2D 2nd place
American Steampunk
by Melissa Cody @miscody · submitted Oct 31, 2015 · 2015 contest
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Description
I spent a long time debating between three designs. American Steampunk was at the top of my list but I wasn't sure I could pull it off. I generally try to stay away from doing any people but doing them in 2-D was much easier for me than 3-D. Ultimately, I just decided to go for it and I'm very happy with the result. Might as well take a classic painting and steampunk it! I knew right away that I wanted to do it in color with metallic accents to honor the steampunk style. I also ended up keeping the background in the orange/brown family to give it a post apocalyptic type of feel.
First, I enlarged and printed out the design. I then cut it apart to tackle it piece by piece. I did the entire picture in fondant and did this first since I knew that I could spend hours on it here and there when I wasn't at work. I started with the house which was pretty painless. I made the base out of white fondant and then cut some into strips for the siding. I cut out some black windows and lined with them white and cut out brown for the roof. I painted it with dilute brown food coloring.
I then made some skin-tone fondant and cut out the faces and hands with an X-acto knife. I layered a few things onto them- hair and gas mask onto the woman, hat and facial features onto the man. I also made a base for their clothes using brown fondant to mimic leather, I textured it with various shaping tools and added some strips of fondant here and there. My absolute favorite part was painting the woman's tattoo. It was difficult to decipher exactly what it is in the picture so I ad-libbed a bit with roses, a skull, a compass and a clock. I used my smallest brush and food coloring. I also painted a tiny cameo onto her necklace.
I started adding details with a neutral brown that I thought I could paint over with metallic luster dust. The woman was pretty easy when compared with the man- her main parts being the gas mask, gun and various belts. I then worked on the man and the random unidentifiable tools, rings, belts etc. His outfit was definitely a challenge. I made a few objects out of grey fondant as a better base to take up silver luster dust. One of the most difficult parts was the man's goggles and eye piece. I layered together a bunch of tiny fondant pieces and strips to get the right effect.
I added depth to the figures by using powdered food coloring to shade the faces and hands. I painted over parts of the "leather" jackets with dilute liquid brown food coloring to add shadows and contour. I then painted over everything that should be metal with luster dust in various shades including silver, silver/black, copper, gold and antique gold.
I cut out a large piece of white fondant and air-brushed it brown/orange. I then started carefully layering the individual pieces onto it trying to get them into the exact position. Once they were in place, I added the brown "clouds" with powdered food coloring and painted on the birds.
Then I made the cake. I used a modified box mix yellow cake and made buttercream from scratch. I made two half sheet cakes and trimmed them down a bit and layered them. I decided to cover the sides with brown fondant and then using royal icing as glue, I placed the large fondant sheet with the picture on top. I am an emergency veterinarian and at our 24-hour hospital, we always appreciate food so for my now yearly Threadcakes entry tradition, I brought it in to work to be devoured. Overall, it took me abut 30 hours to make from start to finish.
Hope you enjoy!
First, I enlarged and printed out the design. I then cut it apart to tackle it piece by piece. I did the entire picture in fondant and did this first since I knew that I could spend hours on it here and there when I wasn't at work. I started with the house which was pretty painless. I made the base out of white fondant and then cut some into strips for the siding. I cut out some black windows and lined with them white and cut out brown for the roof. I painted it with dilute brown food coloring.
I then made some skin-tone fondant and cut out the faces and hands with an X-acto knife. I layered a few things onto them- hair and gas mask onto the woman, hat and facial features onto the man. I also made a base for their clothes using brown fondant to mimic leather, I textured it with various shaping tools and added some strips of fondant here and there. My absolute favorite part was painting the woman's tattoo. It was difficult to decipher exactly what it is in the picture so I ad-libbed a bit with roses, a skull, a compass and a clock. I used my smallest brush and food coloring. I also painted a tiny cameo onto her necklace.
I started adding details with a neutral brown that I thought I could paint over with metallic luster dust. The woman was pretty easy when compared with the man- her main parts being the gas mask, gun and various belts. I then worked on the man and the random unidentifiable tools, rings, belts etc. His outfit was definitely a challenge. I made a few objects out of grey fondant as a better base to take up silver luster dust. One of the most difficult parts was the man's goggles and eye piece. I layered together a bunch of tiny fondant pieces and strips to get the right effect.
I added depth to the figures by using powdered food coloring to shade the faces and hands. I painted over parts of the "leather" jackets with dilute liquid brown food coloring to add shadows and contour. I then painted over everything that should be metal with luster dust in various shades including silver, silver/black, copper, gold and antique gold.
I cut out a large piece of white fondant and air-brushed it brown/orange. I then started carefully layering the individual pieces onto it trying to get them into the exact position. Once they were in place, I added the brown "clouds" with powdered food coloring and painted on the birds.
Then I made the cake. I used a modified box mix yellow cake and made buttercream from scratch. I made two half sheet cakes and trimmed them down a bit and layered them. I decided to cover the sides with brown fondant and then using royal icing as glue, I placed the large fondant sheet with the picture on top. I am an emergency veterinarian and at our 24-hour hospital, we always appreciate food so for my now yearly Threadcakes entry tradition, I brought it in to work to be devoured. Overall, it took me abut 30 hours to make from start to finish.
Hope you enjoy!
