2D Finalist 1
Lisa Frankenstein
by Traci Martin · submitted Nov 13, 2015 · 2015 contest
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Description
I chose this design because I love all things Halloween and the fun elements and vibrant colors of Lisa Frank style art. I also thought it would be a fun challenge to attempt to make the cake act somewhat like a blacklight poster, something that I've never done before. I started off by baking four layers of butter cake which I torted and filled with vanilla buttercream. I had tinted the buttercream different shades of blue so it would make an ombre effect when the cake is cut. After crumb coating the outside of the cake I smoothed on a final layer of frosting and covered the cake in a dark blue shade of fondant.
In between these steps I mixed some blue and pink fondant which I rolled out to make a marble effect to cover my cake board. I finished the cake board off with a black ribbon and used a starry impression mat on the fondant to tie in the stars in the picture. I also made ahead the melting rainbow cake topper using bright fondant colors through a clay extruder and laying them over a stiffened black piece of gum paste with toothpicks attached.
After assembling the cake onto the cake board I covered the board in pieces of wax paper (to protect it)and airbrushed the cake mostly black, leaving a large circle blank, I transitioned the black into a purple tone by spraying a pink coat and left the middle of the circle blue.
I then began cutting and assembling pieces of green, purple, black and orange to build Frankenstein and the various other details. Then came the most time consuming part: the painting. I used food paint for the overall black details and black petal dust to shade my Frankenstein’s Monster. And for the grand finale I dusted the green orange and purple/pink parts with coordinating neon petal dusts which actually glow in the black light! The painting & detail process took the longest as I spent an entire day just making him come alive. Of course I couldn’t resist saying “It’s alive!” to myself when I illuminated the final product under the blacklights.
After cutting into the cake at home and selfishly stuffing my face with the first piece, I brought it down to a local tattoo shop to share with my brother and his friends at work. I knew they’d be the best audience for this cake since they’re always wearing Threadless t-shirts. They enjoyed scarfing down some yummy cake under the blacklights in between appointments and hopefully the glowing cake brightened their Friday afternoon.
In between these steps I mixed some blue and pink fondant which I rolled out to make a marble effect to cover my cake board. I finished the cake board off with a black ribbon and used a starry impression mat on the fondant to tie in the stars in the picture. I also made ahead the melting rainbow cake topper using bright fondant colors through a clay extruder and laying them over a stiffened black piece of gum paste with toothpicks attached.
After assembling the cake onto the cake board I covered the board in pieces of wax paper (to protect it)and airbrushed the cake mostly black, leaving a large circle blank, I transitioned the black into a purple tone by spraying a pink coat and left the middle of the circle blue.
I then began cutting and assembling pieces of green, purple, black and orange to build Frankenstein and the various other details. Then came the most time consuming part: the painting. I used food paint for the overall black details and black petal dust to shade my Frankenstein’s Monster. And for the grand finale I dusted the green orange and purple/pink parts with coordinating neon petal dusts which actually glow in the black light! The painting & detail process took the longest as I spent an entire day just making him come alive. Of course I couldn’t resist saying “It’s alive!” to myself when I illuminated the final product under the blacklights.
After cutting into the cake at home and selfishly stuffing my face with the first piece, I brought it down to a local tattoo shop to share with my brother and his friends at work. I knew they’d be the best audience for this cake since they’re always wearing Threadless t-shirts. They enjoyed scarfing down some yummy cake under the blacklights in between appointments and hopefully the glowing cake brightened their Friday afternoon.