Mr Bean

Mr Bean step by step...

My first attempt at sculpting a caricature. I chose Mr Bean coz he's one of my favourite characters and his face is full of expression. 

Step 1: Usual stuff, start with an egg-shaped ball of LCM, or RKT (rice krispie treats). I used half a bar of LCM coz I only needed a little. No point making a whole batch of RKT just for a little bit. Squish and shape LCM into an egg. Oh, do you like my new head moulding tool? 

Step 2: Cover LCM egg with fondant. For face sculpting, I find a mix of 50-50 white modelling chocolate and Satin Ice ivory fondant gives me the best texture. The modelling chocolate prolongs the working time of the fondant without drying out too quickly and the fondant prevents the modelling chocolate from getting too greasy from the heat of my fingers. All in all, a great marriage :-) Don't forget to indent two holes for the eye sockets.

Step 3: Make 2 small balls from white fondant for the eye balls. Make sure the eye balls fit in the eye sockets. Before proceeding to Step Four, leave the face and eye balls to dry out and firm up a little. This is a good time to catch up on some housework... or watch TV.... or have a nana nap (I chose the second and third option. Hehehe).

Step 4: Add eye lids. I ended up doubling the size of the eye balls to add a bit of drama and expression to Mr Bean's face.

Step 5: Form a nose and attach to the face with some tylose glue. 

Step 6: Add the cheeks.

Step 7: Blend the cheeks into the face. This is another reason why I add white modelling chocolate to fondant. It's easier to blend and smooth out the seams. Don't forget to etch out the mouth at this stage.

Step 8: Add lips and forehead. At this point I also etched out some details such as wrinkles and skin folds.

Step 9: Add pupils to the eyes. I simply used black non-pareils.

Step 10: Add eyebrows. Remember eyebrows play an integral part in facial expressions so give some thought about how to shape the eyebrows to get that expression you want to achieve. Don't forget to attach the ears!

Step 11: Finally, the hair and here's Mr Bean! A few things I'd like to have done better; make the forehead wider and higher, for example. And make better looking hair. But overall, quite happy with my first attempt. This head is rather large, almost the size of an egg. Next project is to make a smaller head which is more of a challenge to get all the details on a smaller scale. 

Bean! With a dash of colour...

Birthday monkeys

Sugarpaste monkeys (and coconut trees and coconuts) with curly letters spelling out the words, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY." These can be used as cupcake toppers or to decorate a birthday cake. 

Here're some close-ups. I haven't drawn a face on the monkeys coz I can't decide if they look better with or without a face... hmmmm...... I do love the coconuts... they're so cute. 

Monkeying around!

I got inspired by ThinkGeek's "Monkey Business" range (check them out here: http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/cubegoodies/a1a2/?srp=1) and made some sugarpaste monkeys this weekend. I also remembered to take photos this time so I'm able to share these step-by-step instructions on how to make a monkey face.... literally!

First, shape some dark brown sugarpaste into a ball and make a flat heart out of flesh coloured sugarpaste - you can use a small cookie cutter or just shape it. I find it quicker to just shape it.

Stick the heart on the brown ball using a bit of edible glue.

Make a small sausage out of flesh coloured sugarpaste - here's the size of the sausage in comparison to the face...

Using a shaping knife like this one, but if you don't have a shaping knife, any knife will do. Make a slit lengthwise but DON'T cut all the way through. It's like how you'd slit a hot dog bun, I suppose.

Stick the slit "hot dog bun" piece on the face with edible glue like this.... voila! You now have a monkey's mouth!

Using a ball tool like in this pic, make 2 indentions for the eyes.

Stick the eyes, again using edible glue. I use black nonpareils but you can just shape some tiny balls out of black sugarpaste or even the same dark brown sugarpaste used for the head (saves buying more sugarpaste). Make a tiny teardrop out of flesh coloured paste for the nose.

Position the nose like this...

Poke 2 holes for the nostrils. You can use a skewer instead of a shaping tool like what I have here.

Make 2 small balls out of flesh paste and attach to the sides for the ears. Use your skewer to make indentations to shape the earlobes.

Make 2 very tiny sausages out of flesh paste for the eyebrows.

Finished monkey face!