Question

Please explain how to paint fire and burning embers Walter Ospina, Canada

Answer David replies

Painting fire can be a little tricky at first, so it helps to remember that it’s no different than painting any other element or texture. To help show you how to do this I’ll create an illustration, in Photoshop, of a witch creating magic around a fire pit.

Like anything else you want to paint, I recommend you look at real-life references of your subject matter first. With fire, you need to try to create the illusion that there’s movement within your image. Fire is a fluid element with no real true form. Furthermore, the flames are constantly moving. They change shape and direction based on the space around them. So, we need to try and capture this in the design.

I want to create the impression that a lot of movement is happening in the fire pit. I don’t want the fire to look too static, or calm and gentle.

Don’t forget, fire gives light! If you want the effect to be convincing, you need to paint light on other objects within your image.