Disclaimer : I’m by no mean an expert nether when it comes to drawing nor about science so don’t take things I write for an absolute truth, also since it’s actually the first time I’m considering writing a tips and given that English ain’t my native language it might be either somehow boring or difficult to understand…sorry about that folks. Well anyways I wish these few tips can be useful to you.

Summary:

-I) What’s a flames/fire (theorical knowledge).

-II) How flames/fire work/act (physical behavior of fire).

-III) How to draw flames & fire depending of the context.

-IV) Using Clip Studio Paint’s tools to ease the drawing process.

 

 

0/ Preamble

 

Before learning how to draw a fire or a flame, I think it is essential to understand a minimum of how it takes shape and how it behaves in reality. However, if you are not interested or simply do not need a theoretical explanation, I urge you to skip part I) and II). Good reading.

I/ What is fire? (a bit of theory)

 

Well... my scientific background is a bit old and I don't want to tire you, so I'll make it short and concise:

A flame is one of the products of an exothermic chemical reaction (i.e. releases heat) called combustion, oxidation-reduction reaction (involving an exchange of electrons) between reactants.

For the combustion to start, prerequisites are necessary, a fuel, an oxidizer and an input energy (usually heat) are the most frequent prerequisites. The fuel, flammable material, and the oxidant, the second reactant, are consumed to a greater or lesser extent during the reaction (depending on their respective proportions vis-à-vis each other & the external constraints undergone by the combustion, which can interrupt the latter and therefore the consumption of reagents). The energy input when it is generally consumed only to initiate the reaction (but some reactants can do without energy input), generally when the combustion starts it produces the energy necessary for its survival until one of the reagents is consumed or until the stresses it undergoes cause it to fall below the self-ignition point, then possibly below the flash point (no longer enough energy to self-powered without external input).

For the sake of simplicity we will consider here that as long as the combustion continues it gives rise to a flame and that when the latter ceases the flame goes out... leaving only the fumes resulting from the combustion which will eventually dissipate and the remains reagents that have not been entirely consumed during the reaction (+ ash etc.).

II/ What do the flames look like? How do they behave?

 

Fire (understand flame) is an energetic material that emits heat and light whose color depends on its temperature and the elements with which it is in contact.

The temperature emitted by the flame influences its color as follows:

The emission spectrum (the color, and therefore the light that reaches us) of the flame (when the temperature of the latter is the only variable) tends to approach the spectrum of UV (Ultra-violet) the hotter the latter is and on the contrary, the more the flame can be described as "cold", the more it tends towards the Ir (infrared) spectrum.

However, you should know that the fire emits a range of light and not a light on a single tint, so it is common for a so-called hot flame to emit both a blue tint light and a red tint light simultaneously (note that I am talking about superimposing different shades at the same point and not the different layers that make up a flame)

Given this, although fire tends to approach UV or Ir depending on the heat it emits, the way we perceive the colors that reach us will rather be the following (as long as the flame does not emit on a single spectrum):

The temperature is not the only variable influencing the color of which we perceive the flame, the other major variable being the elements in contact with the flame the addition of certain material alters the color of the said flame more or less independently of its temperature attached some example:

The image above represents only a series of non-exhaustive examples, many other materials are capable of influencing the final color of a flame.

 

Well, we have understood in what color fire can exist, we still have to discuss its shape and behavior (don't worry, it will be faster).

Little reminder there are 4 recognized states of matter (well there are more in real life but for simplicity and because the others are very rare… we say that in general there are 4): the solid state, the liquid, gaseous state, and plasma. I will not go into their details and summarize each of their individual characteristics, if you are interested, the internet exists.

Above we defined a flame as energetic matter, and while this definition is not incorrect, it is imprecise, fire is actually halfway between a gas and a plasma (closer to one or the other according to the flame) and therefore shares part of their characteristic, in addition to emitting heat and light, it has a form between precise and imprecise, fluid and ductile (malleable) which deforms at the slightest constraint .

Pressure/gravity for example:

Above is a comparison between a flame in terrestrial gravity and one in quasi-absence of gravity, the shape of the flames that we represent as ordinary results in fact from a constraint, the pressure, and therefore from the gravity of which this last is the consequence.

