Making image candy is harder than we thought...

[@pattimessenger6214]

I have only seen the first few minutes, but I want to say that I admire you for stepping outside your comfort zone, on KZbin! I bet it turns out great!

[@HerculesCandy]

Thanks for the support Patti!

[@o0oqtkato0o]

This is my 3rd video in and I’m in love with this channel- the family dynamic- the wholesomeness of it all is so beautiful -❤

[@ArsinoeIvy]

I’m not a candy maker, but I am a crafter, 😂, so I’ve tried to replicate OPVs before and had similar experiences… I would suggest picking up some playdoh or polymer clay in a few colors and working out the design first so that everyone on the team is already comfortable making their assigned shape(s) and you can practice without the heat making it more difficult, you can all start out slow before you need to go fast… It definitely won’t solve all the problems, but it might let you work out the kinks in the process and design before there is hot sugar on the table….

[@gillianmuspic2337]

exactly what I was going to suggest

[@barongerhardt]

Dough or clay to workout the shaping, and I would draw out all the preforms and steps.

[@lisascenic]

🎃What a brilliant way of prototyping🎃

[@catalina9844]

Great suggestion !

[@mygirldarby]

I make polymer clay canes. It's a lot of fun and not as hard as it looks. It's of course easier with clay I'm sure.

[@gabriellemccoy4536]

14:34 Take a shot every time Steve says, “You gotta warm that up.” 😂😂😂😂😂😂 We love that monotone man so doggone much!!!!!!

[@byronmurphy1977]

There is low key, then there is Steve lol

[@YayWei320]

“Is that the eye? It is now!” 😂 Terry is hilarious hahaha. Love seeing all hands on deck for this feat! 🧡

[@pattiwhaley1067]

Steve never looks to excited when you show them image candy but terry does ha!ha!

[@HerculesCandy]

And Julia!

[@EmilyGOODEN0UGH]

So cool! I would suggest you get a bunch of rulers and scissors at dollar tree, and draw the design to size in the diameter of a foot long log of candy, mark it into squares and triangles, and keep it right there on the table in a ziplock bag. Maybe even NUMBER the segments? "I've got 6 7 8 have you got nine and ten?" Everyone makes their pieces to fit the paper pattern and foot long ruler. Just an idea.

[@theturtlemoves9310]

I also watch @Stickylollies and it was nice to see you guys doing the same thing, but as beginners. They make it look so easy because they do it all day long. I like seeing the start, so I can see the progress.

[@HerculesCandy]

I agree, I love watching videos of people trying stuff when they're still new and seeing the progression!

[@luzraji76]

❤❤❤ very sweet and charming when Terry said 24:04 " Steve won't you bring your muscles over here " 😊 Very challenging for everyone, good job all of you!❤❤❤

[@sparkequinox]

I am guessing when they use the "hold it and let it droop" is actually very important for making the image start, and probably has a big difference on the image quality. If you think about it, letting it drop pulls the material away from the start, and probably makes for clean edges in the image. It would certainly explain why they always do swans and "waste" quite a bit at the start, perhaps a necessary evil.

[@mygirldarby]

Holding it allows it to droop evenly. With clay canes you have to roll them thin.

[@junesondrab3833]

The Japanese candy makers sure have perfected the art of image candy. Its amazing to watch.

[@jkl1202]

I’m pretty sure the video they were watching was a shop in Australia that makes image candy. Not Japanese.

[@user-pooped]

@junesondrab3833 I agree the Japanese do a 100% perfect job at it. Yes!!! Love watching them make image candy!! It is sheer bliss!

[@reneeoler5314]

Cool! I have a hint that might help in future, make it a short far cane because it’s easier to build the image that way then it can be reduced in size after image is created. At least that’s my experience with polymer clay 😂I’m not sure about molten candy!

[@tinekekalkwiek6517]

For the first time every body did a great job. When you are making it more it will look better. Great JOB guys

[@thatgirlinokc3975]

Woohoo part 2!! However it turns out, it was cool of you to try

[@michelemarie4128]

Charlie Brown had his Christmas tree, Hercules Candy has their pumpkin image candy. 🎃

[@rainysunflower384]

This was so fun to watch! Plus the best thing about image candy is that no matter how it looks, it will still taste great!

[@laurelsemcek4693]

If you watch Sticky from when they started filming in around 2020 they explain from the beginning of the batch what is being done because they are filming live and answering questions. It took Dave's daughter awhile to get where she is in making them.

