How to Paint a Giant Gumpaste Rose

Color your gumpaste flowers using petal dust. It’s a terrific way to make them stand out, and utilizing two distinct colors is a good technique to get a realistic appearance for your sugar flowers.

Now that you’ve completed your giant gumpaste rose, it’s time to dress it up with some color. In this lesson, I’ll teach you how to color a huge gumpaste rose using petal dusts.

If you haven’t already, you can read the preceding article here: How to Create a Huge Gumpaste Rose. There’s also a video of the whole procedure.

I like modest color in my roses, so I chose a gentle peachy-pink tint with some faint moss green around the perimeter of the rose. I use cornstarch to lighten the hues of my petal dust. (There will be more on it later.)

Oh, and if you like your flowers to be a brighter hue, that is also an option.

This is the first of three posts in a series. These are the links to the individual posts in the series:

1. Making a Huge Gumpaste Rose
2. How to Paint a Giant Gumpaste Rose (youre here now)
3. Gumpaste Rose Leaves: How to Make and Color Them

I’ve provided screen photos and full instructions in this article. The good news is that there is a video later in the article that will walk you through all of the processes. Let’s get started!

There are affiliate links in this post. I earn money as an Amazon Associate by making qualifying purchases.

Supplies You’ll Need to Color a Gumpaste Rose:

• Petal dust in your preferred hues (For the outer petals, I blended flesh petal dust, soft pink, and akiwi green (or moss green) with cornstarch.) (If you decide you want a pure white rose, Ive got some recommendations below for that as well. I use white luster dust to add gloss.)
• I use satin white luster dust (similar) or super pearl dust for the white rose.
• Tiny paint brushes that are solely used for caking
• To lighten your color, use cornstarch.

To begin, if you do not want a white or extremely light colored rose, you must color your gumpaste before making the rose. When it has dried, apply more petal dust to intensify the color.

In this video, I’ll teach you two alternative dusting techniques. Suggestions for white roses, followed by a more classic, delicate aesthetic with two hues (as pictured above.)

Dusting the White Rose:

This one, as you would expect, is the simplest to color. Theoretically, you could leave the rose alone after it has dried, but I prefer to add a little more to it to give it a shine.

My preferred method is to use satin white petal dust (linked above in the ingredient list.)

It has very little shine, not quite enough to make the rose seem pearlized.

You may also use super pearl dust, but add a touch of cornstarch to tone it down if you don’t want your rose to seem too pearlized.

All you’re doing is sprinkling on a light tint of satin white luster dust, and that’s all. It’s seen in the video below.

Dusting the Rose with a bit of Color:

I wanted to go with a more antique rose vibe for this color option. There is a little of pinkish-coral in the centre and greenish-yellow on the exterior petals.

Just combine your flesh-colored petal dust with the light pink dust to get the soft coral (blush-colored) effect. You should put the mixture in the center of your rose.

Dust the bud, first and second rows generously. Then, only a smidgeon of that color will be added where each petal meets the base. Repeat for the inside and outside of the petals.

I also like to put a little on the outside of the petals, right in the centre of each petal’s tip.

Then, combine the kiwi or moss green with a little amount of cornstarch. This somewhat lightens the color. This will be sprinkled on your outer petals. Complete the interior and outside of each petal (but just the outer petals.)

When the outer petals have been dusted with green, dust just a little closer to the interior of the flower, but not much on the bud region. You want the coral hue to be predominant in that region.

After that, flip your rose upside down and dust the outer petals.

Dust a bit more green around the base of the blossom.

Remember to dust the calyx. (I go into more detail about this in the last video of the series.)

After your rose has been dusted, use an empty squirt bottle to blow some air on it to remove any loose dust. You may also add gloss to it by twirling it under a steamer. If you do that, don’t approach too near to the steamer since it only takes a few seconds to melt it.

I elected not to steam mine since I like the matte finish.

You can see a video of the procedure here:

That’s all! You’ve now obtained a lovely rose! Don’t forget to go over the rest of the blogs and videos in this series. They may be found here:

1. Making a Huge Gumpaste Rose (with a free printed quick reference guide!)
2. How to Paint a Giant Gumpaste Rose (youre here now)
3. Gumpaste Rose Leaves: How to Make and Color Them

Now I want to view your lovely powdered flowers. If you want to attempt a new color combination but are stuck, please contact me for suggestions. I have a thousand (or maybe just a hundred) color combinations that I believe would look great together.