Paint Realistic Flames
Humanity has an obsession with fire. It keeps us warm, lights the dark, wards off predators and cooks our food. Fire also has been associated with danger, passion, anger and love. Because of this, fire is often depicted in art. This ranges from oil paintings all the way to flames painted on the side of motorcycles and hot rods. Painting fire is tricky because it is constantly in motion. However, there are a few simple techniques that you can use to effectively render flames in a realistic and beautiful manner.
Instructions
1. Draw out the line art for the flames on your canvas with a pencil. The shape of flames can be best drawn if you imagine the shape as a series of triangles that have been distorted. Begin drawing a triangle but dip the line in and out with wavy strokes. Don't be afraid to really exaggerate these warps and dips.
2. Place a a dab of each color of paint on your pallet. Mix up some of the red and orange to create a deep rust-orange hue. Paint the entire section of flames in this basic color. Paint the background solid black to accentuate the color of the flames.
3. Mix up a lighter hue of orange by adding in some yellow. Paint over most of the deep rust orange, leaving some areas exposed.
4. Add some bright yellow paint on top of the lighter orange. Keep the strokes smaller and leave more of the lighter orange exposed than you did with the rust orange.
5. Blend the colors together while the paint is still wet by adding a touch of water to your brush and softly spreading the yellow and orange together. Add white to the yellow paint, and with a small brush add this very bright yellow to the middle and tips of the brightest concentrations of yellow paint.
