Food Art Inspired By Cute Animals, Pop-Culture Characters, And Other Various Things By Artist Harley Langberg (70 Pics)

Bored Panda was interested to learn more about Langberg's passion for food art and what drew him to it in the first place, so we asked him a few questions. He was kind enough to share some deeper insights into his craft. He told us that things started around 9 years ago, when he was living in the Meatpacking area in New York City.

"One day, while visiting Chelsea Market, I noticed they had featured beautiful food art photography all along the walls of the market created by Bill and Claire Wurtzel. I was so amazed having never seen this form of art before," he shared how awestruck he was.

"That night, since I was already in the market, I bought some ingredients and created my very first piece of food art. Since then, my pieces have become much more detailed and intricate, I have used more exotic ingredients like dried anchovies, and my photography and editing have also significantly improved," he revealed to us how his approach has changed over the years.

According to Langberg, each one of his creations can take anywhere from 1 to 3 hours to finish. It all depends on the complexity of the piece!

"I often choose ingredients that are very colorful and have great texture. I love Whole Foods because they have such a great selection of produce and it's always very fresh," he shared.

"As soon as I finish the piece, I take the photo since if I wait too long the ingredients won't look as fresh and as beautiful. I actually do very little editing before the final photo. Maybe a few minor touch-ups and that's it."

We were curious about the advice that Langberg would give food artists who are just starting out. Here's what he told Bored Panda: "I would tell them not to be too ambitious when starting out. Start with simpler images but execute them really well paying attention to detail and then work your way up to more complex pieces."

Meanwhile, new food artists should pay attention to the lighting and photography as well. "And also have fun with it! At the end of the day, it's about having fun, relaxing, and doing something creative," Langberg pointed out that, first and foremost, you have to enjoy what you're doing.

"Sometimes, the ingredients just don't work the way you want them to like when I had to use chili powder for one commission and the granules were going all over the place. Also sometimes ideas and concepts in my head end up being too hard to execute."

An ingredient that the food artist loves working with is cookie dough because of how versatile it is. "You can dye it any color and mold and shape it like clay or play-doh. It’s a lot of fun to work with and creates a great base, especially for portraits."

Finally, we were interested in how artists can focus more on the art itself than on getting popularity on social media. "It’s hard to not get caught up in all of the likes and views, especially in today’s society. Followers come and go, likes go up and down but at the end of the day this is your time and your money involved when creating food art," Langberg told us.

"So you have to enjoy it first and foremost and that’s the most important thing. Everything else should be extra."