push the centre of the mouth inside the head to make a cavity (B).
3 Roll a small banana shape for the teeth and place it under the top lip. Make two teardrop shapes in white for the eyeballs and attach just above and on either side of the nose. Add two small balls of dark blue sugarpaste to the top, and two smaller balls of black sugarpaste for the pupils. Roll two small cone shapes for the ears and attach to either side of the head, keeping the tops level with the eyes. Indent the ears at the base with the end of your paintbrush (C).
4 Roll two banana shapes in red sugarpaste for the lips and attach to the mouth. Outline the top and bottom of the eyes with a tiny lace of black sugarpaste and add the eyebrows in the same way (D).
5 Add the final details such as hair and earrings, highlight the eyes with a dot of white edible paint on the end of a cocktail stick or toothpick and dust the cheeks with pink dust food colour to give a healthy glow (E).
Tip
Experiment with the positioning of the eyes and eyebrows to give your characters different expressions.
A man’s face has fewer details than a woman’s but there are still key ways to add personality and character.
1 After rolling the head shape and indenting the eye area (see step 2 constructing a head), add a large cone shape for the nose. Mark the nostrils with tool no.5. Press the edge of a small circle cutter below the nose to mark the mouth. Add two small lines at either end of the mouth (A).
2 Roll two oval shapes in white for the eyes and attach on either side of the nose. Add a small black pupil to each eye. Add small banana shapes of flesh-coloured sugarpaste for the eyelids and add the eyebrows with a thin black lace. Make two cone shapes for the ears and attach to each side, indenting them with the end of your paintbrush (B).
3 For the hair, roll some flattened cones of black sugarpaste and secure into style on top of the head. For the final details, add a sliver of black to outline each eyelid, highlight the eyes with a dot of white edible paint on the end of a cocktail stick or toothpick and dust the cheeks with pink dust food colour (C).
Tip
Use a flower former to hold the head in shape while you work on it.
Using Head Shape to Add Personality
A crucial factor in imbuing your characters with personality is the shape of the head. The following examples show how using different head shapes can create a vast range of personas.
The square-shaped face implies a stocky person.
A person with a triangular face has pointed features and looks a bit shifty.
A rounded face signifies a happy personality.
This egg-shaped head would suit a studious person.
A hexagonal-shaped face indicates a bit of a thug.
The owner of this flat-shaped face would have a short, stocky body.
The pear-shaped face is the most comical and may be prone to having a double chin.
A heart-shaped face is very feminine and the hairline accentuates the shape.
An oval-shaped face is evenly balanced and is a very happy face.
Hairstyles
Hair is a great way of adding personality to your characters. For this example I will show you how to make a simple girl’s hairstyle.
1 Fill the cup of a sugar press (or garlic press) with the desired colour of sugarpaste mixed with some white vegetable fat (shortening) and extrude the hair. Do not chop the hair off in a clump, but slide tool no.4 through a few strands, taking off a single layer at a time.
2 Apply edible glue around the head, and then starting at the back of the head, work around the sides adding thin layers of hair. If there is a parting at the back of the head, work from the parting to the side of the head, keeping in mind the direction in which you would comb the hair.
3 To make bunches, extrude the hair and cut off several strands together, forming a bunch. Attach to the side of the head and shape as desired.
4 For the ringlets, take three strands of hair and twist them together, make three for each side of the head. Add a ribbon to finish by rolling a small white sausage shape.
Head and Body Shapes
As you can see from the image shown below, if a body has no neck, then the neck will be modelled with the head, and likewise, if the head has a neck, then the body will be modelled without one.
Hands and Feet
When making an arm, first roll a sausage with rounded ends. Narrow the wrist area by rolling it gently, and then narrow just above the elbow. Make a diagonal cut at the top of the arm to fit the body
