Choose a subject to recreate before acquiring the food. Keep it simple in the beginning. Choose easily recognizable items such as sheep, faces, penguins, trees or flowers.
Identify a food item that best correlates to the shape of the object or can lend itself to easy carving in order to produce shapes. For sheep, consider beginning with a body made of cauliflower. Or make a penguin from black olives. Unless carved, each body section, limb or appendage must be made with its own food item. Use anything edible, including vegetables, spices, fruits, nuts and pickled items.
Piece the items together using tools such as toothpicks or glue. If your art needs to be made completely of edible components, create an edible glue by using tylose powder (an edible pastry glue from powder that is mixed with warm water) or try using a small piece of gum paste or marzipan. For heavier objects, such as attaching a strawberry to a lemon, use a toothpick or dowel.
Decide on a food photography genre, either food styling or food modeling. Food styling and photography is perhaps the leading genre in professional food-based art. Food modeling, on the other hand, is the use of food to create scenes (like modeling) to be photographed and enlarged.
Set up and style a food scene. Food styling can be done in a variety of ways--against a detailed background with objects, isolated against bright white or in a social scene. Natural light is crucial in food photography, so wait for a sunny day or create (or purchase) lens or light filters.
Create a food model. This type of art relies completely on the imagination of the modeler. There is no instruction for being imaginative. Coming up with unusual ideas such as placing monkeys in a broccoli forest or mountain climbers on a rocky road ice cream sundae have no how-to instruction. Create a scene in your head first, and then follow with the application.
Place people in the food model. Most food modeling is done either with miniature figurines or with a photo editing program in which life-size models are shrunk to fit the food scene.
Gather dry food items such as noodles, nuts, rice, beans, fruits and berries. You must use dried food items in food crafts or your art will mold.
Glue the items to paper or three-dimensional objects such as boxes or vases to create a mosaic.
Use dried noodles or beans to create artistic jewelry. String noodles onto hoop earrings or sew dried beans together with a needle and thread.