[@gottagift]

For those of you who do not have the candy to craft with, this art is more directly related to polymer clay. I have done this with polymer clay when making beads. Interestingly enough, the forming of a roll to cut into small pieces is called forming a cane.

[@CaitS34]

The Aussie candy channel, can’t remember their name, but they make a ton of image candy. They slowly stretch the entire finished image, before they start pulling into strands.

[@danshooey4277]

The internal image components are kept at a colder temperature to maintain thier integrity. These are reheated when the larger warmer outer wrapper is added and can then be pulled. It is very similar to Millefiori, or Murrine, a very old technique used in glassmaking that produces elaborate work consisting of a multitude of small glass rods, bevels and canes that have been fused together and shaped into different designs. The name came from the Italian for “thousand flowers”.

[@markrobbins8711]

It’s crazy I’ve been watching y’all from the basement to a shop. Love y’all keep it up

[@tiffanyl4071]

Been watching for a very very long time and I am surprised it took so long for image candy. :) Great job! I am very impressed with your first try! You can totally mix those and make a pumpkin and jack o lantern mix and sell it as special edition Halloween image candy. I would totally grab some of those!

[@HerculesCandy]

Actually we have 2 other image candy videos if you want to check them out!

[@jeanhorne5893]

I loved watching ya make the pumpkins candy .Ya did a fantastic job.God bless you all.

[@LindaLawton]

Mutant pumpkin Halloween candy just became a thing love it 😂

[@pah23]

Julia is just incredible!! Perfect as always Julia ❤

[@shazibrahim7208]

ummm....ok if you say so

[@CapnChkn1]

One thing I notice, is that glass blowing glass, and hot sugar have similar properties, though not the same materials. The candies are setting and going flat, when somebody comes along to keep the "source" round, they just wibble it back and forth a little, rather than roll it back and forth. Glass blowers constantly roll their materials. They describe the material as like honey while it's molten and being formed. The rolling keeps it in form. In the case of the fluid sugar, this handling isn't keeping the shape, all the colors are then crushed, rolled around, and rolled in again. So the areas of color in the cross section are malformed.

[@hikariyouk]

Watching people making sticks of rock in the UK has always been magic too. How the hell you work out how these huge lumps of colour will form readable words when you squish it down is beyond me.

[@youtuechar]

you bild your letters/image big, by pulling it out it stays the same, just everything smaller with the same ratios

[@SW-ni9uq]

Love it! Such a great reminder that trial and error is the best way to learn and that no matter how skilled we are, we never stop learning. ❤😊🎃

[@chuckgenglerjr.2177]

from Buffalo, NY ......" Practice makes perfect " I see lots of image art projects in your future , these videos are amazing Luv them all , Steve & Terry you have great employees working for you. Looking forward to more videos & great creations

[@AndrooH]

@Stickylollies are undisputed masters of this stuff, it's so hard to do!

[@CelticRuneSinger]

Yeah but they were shown image candy by Greg from lofty Pursuits

[@AndrooH]

Maybe, but they were also shown @Stickylollies making image candy and posted a video of it! 🤷 I'd still argue Sticky are the best in the business.

[@MelissaWB-ip1lw]

Great practice run. You guys did great.

[@parkerman2259]

The main reason I watch your videos is to see the teamwork. Ghost pepper?! Yowza!

[@luzraji76]

" you need to have an imagination to see it" 😂😂😂

[@MrSongib]

Learn and try to make it, capture the whole thing. This series is a joy to watch. ty guys

[@KelleySings]

This is awesome! Good job everyone

[@jacobsims5848]

I love how the guy that didn't take notes also didn't forget any steps

[@OlafsLeftArm]

I think the difference is mainly the titanium white. The color difference of more and less orange was just not enough.

[@fiftyfive70]

How fun to try something new! Kudos to you! 🎃

[@rgoodwinau]

Aussie with NO candy making knowledge here! Enjoyed watching the skills with the two batches - particularly the learnings from the first batch. Gotta think this is a Halloween season big seller when you get it down pat!

[@catalina9844]

This whole process is fascinating! I didn’t even consider that people making beads would go through the same steps! I think the idea of making a model sounds like a good idea- but making the model would be hard in itself lmao! Great work trying this and putting it on the tubes ❤❤❤❤

[@RobinBoth-vp8yk]

You did an awesome job on this candy, especially since you've never made it before. This is a great video!! So much fun seeing you make new things!! You all worked very well together as a team to bring it together. Well done!!👏😍🎃

[@anothorestes]

Wow! Greg really makes it look easy!