 

How does this influence the shape of the flame? to put it simply, in the absence of pressure, the flame spreads in all directions like light would, but in the presence of gravity (and therefore pressure) the hot air rises (like for a dirigible balloon), which gives the flame this characteristic "bulb" shape.

Although it is brief, I told you about this scenario to remain factual. However, for the usual reasons and for simplicity, I will only deal with the terrestrial variant later, so when I define the attributes and characteristics of a flame, it will be the “bulb” one.

 

A single flame therefore appears to us in the form of a "bulb" always perpendicular to the ground (if the latter is straight and level ^^) and whose tip always rises towards the sky in conditions devoid of additional constraint.

 Constraints such as wind or propagation constraints can slightly influence the curve of the "bulb", attached some visuals:

When a breath is exerted on a flame, it tends/twists the latter, depending on the force it exerts, it can feed the fire or extinguish it. Also, when a flame is suddenly fed in a significant way it can spread in a deflagration (like an explosion).

III/ How to draw a fire/flames?

 

I advise you before rushing headlong into sketching and coloring your flames to provide yourself with one or more references close to what you have in mind, in terms of shape or color (photo or realistic/stylized drawing whichever comes closest). For my part, I decided to base myself on his two references:

Adding your references in clip studio is quite intuitive, just drag them from the file explorer (for those who have Windows anyway) into your open clip studio project, where your layers are located:

Personally, I keep my references in a dedicated folder for this purpose, whether reference images, reference colors for my drawings, etc....it avoids having to search all the folders and their sub-folders to find the layer that we looking for (on this point I advise you to create a "ready to use" project, one or more blank projects with all of your layers and folders created, named and stored beforehand, all you have to do is copy this blank file to use its copy as a working basis, it always saves time…).

Anyway, now that our references are in our Clip Studio project, it's time to take the colors that we will use to create our flames, using the "eyedropper" tool. 

Select the different shades that make up your reference flame, and store them in a dedicated area if necessary (in case you want to be able to use the exact same shade later).

 

Once your colors have been determined, it's time to move on to the drawing part.

 

In order for this tutorial to be at least exhaustive, our flames will follow these four styles:

- A/ Very stylized (cartoon)

- B/ Stylized (manga/comics)

- C/ Semi-realistic

- D/ Surrealist

 

Each style will feature the following categories:

- a/ Simple flame (example: match/torch/campfire/fireball);

- b/ Row of flame (example: fire);

- c/ Jet of flame (example: deflagration);

A. Very Stylized

 

a) Spark / Fireball

To sculpt our very stylized looking flame (like you might find in cartoons):

-1/ Take the lasso tool and sculpt the contours of your flames using the "selection +" and "selection -" options of this tool, you are free to choose the number of "arms" that your flame (i.e. the number of tips).

-2/ Once you are satisfied with your selection area, fill it with the paint bucket tool OR the gradient tool depending on whether you want a solid color or… a gradient.

 

-3 / Without deselecting your flame create a new layer and place it below the one on which your flame is located (if the borders of your flame are gross you can the meter above to hide the misery a little) and enlarge your using the submenu that appears when you make a selection (between 30 and 80 depending on the size of your flame and the desired border thickness)

 

-4/ Once done, fill the selection with black* (in case you have put your layer on top, remember to use the magic wand set to "selection -" to deselected the interior of your flame in order to not to cover it) **

*Normally a flame does not need a black outline but in the case of a "cartoon" style I advise you to put a thick enough one on them

** Remember, with the eraser or a transparent pen, to carve points in the black outline where it is necessary

-5.1/ <!> Only if you have filled your flame with a gradient <!> If necessary, use the fingertip tool to drag the central color(s) so as to replicate the outer shape of the flame.

-5.2// <!> Only if you have filled your flame with the pot of paint and you want to add an additional tint to the center of your flame <!> Either select your flame with the magic wand -> reduce the selection and fill (on a separate layer) Either create a selection in the center of your flame using the lasso to replicate the outer shape of your flame smaller and fill the selection on a layer above it*, in order to create an extra layer to your flame (to make it less flat).

* Depending on whether your flame goes from "light to dark" or from one color to another, example: "from yellow to red" fill in the selection with the corresponding color/tint

**note that 2-3 shades are usually enough for a cartoon style flame.

b) Flame row

To make a flame row in this style:

-1/ Keep the methods described to make a simple flame but make a modification during step 1, in the case of a row of flames, put several selections side by side, ensuring that there is cohesion between them and above all vary the size/shape/width/height of the selections relative to each other.

