I begin with a fairly large ball of white fondant.  Form it into a cone shape, loosely resembling a cone-shaped tree.  I insert either a toothpick or a piece of uncooked spaghetti into the top of the cone to support the head.  If the item could be eaten, you MUST use spaghetti or warn the customer of the presence of the toothpick!

I then roll out black fondant thinly and use the largest Wilton circle cutter to cut a circle.  I recommend using black powder to make the black.  It fades less than using paste or liquid paste to color the fondant.  Cut a slit in the circle to the center.  I then use this cut circle to form the graduate's robe.  I place the top of the slit next to the toothpick or spaghetti and ease the circle into gentle folds like a robe.  I bring the edges of the slit together to form the front seam of the robe.  You may need to ease the fondant down lower in the back to cover the base of the cone.  Your fondant should give you plenty of stretch to do this.  While the fondant is still fresh, I add shoes (if desired) to peak out under the robe.  For shoes, I use small balls of the selected color and flatten them.  Fondant will normally stick to itself without problem if the modeling is done while the fondant is fresh.  Otherwise, you can use gum glue or water to act as an adhesive.

FOR THE BOY:  I model two small white triangles to form the collar of his shirt and attach these at the perceived neck.  I model a tiny red ball and a tiny red oblong to form the tie and place them next to the collar and going into the folds of the front seam of the robe.  Next, I make two small, black sausages to form the arms.  I taper the edges of the sausage where it will connect to the shoulder and use the end of a paint brush to open up the other end of the sausage to hold the hand.  I attach both sausages to the cone, curving the sausages into an arm shape.  It is usually necessary to hold these in place for a minute or so due to the weight.  I then take two small balls of flesh-colored fondant (pale peach, light brown, olive... whatever the race you are trying to model) and taper one end.  I then flatten the larger end and use small scissors to cut fingers and thumbs.  I smooth the cuts with my fingers and shape them to suit.  I then moisten the tapered end of the hands and insert that into the graduate's sleeves.  Next, I model a round ball of the flesh-colored fondant to form the head.  I insert that onto the toothpick.  I take extremely small portions of the fondant and form a ball for the nose and small logs that I curve into a "C" to form the ears.  For the hair, I roll out appropriately-colored fondant thinly and cut a small circle.  I remove a small "v" section from the circle and place the circle on the head so that the "v" forms the part in the boy's hair.  I then take a veiner or toothpick to mark lines in the "hair" to show the pattern.  For the hat, I roll out black fondant thinly and cut a small rectangle.  I roll the rectangle into a "newspaper" style log.  I take a small amount of red fondant and roll out a long, thin sausage and wrap it around the diploma.  I then place the diploma into the graduate's hands.  I hand paint the facial features of the graduate using a 10/0 paintbrush and thinned black paste (thinned with water).

FOR THE GIRL:  All above instructions remain the same, but instead of the collar and the tie. I use a small gumpaste flower cutter to cut a scalloped circle.  Place the white collar on the cone after forming the robe.  For her hair, I usually use a slightly larger circle cutter.  I place the hair on her head a little further back so that the hair drpes down her shoulders more and curves out.  I form 2-3 small balls and place them at the front of the hairline to form bangs.  Use a toothpick or veiner to draw in lines on her bangs and her hair.

I had modeled these prior to an article done on me by my local paper.  They were pictured in the article.  I had numerous calls about the figures.  We are now going to offer them for sale at our store for graduation.  They will cost between $7.00 and $10.00 and use approximately 6-8 ounces of fondant.  I plan to attach them to small gumpaste or fondant circles so that they could be easily removed from the buttercream or whipped icing cakes we commonly do at work.