Tiger Plaque Cake Decorating and Baking Tutorial

Tutorial Preview

Join NOW to access 1661 courses Watch Now
14 Day FREE Trial
Tiger Plaque
with Calli Hopper
Skill level: Advanced
HD Lessons: 12
Decorating time: 1 Day
Now Playing
10:50

Highlights

Here we have carefully selected some of the key parts of this tutorial that should give you enough to get started. Perfect for those of us struggling to find the time to watch the entire tutorial.

Now Playing
09:59

1. Preparing the Plaque and the Paints

In this lesson Calli shows us how to prepare the plaque using a printed out image of a tiger along with tracing paper. Once you have marked your key areas you are ready to move onto preparing the paints. Calli uses a mixture of cocoa butter and dusts to create her paints.

Now Playing
10:21

2. Starting on the background and the Fur

You will notice as you watch Calli just how important a soft touch and taking your time is. Never rush painting and always keep looking at your subject. Calli has the image in front of her and is continuously looking up at it so as to not assume anything. Be careful where you are placing your hand as you paint as the warmth from your hand will melt the cocoa butter. Calli suggests placing down a piece of kitchen paper down to rest your hand on where you have not yet painted.

Now Playing
05:26

3. Building up the Fur

Here Calli starts to build up the texture and the colour of the fur using a mixture of various shades of orange and yellow. You will notice how the smallest amount of paint can completely change a colour so be very subtle with your colour mixing and perhaps paint onto a piece of paper before committing to the plaque.

Now Playing
13:26

4. Starting on the Eyes

In this lesson Calli begins to build up the left eye carefully mixing oranges with and yellows while using white the give the illusion of reflection. Again it is a slow but precise build up of little strokes of the brush with constant attention to the original image.

Now Playing
09:49

5. Adding the Fur In and Around the Ears

Calli uses a stiff brush with a little black paint on it and uses short strokes up the way to create the fur effect. She then switches the yellows and oranges and does the same technique in reverse slightly into the black strokes to add to the realism of the fur.

Now Playing
09:34

6. Working on the Nose

Here Calli begins to work on the nose working with the oranges, yellows and browns. She advises that using your finger to blend the colours is a great way to softly merge colours but it’s best to do it while the paint is wet.

Now Playing
16:27

7. Adding Detail Around the Mouth

In this lesson Calli begins to work on adding fur and texture around the mouth creating greys and working lightly with the brush. If like Calli you find there is a bit you feel you could have done better simply use a very small sharp knife to gently scrape it away and start again. This is the magic of working with cocoa butter.

Now Playing
08:58

8. Adding Detail Pt 1

Calli now starts to focus on the finer details around the Tiger such as the ground beneath it’s paws and face. She shows us how to create the illusion of depth of field by making the face feel more in focus than the foreground. She also shows us techniques for adding depth to colours and creating various shades.

Now Playing
12:17

9. Finishing Touches

Here Calli goes on to add the last little bits of details but as you will see it is open to interpretation as to when one is finished. It can be difficult to stop so every now and again take a break and step back and take a look with fresh eyes. In this lesson we see Calli use a scriber tool to add in even finer hair and general detail by scratching into the colours revealing the white paste below.

Now Playing
02:11

10. Further Tips

In this lesson Calli gives us some vital information and advice regarding the finished plaque and how we should store it and so on. She sheds more light on the working practices of working with cocoa butter and the paints used. Brilliant and very vital information.

Now Playing
03:15

11. Pro Lesson

Paul and Calli share some insider information vital for any professional cake designer looking to earn money from this beautiful piece of edible art.

Calli from Callicious Cakes introduces us to her beautiful hand-painted tiger plaque. Calli has a background in graphic and textile design and is also a painter, which clearly shows in her intricate paintwork and this is the perfect tutorial to learn how to create stunning edible art, with Calli’s easy to follow instructions.
With the techniques learned in this tutorial you could go on to create almost any animal you like and even apply the paint straight onto a cake. There are many different ways in which you can present this plaque, whether it is placed onto a cake or perhaps presented as is surrounded by themed cupcakes…the possibilities are endless! This would be perfect for an animal lover and is suitable for a variety of  occasions.

We would love to see your take on the Tiger Plaque – please share your pictures with us on our Facebook Page!

Calli Hopper

Calli Hopper

Calli Hopper is an internationally recognised, award-winning expert in her field of hand-painted cakes. From graphic artist, illustrator, textile designer to cake artist,Calli has embraced her skills learnt over the years and transposed into confection, thus developing her own style of photo-realism painting, sculpting and tiered cakes. Calli fully advocates knowledge-sharing, as this is how she learnt and grew and would like to help others grow as well.
14 Day Free Trial