-2/ Using the selection area tool (rectangle -> "selection -") remove the rounded bottom of the entire selection, a row of flames being on the ground, its base is therefore + or -straight.

-3/ Follow the same steps 2 to 5 as for the “spark/fireball” of this style.

c) Deflagration

To give an explosion aspect to your flames, the trick of the C and the S are very useful, that is to say, give your flames a form of an arc of a circle stretched in the direction from which they come, I therefore recommend:

-1/ Trace on a draft layer a line in an arc, in the direction of your choice with a more or less acute angle.

 

-2/ Based on your draft, select using the lasso an arcuate area according to the following logic, the rounded / protruding part must be the thickest and the parts of your selection where begins and ends your draft line should be thin/stretched/pointed. *

*Picture yourself more or less a crescent moon shape

-3/ For a deflagration in this style you can then follow more or less the same steps 2 to 5 as for the normal flame.

B. Stylized

 

a) Spark / Fireball

To draw our flame with a stylized appearance, it's quite simple:

-1/ Take the lasso tool and sculpt the contours of your flames using the "selection +" and "selection -" options of this tool, do not make too much separation or peaks and make sure to avoid the shape too straight or too similar, keep in mind the "fluid" side of the flame. *

* Do not hesitate to remove certain areas of your flame in order to ventilate a little to give an impression of life/movement to your flame

-2/ Once you are satisfied with your selection area, fill it with the gradient tool, under the "foreground to background" tool (the latter will take as a reference the 2 current colors of your palette) which will allow you to place in your selection a desired color gradient, in my case from yellow (flame exterior) to red (flame interior).

-3/ Duplicate your layer and add a "gaussian blur" (in the filter palette -> blur ()) on the upper layer (you could also use the blur tool and do it manually but...it takes forever, and question constancy…) set the value to what seems most appropriate to you so that it is a little blurry but that it remains clear (in my case I put the median value). On the top layer change the layer behavior to "add(glow)" (note that the exclude also looks nice).

 

-4/ Create using the lasso tool ("selection +" / "selection -") a flame pattern inside your flame, and on a higher layer fill the selection for the filling you have 2 choice :

- Either fill in with a light shade of the right shade and color (which can take a long time if you don't know what looks best)

- Either don't take your head and fill the selection in red with a dark + or - tint and set the layer to "add" or "add (glow)" (they do roughly the same thing in fact)

-5/ By making sure to have removed the visibility of the layers other than those of the flame (even the paper...unlike me who forgot), in the layer options use "duplicate and merge visible layer", hide the originals we will no longer use their merge/copy.

-6/ In the filter menu -> blur () use either "directional blur" (in the angle that corresponds to the direction where your flame leaves, for the intensity do what seems best to you according to what you see with the “preview” option checked) or “radial blur” (it's up to you to see the intensity that suits you best, however if your intensity is high there may be lag…). You are also free to use a combination of the 2 blurs it can work sometimes but sometimes it's too much... *

* for my part in the example that I showed you above I used the "directional blur" because we have more control over the direction in which it applies

b) Row of flame

To make a flame row in this style:

-1/ Keep the methods described to make a simple flame but make a modification during step 1, in the case of a row of flames, put several selections side by side, ensuring that there is cohesion between them and above all vary the size/shape/width/height of the selections relative to each other. *

* do not hesitate to make some almost extinguished and others very bright, also leave marks of combustion and nibbling left by the flame on the material on which it develops

-2/ Using the selection area tool (rectangle -> "selection -") remove the rounded bottom of the entire selection, a row of flames being on the ground, its base is therefore + or -straight.

-3/ Follow the same steps 2 to 6 as for the “spark/fireball” of this style.

c) Deflagration

To give an explosion aspect to your flames, the trick of the C and the S are very useful, that is to say, give your flames a form of an arc of a circle stretched in the direction from which they come, I therefore recommends:

-1/ Trace on a draft layer a line in an arc, in the direction of your choice with a more or less acute angle.

