy the little small bottles of it, a little goes a long way. But if you aren't comfortable buying alcohol, just use extracts. They do the same thing.

I've used lemon extract, vodka, one cake supply store even told me tequila! All have stayed wet and sticky for a looong time. Everclear is so far the fastest drying. The climate here is super humid.

Where would I be able to buy Everclear?

You are so right TexasSugar ... Everclear is the way to go. If you are used to painting with vodka it takes a little getting used to because everclear dries faster.

Sara: Everclear is grain alcohol...so if you're uncomfortable buying alcohol, you probably wouldn't want to use that

If you don't want to use vodka or lemon extract, you can use paramount crystals or crisco. I've done both just to see how they would look. You have to melt them, then mix in your color. The only problem with the paramount crystals is that it will have a waxy look, and you will need to keep heating it when it starts to solidify. Looks good though.

If you cannot use any alcohol, since it is in extracts to a degree....you may want to look into painting with coco butter. I have never used it, but there may be some people on here who have or know where you can find out more info on it.

She paints with cocoa butter
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/2027479

I've done it with just water- I used a tiny bit of gel tint and a tiny bit of water, so that it wasn't so watered down. A little goes a long way! I didn't have a problem with the colors running, though they did take a little while to dry.