How to Paint Ghost Flames & Lightning

Painting macabre subject matter has been popular ever since human artists first picked up a paint brush. Eerie lighting and magical or fantastical elements added to mundane everyday occurrences can create a cool and disturbing visual effect. One subject that comes to mind is the idea of ghostly flames. Flames by themselves have a hypnotic visual element to them, but blue ghostly flames can create an even more intense effect. For the example in this article you will be learning to paint a set of ghostly flames offset by a stark bolt of lightning.

Things You'll Need

• Pre-gessoed canvas
• Dull pencil
• Acrylic paint in blue, yellow, white and red

Instructions

1. 

   Draw the flames out with a pencil before you lay down any paint. Do this by drawing one large triangle coming up from the bottom of the page. Split this triangle into three smaller triangles with one in the center and two on each side. These triangles should curve a bit to imitate the looks of flames. Do this by making the side of the triangle dip in and out like the curves on an "S" shape.

2. 

   Paint the flames blue and the background black. Make sure that absolutely no canvas is showing. This may require you to do multiple coats of black and blue. Let the canvas dry thoroughly for 1 hour.

3. 

   Mix one brush load of blue with one brush load of red and one brush load of white. Add two brush loads of water to this mix to thin the paint slightly. This should make a blue purple color. Lay this paint inside the blue flames. Leave a small amount of pure blur around the right edges of the flames and the bottom of the flames.

4. 

   Mix the blue purple paint you are using with an additional brush load of white. Add this to the middle sections of the previous coat of paint. Leave plenty of the blue purple showing around the edges of this new coat of paint.

5. 

   Blend the paint before it dries. Dip your brush in some water and place it on the newest coat of paint and pull this paint into the other sections of the flames with small curved brush strokes. Do this for each area of flames. Make sure that you keep your strokes light and add a significant amount of curve to each stroke to emulate the look of fire.

6. 

   Paint the lightning on the canvas. Mix one brush load of yellow with one brush load of water. Use your detail brush and add a diagonal line coming down from the upper left-hand corner. As you approach the flames branch the lightning bolt into two more lines. One should head straight down towards the flames and the other should continue across the page horizontally. Add two vertical lines going down from the right side of the lightning towards the flames.

7. 

   Dip the tip of your detail brush into the white paint. Add a thin line of white paint to the middle of the lightning bolt. Wash off your detail brush and dip it back into the watered down yellow. Add small tendrils of lightning coming off the main branches of the lightning bolt. These tendrils should look like tiny veins. Do this by drawing diagonal lines that split into two more lines just like the main lightning bolts. Wash off your brush and load it with one brush load of white paint mixed with one brush load of water. Add this to the very center highlights of the flames.

Tips & Warnings

• You can do great blending when the paint is wet, so be sure to play with the paint before it dries.

• Be sure to wash off your brushes after you are done using them or the acrylic paint will harden into plastic.

Resources

• Check out this gallery of cool ghost and skull flames for motorcycle art.