-2/ Based on your draft, select using the lasso an arcuate area according to the following logic, the rounded / protruding part must be the thickest and the parts of your selection where your draft line should be thin/stretched/pointed. *

*Picture yourself more or less a crescent moon shape

-3/ You can add flame points on the protruding rounded part (following a movement going from the end to the center) in the direction where the flame goes, always logically the closer it is to the starting point of the deflagration the smaller/frail/stretched it is

-4/ For a deflagration in this style you can then follow more or less the same steps 2 to 6 as for the normal flame of this same style.

C. Semi-realistic

 

a) Spark / Fireball

In order to achieve our Semi-realistic flame:

-1/ Take the lasso tool and sculpt the contours of your flames using the "selection +" and "selection -" options of this tool, do not make too many separations or points (I don't I did a little much, a little less is better) and be careful to avoid shapes that are too straight or too similar, keeping in mind the "fluid" side of the flame. *

* Do not hesitate to remove certain areas of your flame in order to ventilate a little to give an impression of life/movement to your flame

-2/ Once you are satisfied with your selection area, fill it with the paint bucket tool.

-3/ Create a new layer, place it above the previous one, then using the lasso create a flame shape in the flame, fill it with the appropriate shade then transform the layer into "add (sparkle)"

-4/ Repeat step 3 until your flame has 4 or 5 layers of different shades, when this is the case go to the “filter” submenu -> “blur” and apply independently to layer one blur, either “radial” or “Gaussian” or both if necessary*

*note that the blur applied must be less and less important as one approaches the edge of the flame in order to keep a clean exterior appearance

-5/ Go to the layer options, use "duplicate and merged visible layer" (hiding the layers other than the flame, including the paper). Once you hide the original layers, we will now only use the merged duplicate.

-6/ In the “filter” -> “blur” submenu, apply a directional blur in the direction in which the flame goes

-7/ Create a new upper layer (set to "add (sparkle)") to that of our flame then using the circle selection tool, create a fairly large selection area with our flame in the center, fill this area with the paint bucket tool*, set to low opacity (10 or 15), then use a “radial blur” on this layer (maximum intensity) in order to blur/diffuse its edges.

*choose either a light yellow shade or a light shade of the color of your flame to represent the light it emits

b) Flame row

To make a flame row in this style:

-1/ Keep the methods described to make a simple flame but make a modification during step 1, in the case of a row of flames, put several selections side by side, ensuring that there is cohesion between them and above all vary the size/shape/width/height of the selections relative to each other. *

* do not hesitate to make some almost extinguished and others very bright, also leave marks of combustion and nibbling left by the flame on the material on which it develops

-2/ Using the selection area tool (rectangle -> "selection -") remove the rounded bottom of the entire selection, a row of flames being on the ground, its base is therefore + or -straight.

-3/ Follow the same steps 2 to 7 as for the “spark/fireball” of this style.

c) Deflagration

To give an explosion aspect to your flames, the trick of the C and the S are very useful, that is to say, give your flames a form of an arc of a circle stretched in the direction from which they come, I therefore recommends:

-1/ Trace on a draft layer a line in an arc, in the direction of your choice with a more or less acute angle.

-2/ Based on your draft, select using the lasso an arcuate area according to the following logic, the rounded / protruding part must be the thickest and the parts of your selection where your draft line should be thin/stretched/pointed. *

*Picture yourself more or less a crescent moon shape

-3/ You can add flame points on the protruding rounded part (following a movement going from the end to the center) in the direction where the flame goes, always logically the closer it is to the starting point of the deflagration the smaller/frail/stretched it is

-4/ For a deflagration in this style you can then follow more or less the same steps 2 to 7 as for the normal flame of this same style.

D. Surreal

 

a) Spark / Fireball

/!\ They actually look better but since i had to reduce the resolution to post them they got a bit eaten and ended up getting some strange effect

Making our "surrealist" flames requires fewer tools than the previous flames but more time...it's also more difficult because it requires going a bit on instinct and it's difficult to rectify a mistake without go back completely, also to get a result that is roughly clean and similar to my flames:

-1/ Make sure you have the right colors and tints, because as we will only be working on 1 layer for these flames, there will be several layers and their edges will not be entirely clear, changing the tints will be complicated see you will have to start all over again.

-2/ Arrange on your layer your exterior shade on the layer so that its shape is perfectly spherical*

*me because I needed a large size to be able to detail, and for it to be visible to you I used the marker in maximum format… so size=2000, it has the advantage of not being affected by the pressure and to be clean

-3/ Embed the next shade in the previous one in the same way but with a lower diameter (/size) and so that its border is placed so as to eye the lower border of your previous sphere.

