Our Eyes Eat First: Painting a Portrait..... with Chocolate!

Get ready to be blown away.

So, I was in the middle of cooking dinner and needed a quick "how to" on something. As usual I "google'd" my question and an interesting link about chocolate paintings of all things popped up. I clicked on it and was led to http://eyecandy.nanakaze.net/?p=313.

Needless to say my jaw dropped. That's a painting! Made out of chocolate! That looks so real! I knew I had to try this.

The first problem was deciding who to paint... I could paint myself but that would be a little vain.. LOL.. I could paint my husband but he would enjoy that too much : j

Then it hit me. Ill paint one of the most beautiful women Ive seen and she happens to be my favorite singer of all time - Sade. Shes just breathtakingly gorgeous and can I please look that good when Im her age?! Plus it will get me even more excited for her concert in June - Ive been waiting 10yrs since her last tour to see her! Alright - I'm ready. Lets go!

The eyecandy blog had great step by step pictures and I took a cue from that and decided to share step by step pictures of my project with you as well. The finished project was AMAZING and I couldn't believe how quickly it came together. There were a few mistakes I made which I will share with you so that it will avoided next time. Its all about learning from your mistakes! And because its so easy there can definitely be a next time!

1. Find a great black and white picture or one that you can make black and white. What you are looking for are distinct black, white and midtones areas.

she's flawless! (from her "Best of" album cover)

2. Print out this picture. If there is any writing on it be sure to print it backwards as your final product will be a mirror image. Tape to a secure surface like sturdy cardboard. Then take parchment paper and tape it over the picture. You will basically be tracing over the picture with different layers of chocolate.

fyi my parchment paper is unbleached which is why its brown and not white

3. Chop up dark chocolate or use dark chocolate chips like I did. Put them into a sandwich bag and let them sit in a bowl of hot water and melt. Also gather bamboo skewers which you will need.

4. Once the chocolate is melted cut a small tip off of the corner of your bag. Now whereever there is black in the picture trace over that area with the chocolate. Keep steady pressure while piping out with the bag. . Once you outline everything then fill in the black areas with the dark chocolate. Use the bamboo skewers to help you fill in the gaps. You can then use the bamboo skewers to dip into the chocolate to be more precise when tracing over the eyes, lips etc. Refrigerate while you prepare for the next step.

dark chocolate layer done! that was easy...

5. For the next step prepare and melt the white chocolate in the same way. Mix together the white and dark chocolate to get a good mid-tone color.

yum..

6. Take the picture out of the fridge and just like tracing fill in the mid-tone areas to give your painting its depth. If some of the lighter chocolate gets on the dark chocolate don't worry because it wont affect the end product. Once done, refrigerate.

mid-tone colors filled in - that was really quick!

7. After the chocolate has hardened (this doesn't take long 10 minutes or so) its time to do the last and easiest step. This is where I made a mistake and I will tell you how to avoid what I did wrong. First outline the outside of the entire picture with melted white chocolate.

Then pour white chocolate over the entire picture so that it is completely covered. (not pictured) It is VERY IMPORTANT that your chocolate is not too warm otherwise the chocolate underneath will melt. Smooth the white chocolate gently and evenly and be careful not to disturb the layers underneath. This is where I went wrong. I was a little heavy handed and ended up messing up the dark chocolate layer over one of the paintings eyes. Also tap the chocolate on the counter/table to get rid of trapped bubbles. Again, this is something I didn't do enough of so there were craters in my finished product.

Last layer - seriously this is too easy..

8. Once you're done smoothing out the white chocolate layer, place back in the fridge or freezer. When the chocolate has hardened place another sheet of parchment paper over the painting and invert carefully. Peel away the parchment paper and voila! The finished product!

done!

Again I was completely surprised at how easy and how little time it took for how wonderfully professional it turns out! I hope you try it out and surprise someone special with a really unique gift! (How great would it be to surprise your loved one with a personalized chocolate portrait as the topping on their next birthday cake??)