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About This Article

If you want to draw simple flames, make yourself guidelines to help give the flames the right shape. On a piece of paper, use a pencil to draw 3 mountain-like shapes with straight lines. Underneath those lines, draw the peaks again 2 more times until you have 3 identical lines with a little space between each. To give your flames height and irregularity, draw angled isosceles triangles along the top of the peaks. Once your guide is in place, draw your flames using the triangles as references for where the tips should go. Finally, erase the mountain-shaped guidelines so only your flames are left. For more help, like how to draw cartoon flames, read on.

Draw the Elements: How to Draw Fire

It’s getting cold outside, so let’s draw some fire to warm up! In this tutorial I will show you how to draw a candle flame, a campfire, and a thrown flame using a few simple tools.

What You Will Need

You can read more about these tools in the introduction to How to Draw Trees.

1. How to Draw a Candle Flame

Step 1

Sketch a candle using the hard pencil.

Step 2

Draw the outline of the flame. It should be quite elongated; a teardrop shape is not realistic.

Step 3

Add some space on the sides—this will be the glow around the flame.

Step 4

Tilt your pencil and draw all around the candle and the flame. Don’t press too hard, but try to cover all the white. We need to make the background dark, so that the fire (which is pure light) can stand out.

Step 5

Take your blending tool and drag it all around the area to make it smooth.

Step 6

Take a softer pencil and darken the area.

Blend it as well.

Step 7

Take the softest pencil and repeat the process, this time closer to the flame.

Step 8

Use the same pencil again, but this time very close to the flame. Feel free to press harder.

Step 9

When blending this area, go slightly inside the flame in the glow area.

Step 10

Use an eraser to separate the flame from the blurry glow.

Step 11

Use a hard and a soft pencil to shade the candle. The closer to the flame, the brighter it should be.

Step 12

Use the softest pencil to shade the wick and darken the base of the flame.

Step 13

Finally, use an eraser to make the melted wax shiny.

2. How to Draw a Campfire/Fireplace

Step 1

Sketch a stack of wood as a base for the fire. Use a hard pencil and keep the lines subtle.

Step 2

Sketch the flames embracing the wood from below.

Step 3

Darken the wood.

Step 4

Draw the rest of the flames. Keep them wavy and irregular.

Step 5

Darken the wood some more using a softer pencil. Keep the parts «inside» the fire brighter.

Step 6

Just like before, darken and blend the background. Don’t worry about smudging over the flames—they will look more natural this way!

Step 7

Use an eraser to «draw» a few flames over the wood.

Step 8

Add some dark ground to increase the contrast.

Step 9

Darken the background some more. This time, be careful not to touch the flames.

Step 10

Flames have three colors: white, yellow, and orange, but in grayscale it’s simply «bright» and «slightly darker». Use the hard pencil to make some of the flames «orange».

Step 11

Take the softest pencil and add the darker shade here and there to increase the contrast and make the flames brighter.

3. How to Draw a Thrown Flame/Dragon Fire

Step 1

Use a hard pencil to draw a subtle line showing the direction of the flame.

Step 2

Draw the outline of the flame with a shaking hand, making it narrow at the beginning and cloud-like at the end.

Step 3

Add a wider outline to create the area for the midtones.

Step 4

Just like before, use softer pencils and the blending tool to create the darkness around. Once you touch the «outer» outline, try to smudge some shade inside it.

Step 5

Take an eraser and give a cleaner edge to the inner flame. You can also add some flames flying around.

Step 6

Draw «waves» inside the flame to shade it a little. The hotter the flame, the brighter it should be, but subtle shading may make it look more interesting.

Step 7

Take the softest pencil and darken the background even more, if you feel it’s possible. This will make the flame even brighter. This is a good place to use a charcoal stick, if you have one—it will give you a nice dark shade without having to draw so much.

Good Job!

Did you like this tutorial? Check out others from the How to Draw Nature series:

Do you want to make your drawings look great when digitized? Try these:

How to draw cool effects! 【Fire】

Effects used in animation and games.
There are various attributes such as fire, water, wind, and lightning.

They look cool and create an atmosphere just by being drawn in the illustrations, don’t they?

So, as a series of articles, we would like to introduce how to draw the effects by categorizing them by attribute.
In this article, we’ll explain the fire effect.

