I'm trying to make an overlay for [pet not found], who storywise is a gingerbread boy/man. This is what I have so far:

I made the eyes brown to look like chocolate chips and touched up the stitches on the jacket so that they look more like frosting. (I also got rid of the tail, but that was just because I hated the tail, not to make him look more edible.) Oh, and I gave him a toasty tan.

I'm kind of stuck now. I really want to do something with the pants and the ribbon, but I'm not sure what. I've made tons of overlays, but my skills are pretty limited. I can recolor, I can add images and make them look integrated, and I can sometimes get rid of things.

I'm not sure if this is beyond my skill level or not, but I can be rather stubborn and make something work if I have to. I guess I'm just not sure what direction to take. What would make this look more edible to you?

[Edit] 6/12/2020 7:36 pm Subeta time: Just wanted to say that I appreciate everyone's input so far! I am having to shelve this for now, but I will be coming back to it hopefully soon, and will be using the advice given here to make adjustments. That's why I'm editing my first post rather than responding, because I want to make sure I can update this thread when I'm ready. :)

That's suchhh a cute idea, and your overlay is wonderful so far! Maybe try giving him a bit of texture like the has? Perhaps even some little crumbs on the ground around his feet?

Adorable idea for a pet, and the overlay is really cute so far!

I second Reaction's idea about adding texture to make him look more like a cookie. I'd also suggest thinking of ways you might make a dessert look like Crumble--like what sort of other foods would be added to represent something else?

For example, red licorice could be used for a bow or shoelaces, spun sugar for whiskers or fluffy fur, peanut butter cups as part of a hat, etc. I could also see wrapping--like cupcake liners--be used to represent clothes.

Those are all really nice ideas in theory, but they may be beyond my skill set. Anything I have to actually draw from scratch is a no-go, and I'm not sure how to photo-manipulate my way into making some of those a reality.

I really would like to do something licorice-esque for the bow, but how? I use GIMP, and I'm not sure what would be the best method here.

I do like the idea of the whiskers being spun sugar - I think I could make them look more granular/sugary somehow. And I might be able to do a pleat/wavy thing with the shirt to make it look more like a cupcake liner, not sure. Things to play around with, though!

I do like the idea of adding more texture, and I definitely think that's something I can do! Thank you!

Gotcha--that makes sense! In that case, another way to make him look more dessert-like might be to add dusted sugar to parts of his body, or dusted cocoa to keep the darker ontra markings intact. To do that, all I would do is add scattered dots here and there around and on top of his present markings. It doesn't have to be perfectly even, either--desserts usually don't have perfect decorations, but it adds to the charm!

I think to add licorice strings for his bow, the way I would go about it is to first draw a simple red layer to make the shape of the bow, then add a white sheen to make it look candy-like:

I think GIMP has a curved line tool, which might be perfect for this--since licorice is the same width, you don't need to worry about pen pressure if you're using a mouse. It may help to add some transparency at the ends of highlights so it blends with any curves in the bow.

I've tried using the curved line tool with GIMP before and have had middling success. It was easier with one of the Adobe suite programs (I don't remember which one), but I only had access to those for a short time.

I think I'm going to start with the easy stuff and then work my way up. If the licorice is going to be red, then I'm going to need to change the color of his shirt so it stands out better. So I'll start there, and do the "dusting" and "sugaring" and see how all that goes before I get to the reconstructive surgery. ;)

Still need to figure out something about the pants though. It really bothers me that they look like pajamas. Any ideas? Maybe I could make the stripes more multicolored, like candy wrappers...

you could add some gumdrop/M&M buttons to his jacket, shouldn't be too hard.

Also trace over his eyebrows and maybe mouth/nose in white or bright colors to make them look like they are made with icing (just like you did the stitches). Maybe the whiskers too, hair sticking out of a cookie doesn't look the most appetising.

For the pants, there's sour belt candy you could use xX

Good luck! I know editing stuff can be challenging to figure out what works and what doesn't--been there myself lol.

For his pants, if you wanted to make it look like candy wrappers, you could add text that has flavor information, the type of candy it is, etc.--things along those lines.

I have nothing valuable to contribute here except that this is SO freaking cute and so well drawn

I think adding frosting outlines around the exposed parts of the "fur" would make him look like Gingerbread! And I second the candy button idea for his jacket :)

Very cute pet!