#i wanted to finally try out the texturing tool inside blender cause usually i just make a uv map and export it and texture in medibang

[fishsticxz-art]

trapinch trapinch trapinch trapinch trapinch trapinch trapinch trapinch

[say-duhnelle]

some quick tips to avoiding the nailed-it look

note: obviously professional-level work usually requires professional-level training or experience. these are just a few suggestions to keep things from looking like a melty disaster; they’re not going to turn you into a royal pastry chef overnight. (and, full disclosure - while I have had a few Wilton courses, I am by no means a professional myself.) nonetheless, you might be surprised how much they help. below a cut because it’s long:

1. use pans designed for what you’re cooking - eg. cookie sheets for cookies, cake pans for cakes, etc. rather than cheap foil pans or glass casseroles. obviously this isn’t feasible for everyone financially but the purpose-designed equipment heats a lot more evenly and (wrt. cake pans) gives a better basic shape to work with. other semi-specialized tools such as pastry blenders and straight spatulas for icing can make a big difference as well.

2. baking tips: make sure you actually do preheat your oven all the way before you put anything in it. for more even baking with less scorch risk, turn the oven temperature down about 25°F from what’s stated in the recipe and bake for 5-10 min longer. bake things on the middle rack and make sure that rack is level. try to avoid opening the oven frequently to check doneness - every time the oven is opened it loses about 20° which can harm your cake/cookies.

3. turn your cakes out and level them. this means instead of leaving the cake in the pan you cooked it in, you (carefully) dump it out onto a flat surface - anything from cardboard to a large plate to a specially designed tray works - and cut off the hump that forms as the cake rises while baking. note that this does waste a fairly significant amount of cake - you can use it to make something like cake pops, though. if you’re disappointed by the lower height of leveled cakes, you can make two or three of the same size cake and stack them to make a layer cake - just spread a little icing between each layer (see tips 4-6)

3.a) grease and flour your pans before you put batter in them so you can turn them out, even if you are using nonstick - the cake will turn out much easier, cleaning them will be easier, and the flouring helps the cake “climb” while baking leading to a taller, fluffier final product. I prefer to use Crisco rather than spray grease - put a little on a paper towel and rub it all over the inside of the pan, paying special attention to corners, then sprinkle in a little flour at a time and turn/gently shake the pan until it all sticks to grease.

4. less is often more. this applies in a wide range of situations, from fondant figurines to cookie thickness to adding food coloring/icing tint to the amount of icing you put on something - using carefully controlled amounts rather than globs leads to your final product looking less globby. if you decide you need more, it’s usually easy enough to add it anyway - way easier than undoing the damage of using too much.

5. LET THINGS COOL BEFORE YOU ICE THEM!!! icing melts when you put it on hot cake or cookies straight out of the oven. then your colors start running together, anything with shape starts to melt and glob, and you end up with an eldritch horror. however, avoid cooling things in the refrigerator or freezer when possible, as this can lead to condensation which will also cause color bleed.

6. icing tips: homemade or wilton kit icing usually results in a nicer product than premade icing from pillsbury or betty crocker or whoever - the consistency is nicer and it tends to have a matte sheen rather than the kind of sickly shiny look seen in the store-bought stuff. for a standard cylindrical cake, cover the top first working from the inside towards the edges, then cover the side working in one direction going around the cake. use a straight spatula to get a nice, even finish. buttercream icing is for covering the whole cake; royal or buttercream can be used for fine details depending on what taste and consistency you prefer. cream cheese icing is for specific cake recipes (eg. carrot, red velvet). gel icing, regardless of whether it is sold as “writing gel” or not, should really only be used as food coloring - it does not result in good looking writing, hair, etc. because of the lack of opacity and the runny texture. to write or do other details with buttercream or royal you can use a bag - either a professional icing bag with a tip, or just take a Ziploc bag and cut off one corner to make a very small hole (~2-5mm diameter depending on desired “font size”).

6.a) icing tips, particularly regarding color: add color a little bit at a time, and stir thoroughly. if you are using icing tint (comes in a jar rather than a dropper) the correct technique is to take a toothpick, poke it into the jar, then poke it into the icing. reds, browns, blacks and some dark blues can be fiendishly difficult to actually get to a dark/rich color - adding some cocoa or carob powder can be a good alternative to using a full jar of tint, if you are okay with a chocolate taste. keeping black icing out of light for a few hours after mixing the dye in can also help it turn blacker.

6.b) icing tips, particularly regarding character cakes: The cake on the left has been covered by taking an icing bag with a star tip and applying hundreds of stars side by side by side. this is the commonly suggested method of applying icing for a lot of character cakes and shape pans. applying the icing directly to the cake with a spatula, especially on oddly shaped cakes like this, generally results in the sloppy look seen on the right.

7. fondant tips: ideally you want to avoid directly handling fondant as much as possible, as the sweat from your hands can make it very dingy looking. wear gloves to mix in colors, roll it out with a pin and drape it over the cake holding only the edges and underside, cut shapes out with cookie cutters, and wear gloves to apply them or make figurines. if you are doing a lot of work with fondant it’s also a good idea to only work with the smallest necessary amount at a time and keep the rest of it in an airtight container. btw, before draping a cake in fondant you need to add what is called a “crumb layer” - a nearly see-through thin coating of buttercream or cream cheese icing that evens out inconsistencies in the cake so they don’t show through and the fondant looks smooth

8. writing tips: again, use buttercream or royal icing in a bag, not gel tubes, for better consistency and overall look; keep in mind the size of your tip/hole drastically affects the size of your writing. use a toothpick to lightly draw your message into the icing before writing, to make sure the spacing and centering are correct. if you are new to writing with icing, practice a few letters on a napkin or a plate before you write on your cake, just to get the hang of it. and for the love of god PLEASE check your spelling.

9. use a reference. returning to the elmo cake above, looking at the two beside each other it’s not difficult to tell that the “fail” one should have the nose higher and the eyes closer together. however, if you were building this cake from memory, it might be difficult to recall exact details like that. when you’re trying to build something to be extremely on-model, such as a character or copying something from Pinterest/a magazine, it’s always a good idea to have that example easily viewable so you don’t miss the little stuff.

10. work carefully and wash your hands or change gloves frequently. to take one more pass at el(dritch)mo up there, you can see his eyes and nose have some red smears on them. it’s unclear how exactly the smears got there, but each possibility can teach us something about precautions we should take:

possibility 1, the icing was smeared on by poor handling when attaching the eyes and nose to the cake - do things like this slowly and carefully, and use (multiple) toothpicks/skewers stuck into the back to support large masses rather than just trying to mash them onto the cake. (be gentle when handling the cake body, so it remains strong enough to support the skewers as well.)

possibility 2, the icing was smeared on by poor aim when applying it to Elmo’s body - be careful about the order you work in. generally speaking additional bits (body parts like this, icing flowers, fondant figures, etc.) are made separately from the cake and then applied after the rest of the cake is complete and decorated. 

possibility 3, the icing was smeared on from stains or icing remaining on the decorator’s hands after icing elmo’s body: check your hands frequently, and either wash them when they are dirty or (especially if you are working in dark icing colors that don’t always wash off super easily) wear disposable gloves that you can change whenever they get stained. (a box of these can easily be found in stores or online for less than $10.)