Tomatoes and strawberries are red, bananas are yellow, cabbages are green, chocolate is brown, and oranges are – well – orange, aren’t they?  One of the key things to making successful miniature food is getting the colour right.  So, put aside these stereotypical colour preconceptions, get some of the real full sized examples in front of you to copy, get your clays out then prepare to experiment, and have fun!

Half close your eyes when looking at the real thing and forget for a moment that it’s an item of food.   See it in terms purely of colour then attempt to describe that colour to yourself before you start mixing your clays.

For example, study the outer leaves of a Savoy cabbage and you’ll start seeing more blue than green.  The brown in milk chocolate is more blue than red.  Strawberries vary from cream to a deep red, but by far the most common colour I’ve seen in strawberries is orange.  Unless bananas are very under-ripe in which case they are very yellow, they do contain  a high proportion of ochre and white.   And oranges are often more yellow than orange.  Tomatoes can often be the hardest colour to replicate since too much red makes them at best over-ripe, and at worst something else altogether.  The irony is that when it comes to mixing, tomatoes are actually more orange than oranges.  So from experience, I can tell you that the trick with tomatoes is to start with orange and gradually work in small flecks of red. 

You should also look at the intensity of the colour of the item that you’re copying.    Translucent clay is an absolute must when you’re making miniature food as you frequently need to soften a colour.  I probably use as much translucent clay as all the other colours put together.   

If, when looking at the item, you think that Mother Nature has merely brushed a little colour onto it (for example the mauve on a turnip or a garlic bulb), try doing the same with your miniature using some powdered chalk pastel before you bake it.   The effects can be extremely realistic.  (A bit of a digression, but a useful tip here – brown and black chalk makes brilliant dirt on potatoes)

Most of all don’t forget to have fun.  No clay needs to be wasted even if you go wildly off-colour.  It will keep.  You can use it again for something later.   I have a huge box of bits that I dig into as a first port of call when making a new miniature.   I only go to a fresh block of colour if I can’t find something to mess around with from my bit box first.

In summary, don’t assume you know the colour of something before you start, but be prepared to experiment.  As in nature, you can – and should – vary the shades of the same things for added realism.     Going back to oranges, strawberries and tomatoes – remember - some are less orange than others!