 

-4/ Repeat step 3 until you have 5 or 6 layers of shades.

-5/ Using the "finger tip" tools, present in your tool palette, in maximum and maximum Hardness setting -1 and alternating between different sizes*, sculpt and draw your flame and its different layers in one without or in the other according to a + or - vertical movement with some undulation, this step is done by feeling and you will probably have to go back 1 or 2 times

*WARNING MAY BE SUBJECT TO LAG

-6/ After several passes of the "fingertip" tool when you feel that your exterior shape is more or less sculpted, reduce the hardness of your tools (in the first 2 levels of hardness) and start working on the inside of your flame, the goal being that the exterior is rather clean and the interior is more melted

-7/ Use the “water drop/deformation” tool and its various sub-tools to make it more round in certain places, and more or less salient/cramped/pointy/twisted in others

-8/ If necessary, after the step repeat the last 3 steps until you get the desired result

b) Flame row

To make a flame row in this style:

-1/ You have 2 choices:

-1.1/ Either duplicate your state of progress during step 4 and place its last dimensions so that the outer layers eat each other (/ overlap).

-1.2/ Either with the rectangle selection tool select an area (wide/not too high) and fill it with your exterior color before deselecting your selection little by little (from top to bottom) (rectangle selection tool "selection - ”) then repeat this step until you have all your shades (otherwise, after selecting the area, you can fill it with a gradient from the “gradient” tool calibrated without fading between the layers)

-2/ Then follow the same steps 5 to 8 as that of the "spark/fireball" of this style, while keeping in mind to vary the size/direction/thickness/speed of the flames in relation to each other to others.

c) Deflagration

To give an explosion aspect to your flames, the trick of the C and the S are very useful, that is to say, give your flames a form of an arc of a circle stretched in the direction from which they come, I therefore recommends:

-1/ Trace on a draft layer a line in an arc, in the direction of your choice with a more or less acute angle.

-2/ Based on your draft, select using the lasso an arcuate area according to the following logic, the rounded / protruding part must be the thickest and the parts of your selection where your draft line should be thin/stretched/pointed. *

*Picture yourself more or less a crescent moon shape

-3/ Fill your selection with your 1st shade then nest the next shade in the previous one in the same way but with a smaller diameter (/size), so that the new layer of shade is in its center.

-4/ Repeat step 3 until you have about 5 layers of shades.

-5/ For a deflagration in this style you can then follow more or less the same steps 5 to 8 as for the normal flame of this same style.

IV) Using Clip Studio's tools to ease fire's drawing process

 

Clip Studio has a large number of integrated tools but, and for our greatest happiness, it leaves its users a certain freedom to create (and share) their own too here is how to create brushes to draw your flames, saving time when you want to avoid spending your week making the same flames over and over again… To do this, here is how to create brushes with your flames*:

*although I spoke of brush(es) in the plural, the method being the same, I would only do a tutorial

-1/ To go to the simplest start by locating in clip studio Paint a brush that shares the characteristics of the brush you want to create (linear pattern brush, particle, hard or soft, etc.), duplicate it, then leave it on hold for now

-2/ With a selection tool (rectangle tends to be the most practical), select your flame (the entirety of the latter must be on a single layer so if necessary, use in layer option "duplicate and merge visible layer », hiding all other layers*)

*also hide the paper

-3/ Once you have made your selection, in the “edition” menu -> submenu “save the materials” use “image…” a menu appears check “use for the tip shape of the brush”

-4/ Back to the copy of our chosen brush in the tab where to choose its size/density/opacity etc.… there is a wrench at the bottom of the window, these are the tool parameters, click on it

-5/ In the window that has just appeared go to "Brush tip 1" *, you can then either double click on your current tip shape or on the tab that looks vaguely like the new layer tab, another window opens in this one you can change the tip of this brush, find your flame pattern**.

* you may not have this menu, in which case nothing serious to change the brush (not all tools have the same menus in their settings)

**if you have a lot of materials/patterns available I hope you have thought of noting his name, if so writing it in “type keywords” is another time saver

-6/ If you have followed everything you normally have your flame brush, congratulations! However, you may need to play with the settings of your brush depending on what you would like it to do.