[@CelticRuneSinger]

Cause practice can makes things look easier than things are

[@shebeesstitchyworld]

So, will you try to keep making more of this type candy or does it take too much time?? Loving how you’re trying to make new candies. I’m tired from watching you go through the work - LOL!!!

[@byronmurphy1977]

Too time-consuming, I would imagine.

[@sterlling1]

They turned out so cute

[@danielcarter305]

I think it helped having an artist because I recall Cooper doing most of the design part of it last time. It was a good try though better than I could ever do.

[@GoBravesATL]

I so applaud y’all for doing this & encourage you to keep going. I have watched what happened to Sticky & you are primed to do the same thing but in the USA. Yes, I know sticky has some Californians but you will be your own thing. I am pulling for you!

[@WaterfallFW]

I think they look very cute and I’d love to see more characters! How exciting to do more things at work, I bet the time flew. Maybe you could do Steve’s face with a hat and grey hair or one of the ladies with a great smile. Keep up the good work. I always enjoy seeing what your sweet family is doing. ❤

[@TheFonzieCommunity]

its nice to get inspiration from sticky, maybe you'll be able to master your versions; but those explains why its hard to do!!! you'll get better soon!!!

[@wyckedwolf7605]

I've never wanted more then ever to reach through the screen & help ya'll as I do right now. Lol.🎃🎃 👊👊 Awesome job.

[@ahenderson9497]

You should do an exchange program with Sticky so you can get some hands on experience. They make it look so easy.

[@CelticRuneSinger]

They already have done stuff like this before with Greg from lofty pursuits teaching tgenome image candy or a.k.a. Vintage rock candy

[@kisawulf3768]

You all did really good for your first time ❤

[@donnabeard7315]

I noticed that Sticky continues to roll the rods as they cool to keep them round.

[@HerculesCandy]

Yes, we tried, but we were having a hard enough time pulling them out round enough haha

[@kianaone2610]

For NEVER having done this before you guys did pretty good at making a pumpkin.

[@wendylou8963]

I was so looking forward to see how you do!! I did like the idea of cranberry flavour in the candy lolol

[@gammacarla8426]

I loved that you tried this! Very good to press your boundaries and experience something different. Should be called “crazy cauldrons”

[@connieharding4887]

You guys are the best when I get my coffee I turn on the tube and look for new shows from you I love watching if I was closer I would want to work there

[@HeadCannonPrime]

Good first try! You really jumped into the deep end. Maybe try a simple design until you get a feel for the separation and amount of each color.

[@MayorMcheese12]

Lofty pursuits makes it look easy

[@daiseymae6263]

Love you all!! Mom is so beautiful!! And dad ain’t so bad himself!!

[@pattiwhaley1067]

I check my phone all the time making sure it don't miss a live one coming on I love watching your family making candy

[@HerculesCandy]

Thanks for supporting us so much!

[@lauramacdonald158]

Great first try! Love them!

[@thormalakowsky]

To me Julia's "duck" looked like Nessie (Loch Ness Monster) so it makes sense that it disappeared.

[@terriralphs2011]

4 colors needed orange, for the outer shell; green, for the stem: black, for the eyes and teeth; and white, for the contrast

[@claire4167]

Nice work!! It’s something that will improve as you do them but considering it’s something new and out of your comfort zones it worked well. Consider it a training day x

[@jvebarnes]

For a first attempt this went very well as with most things it's practice that makes it perfect. So I'm looking forward to some kangaroo from Peru image candy😁

[@bethsmith3421]

Great job, guys. Your pumpkins are cute and unique. I think they are perfect in the sense that you tried something different and it did work.

[@Capt.Bains71]

Really amazing. 🎉well done, I cannot wait to see more.😊

[@SolidDamedron]

An idea might be to rehearse the design with play-doh since it setup on you and you can check if the design pans out.

[@dellawilliams3489]

The more you do this the better you will get. I would like to see you do more and see how good you do get

[@erikevenson4303]

honestly if you just make the pumpkin without the carved face it would be nice for the holiday.

[@heavychevyjj2323]

So fun! Great job 🎃

[@bigfrizzycurls]

Idk if anyone has suggested this because I haven’t read the comments, but maybe consider getting the insides down by using clay. The concept would work the same and then you could apply what you know getting the inside right to the candy.