How to draw the fire effect

1. Draw fire silhouettes

First, I painted the silhouette of the fire.
I set the background color to black to make it easier to see as more bright colors will be added later.

Draw the silhouette in vermilion.
You can use the “fingertips” of the brush tool to stretch and paint the end of the fire silhouette to get a better look.

2. Draw the bright areas

Draw the brighter parts of the fire.
The fire gets brighter and brighter as you move inward.
Add a new layer.

I painted in orange.
I used the Blur tool in the Brush tool to blur the area around the paint to blend it in.

We put on the bright yellow color.
.

After painting, use a “blur” to blur the area around it.

3. Draw with “Additive Layer”

Add a new layer and make the layer additive (luminous) from normal.
We will paint it the same color as the yellow we just painted.

This one was also blurred around after it was applied.

4. Scatter the firebrands

Finally, draw some firebrands around the fire and you’re done!

Summary

The fire effect can be applied to characters with fire attributes and more!

It’s easy to draw, so give it a try!

That’s how to draw the fire effect.

＼ We are accepting requests for articles on how to use ／

How to Draw Explosions, Smoke & Fire Step by Step

This tutorial shows how to draw anime, manga or comic book style explosion, smoke and fire effects with step by step examples for each.

Explosions smoke and fire drawing

Effects such as explosions, smoke and fire are common to many anime and manga. They can be used in scenes ranging from action filled battles to peaceful camp fires.

This tutorial focuses on providing some basic tips on drawing these.

Please keep in mind that there is no one set way to draw each effect. The examples in this tutorial show a simple and fairly beginner friendly way to do it but some artist may draw in ways that are far more realistic and complex.

If you are going to be following the tutorial using pencil and paper be sure to draw very light lines that you can easily erase in case you make a mistake. You can trace over your drawing with a darker stoke once you feel that everything is in the right place.

The lines in all of the steps are shown darker simply so that they are easier for you to see.

How to Draw an Explosion With Smoke Step by Step

This type of explosion is basically a cloud of smoke with some blasts of fire coming out of it.

Step 1 – Draw the Outline of the Smoke

Begin the drawing by creating a simplified outline of the smoke. This means that at this stage you can omit some of the smaller bumps and curves and simply draw them as larger combined shapes.

You can especially see this with the large curve on the bottom in the example above.

Step 2 – Draw the Blasts

Once you feel that you have the overall shape you want you can split up the larger curves of the outline into smaller ones. Simply erase and redraw the parts where you feel this is needed.

Next draw some fire blasts coming out of the smoke as shown in the example above. Try and make these vary in length and size to make the drawing look more natural. Place a few of them so that they are overlapping the outline of the smoke and sort of “cutting” into it’s shape and draw others as though they are coming out from behind it. This will make the fire blasts look like they are going in different directions.

Step 3 – Draw More Smoke Details

Erase the parts of the smoke overlapped by the blasts that “cut” into the outline. Next around the base of these blasts draw some more smoke curves. This will make it look like they are actually coming out of the smoke.

Step 4 – Finish the Drawing

Finally add a few more bumps and curves into the smoke cloud to make it look more three dimensional.

You can go over your drawing with darker lines once done.

How to Draw an Explosion with Debris Flying Step by Step

This explosion is similar to the previous example but instead of having blasts coming out of the smoke it will have flying debris.

Step 1 – Draw the Outline of the Smoke

Similar to the previous example start by drawing the outline of the smoke. You can again keep the outline simplified and add the smaller bumps and curves in the next step.

Step 2 – Draw the Paths of the Debris

Break up some of the larger curves of the outline from the previous step into smaller bumps (erasing as needed). Next draw in the paths of the flying debris as shown int the example above.

These should basically be a series of different curves. Try keep the spacing of these fairly random to make them look more natural.

Step 3 – Draw the Flying Debris

In this case the flying debris themselves will not really be visible. Instead what you will see is their smoke trails. Draw these wider and the base and narrower towards the tips with their curves based on the paths from the previous step. Outline each smoke trail with a series of bumps and curves that get smaller and less noticeable towards their tips. You can also add some breaks in the outlines to make the trails look lighter.

Step 4 – Finish the Drawing

To finalize the drawing first erase the guide lines for the smoke trails. Next erase the outlines of the main smoke cloud around the base of a few of the trails and leave it around the base of others. This will make it look like the debris are flying in different directions with some coming more towards the viewer and others more from behind the smoke cloud.

