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Step 1
Represent a simple flame with only a few lines. If making a cartoon line drawing in pencil, pen or marker, draw a flame with a few S-shaped lines. Make the lines more gestured and quick, to indicate the movement that flames make. For a candle flame, create a basic teardrop shape, with a little bit of asymmetry to indicate movement.
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Step 2
Draw on dark or black paper to realistically draw a flame. Use colored pencils or even pastels for brighter color. One thing that brings the fire to life is the bright, burning color. A small flame may be only a soft variation of deep yellows or oranges, while a large fire may have blue, white, yellow, orange and red.
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Step 3
Look at a source. It is hard to picture fire in the mind. Do not get too close to fire, but look at pictures of it. Photographs can be found of any kind of fire. Try to re-create the fires in the photographs for practice.
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Step 4
Pay close attention to movement. Creating movement in the picture is essential to realistically depicting a flame.
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Step 5
Notice the variation in shade of the flame. Pay close attention to blending the colors and know which colors represent the hotter and cooler parts of the fire. Even if drawing in black and white only, the flame needs to be shaded around the edges and white hot in the center of the flame.
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Step 6
Consider the light that the flame gives when drawing. If the flame is in a setting with other things, think of how the warm glow of the fire will hit other things. If drawing only a flame, there will still be a glow around it.
Comments
robertsloan2 said
on 10/3/2007 Nice. I like the way you cover how to render fire without being able to use illustrations, though a photo reference would have helped with this article.