[@CelticRuneSinger]

You're like the fourth that has mentioned this

[@deloradeabel8487]

Maybe a ghost head would be easier than a pumpkin head?love the channel

[@leled5128]

I Love watching you all.

[@lin90210]

In the end it's still yummy orange flavoured rock. Who would deny sugar. Don't worry about big pieces Scott. In the UK we have the whole long stick and break it ourselves.

[@byronmurphy1977]

Blackpool rock

[@Dierwolf2000]

so the difference between hard candy and window glass chemistry wise is sugar is the glass former in candy and silica is the glass former in the windows. Image mosaics in glass are quite honestly the most challenging thing ive ever done period. to make edible ones is a truly kind and generous thing.

[@drachior]

if i had to hazard a guess - you skipped on reheating the core bits before quickly adding the outer layer, and in general had to work fast enough for it to work. if the core is colder than the outside, you'll just be pulling off the outer layer instead of a good spread. guess this is why your second attempt worked better. Thinned out piece, less temperature difference between core and outer temperature... So either go faster or go thinner?

[@janetduelley3001]

You all should watch the video a few more times. You did well for the first time. 🎃

[@saylorpartyof5]

I wanna see Steve pick the blop of molten sugar up and make a bubble like Dave does! 💕💕 love y’all trying this out!

[@lisascenic]

I love your positive energy and how you all work together so well! 🎃 The improvement between the first and second batch is remarkable! Good for you! 🎃 I agree with the commenters who suggest working out the proportions in clay before attempting to “draw” with molten candy.

[@twentyfoursevensmoke]

47:30 - that candy looks like its about to ask me for tree fiddy

[@lobke666]

I think it is courageous to step outside your comfort zone. I think the candy turned out really cute. even experienced candy makers have difficulty with this. still did a great job. how I would have liked to taste it.

[@lucy7b]

Cooper would have enjoyed this, he is so creative.

[@catalina9844]

Good job hercules team!

[@lindaball403]

They are adorable! You guys did good!

[@aukebij3193]

Small tip: if you stick the pieces together, first dampen them a little with a sponge than they stick better

[@rbzsfg]

After watching this video, I really appreciate the image candies i get in Japan even more.

[@beckscald3855]

Okay so I've seen A LOT of image candy and watching this was really interesting.

[@lindaball403]

Plus, they have all the heated tables and cool tables because that is what they have been doing all these years! It's cool you guys are trying out different ways to make candy.

[@danieljckson]

Good job trying something out of the wheelhouse!

[@lindaball403]

I also watch Sticky and when they pull it, they pull enough down the line and the next person chops it off. It might be cooler like that.

[@torontokat54]

Terry is right, it looks like a November pumpkin. hee, hee, hee! I think your idea of black for eyes and teeth would work better.

[@qtdanna]

Sticky Australia and Sticky USA make it looks sooooo easy. They do use a damp sponge as a “glue” to stick pieces together. Y’all are off to a good start! Keep practicing!

[@CelticRuneSinger]

Those sponges are an option but they do break down overtime Also they have had some teaching from greg from lofty pursuits

[@qtdanna]

@@CelticRuneSinger sponges aren’t that expensive and should be replaced periodically. I have seen the video from Lofty Pursuits.

[@judydenham2110]

I think Julia should go and spend some time at Lofty Pursuits as learning from someone who knows what they're doing in person I think would be easier. But congrats all of you for giving it a go!!!

[@gillianmuspic2337]

excellent idea

[@silvergirl7810]

I THOUGHT YOU’D NEVER TRY!! Hooray!! Finally!! Been waiting for this 4ever! 🍬🍭🎃

[@DawnShipley1977]

Lofty Pursuits let's their batches twist and they are fine.

[@JhonnyMah]

You guys should invite the Japanese people from Moga Moga to do a collab video together after this, you could even plan and set it up for Halloween next year.

[@weathermann1505]

I miss basement videos

[@andrean9413]

Seems like it would be better if Steve used scissors because it is still so soft. You did a great job because this was a huge undertaking! I’ve also noticed on other videos that they roll the rods continuously until the have hardened so they are straight. This is a big, complicated undertaking!

[@CelticRuneSinger]

Actually that may load soft but it's not it's actually a certain level of firmness

[@Eye2Sky4U]

There is a Hercules Candy Co channel with your videos on it...didn't know if it was yours or an imposter. ❤ love your channel

[@Rusty_Nickle]

He actually raised something interesting you could try. You could have orange candy but make it grape flavored or yellow candy and make it cherry flavored. Make the red lemon flavored. Etc