Add some more smaller smoke patterns (curves and bumps) into the main shape of the smoke. You can also add a few inner curves at the base of some of the smoke trails.

Trace over your drawing with darker lines to finish.

How to Draw Small Explosions Step by Step

These types of explosions can be used to show sparks or some sort of impact like bullets ricocheting off a wall.

Step 1 – Draw an Explosion

For these types of explosions you can pretty much draw them as you see in the examples in one step.

Step 2 – Add more Explosions (optional)

When drawing additional explosions try and make their shapes different from the previous one to make them look more natural.

Step 3 – Create a Pattern (optional)

Depending on what you want these explosions to represent you can give them a particular pattern.

For example to show ricocheting bullets from a machine gun you may want to draw them in more of a line.

Step 4 – Finish the Drawing

You can pretty much just draw as many of these as you need in whatever pattern you want. Just again be sure to try and draw each one slightly different from the rest.

Once you establish the setup you want trace over your drawing with darker lines.

How to Draw a Huge Explosion Step by Step

This example is of a huge explosion. It can be used to show something like a super weapon being detonated.

Step 1 – Draw the Outline of the Explosion

Draw the main shape of the explosion as pretty much a circle. You can leave it’s bottom end open as that part will be touching the ground.

Step 2 – Draw the Outline of the Blast Wave

At the bottom/open end of the circle draw the shape of the blast wave as shown in the example above.

Step 3 – Draw the Details of the Blast Wave

Into the blast wave draw some teeth like shapes to make it look more uneven/natural.

Step 4 – Finish the Drawing

This explosion type is fairly easy to draw so there is not much else to do in this last step. Simply refine and clean up the drawing as needed and go over it with darker lines once done.

How to Draw an Explosion in the Air Step by Step

This example is of an explosion in the air (without smoke).

Step 1 – Draw the Outline of the Explosion

Begin by first drawing the outer shape of the explosion with the various blasts coming out of it. It should look a little bit like the sun.

Try and draw each blast slightly different in width and length. You can also draw a few of them with open ends where the lines defining them are not joined at the tip.

Step 2 – Draw the Inner Shape

Next draw the inner shape of the explosion similar to the outline but a bit denser and smaller.

Step 3 – Draw the Details

Add various blasts going in different directions between the inner and outer shape of the explosion. This will make the drawing look more three dimensional.

Step 4 – Finish the Drawing

Keep on adding more details until you have something similar to the example above.

Go over your drawing with darker lines to finish.

How to Draw a Blast Explosion Step by Step

This example is similar to the previous one but instead of being in the air the explosion will be going up from the ground.

Explosions like these can be used to show something like an artillery blast.

Step 1 – Draw the Outline of the Explosion

Unlike the previous example that went out fairly evenly in all directions this explosion has a bit more of an irregular shape. You can establish the shape you want by first doing a simplified drawing similar to the example above.

Step 2 – Draw the Details

You can then use the rough outline of the explosion from the previous step to create a more detailed drawing as shown in the example above. Simply erase parts of it as needed and add more details.

Step 3 – Draw the Inner Shape

Inside the outer shape of the explosion draw a somewhat similar smaller shape.

Step 4 – Finish the Drawing

Now add various blasts going in different directions between the inner and outer shape to create a more three dimensional looking explosion.

Once done go over your drawing with darker lines and you should be finished.

How to Draw Smoke Step by Step

This type of smoke can be drawing coming from a chimney or from a fire.

Step 1 – Draw the Outline of the Main Shape of the Smoke

Begin the drawing by defining the overall flow of the smoke. You can do this very quickly with just a pair of lines as shown above.

Step 2 – Draw the Detailed Outline

Along each side of the shape from the previous step draw the detailed outline of the smoke.

Step 3 – Draw the Inner Details

Add more inner details such as the various bumps and curves. Try and keep these fairly random in shape, size and placement to make the smoke look natural.

Step 4 – Finish the Drawing

Keep on adding more details until you have something similar to the example above. You don’t want to add too much as it can make your drawing look cluttered but at the same time you don’t want to have too few details as then the smoke will look flat. Try and find a good balance.

Trace over your drawing with darker lines to finish.

How to Draw Fire Step by Step

This example can be used for showing a camp fire or just random burning objects such as debris.

Step 1 – Draw the Base of the Fire

First draw the objects that will be burning. In this case it will be some pieces of wooden boards.

Step 2 – Draw the Foreground Flames

Draw fire by first adding the various sets of flames in the foreground (closer to the viewer).

Draw each flame with it’s bottom “hugging” the shape of whatever object it’s coming from. Make the overall shapes of the flames wider towards the bottom and narrower towards the top.

Try and give each shape a bit of a wave and try and draw each of the flames waving in a slightly different direction. Also draw some splitting up towards the top into several pointy tips.

As flames are somewhat transparent do not erase the parts of the burning objects covered by them. Instead you will simply want these defined by lighter lines.

Step 3 – Draw the Background Flames

Next draw the flames in the background. Add these in between the foreground flames draw in the previous step.

Step 4 – Finish the Drawing

You can also add a few sparks flying up from the fire as shown in the example above.

Once done trace over your drawing with darker lines but do not go over the parts of the burning objects that are covered by the flames. As mentioned earlier you want to show that the flames are semi-transparent by keeping the objects they cover somewhat visible.

Conclusion

Various effects such as explosions, smoke and fire can be very important to showing a particular scene. The complexity of these effects can vary depending on the amount of realism an artists wants to show with their style. The examples in this tutorial are not overly complex but some of them still do have a good amount of details so don’t be surprised it takes you some time to draw them (It certainly took a while to make the tutorial).

How to Draw Flames

Add More Fire to Your Next Art Piece (Literally)

Now that winter is officially in full swing, I can’t help but think of bonfires, toasted marshmallows and chilly nights curled under a blanket by the fireplace. And, when it comes to making art, you can really pack a “fiery” (pun intended) punch by incorporating the vibrant colors and dramatic flare (again, intended) of flames.

Camp Fire by Winslow Homer, oil on canvas

Although we all know what flames are and what fire looks like — lit matches, burning candles, campfires, wildfires and even houses on fire–creating fire effects in your art can be a little tricky. What’s more, adding flames to the mix can mean anything from superpowers to sci-fi disasters to people gathering together for warmth and comfort.

To get you started on the right track, here are the fundamentals of drawing flames, from the basic shapes and colors to halo effects and more. Enjoy!

Understanding the Shape of Flames

Drawing flames and fire can be a little more complicated than drawing a series of cylinders, circles and squares. But there are a few “basic” rules to keep in mind when it comes to mastering the shapes and movements.

1. Tears are Good

No matter the kind of flame you are drawing, you will almost always start with a teardrop or triangular shape that is fuller and wider at the base and tapers to a point at the top of the flame.

Add dimension by overlapping these teardrop shapes so your fire looks like it has depth and movement

2. Add Curves

No flame stands perfectly still. Play around with curving lines for the body of your fire. I’ve heard these called: s-shape, snake lines, seaweed and curvilinear. Go with whatever works for you.

Just keep your strokes fluid and your wrist loose. Make a few practice sketch lines before you attempt your final drawing.

Magdalene with the Smoking Flame by George de La Tour

3. Have Fun

For more cartoonish flames or like the kind you see on a hot rod car, you will want to outline your flames in black and then color them in. Color transition can be less subtle with this approach.

For more realistic flames like you would see in the real world (candles, fire places and bonefires), you can forego the outline and use broken lines of color to create your flames. Your colors used can be more subtle.

4. Add some Flare

For a more dramatic flame, you can always add smoke to the fire. This can be a thin wisp of smoke that delicately wafts from the flame’s tip, or billowing smoke that swirls around your flames and almost obscures it.

Colors of smoke can be anything from blackish-gray to gray to white.

Selecting Colors

Traditionally, the color of flames tends to be a combination of white, yellow, orange and red. But that doesn’t mean you can’t explore other combinations.

Just remember, actual flames are lightest at their center or source, and get darker on the tips and edges of the fire.

1. Go Stark or Go Subtle — Your Call

If you want more of an illustration- or cartoon-feel to your flames, make the color transitions starker with less blending.

For more realism, concentrate on the subtle transitions of color in the flickering flames you want to draw.

Illustration by Martin Wittfooth

2. Consider Contrast

The darker your background, the more dramatic your flames will appear. For the boldest flame drawings, use pastels on a black piece of paper.

Your flame will almost seem to glow in the dark if you take the colors of your flame and use them to shade outward, like a halo effect. Just be sure to use a light hand so that the “body” of the flame doesn’t disappear with a