Hot Rod Flames

[dave milbut]

if you're a halfway talented artist (i'm only about 1/4 talented) you might try them yourself. use the path tool to make the flames, stroke the paths, and use gradients to fill them in

[r_harvey]

The example in your link is a good place to start. Often there is more yellow than red, and perhaps fading to white in the middle.

In the real world, they're usually drawn with airbrush. That sounds like the right tool in Photoshop, too--especially with a pressure-sensitive drawing tablet.

Experiment and play until you find the technique you like. No two flames ever look exactly the same.

[georgebash]

Looks like I will have to draw them myself or find somebody who can draw(cause I can't), If I can do it and make it look half decent, I will post them in the resource area for everybody else. I am not interested in the Photorealistic style, I have eyecandy that does it and I have read the tutorials out there. Flamws are easy to make, its these darn hot rod styles that are hard for us Non-Artistic types. Thanks for the replies!

[georgebash]

Just so you know I am trying to make a style that will put verticle hot rod flames for lettering.

[Phosphor]

This would be an excellent project for you to get your Path chops up to speed. Since those outlines are editable, you can rework them all you want, till they're just right, before you stroke and fill them.

[georgebash]

I am a new user, I have never even tried nor know what path chops are, So in short, your right! This will be a great way to learn something new.

[dave milbut]

Looks like I will have to draw them myself or find somebody who can draw(cause
I can't),




I agree w/phosphor. Something like that can be easily done with paths. As I said, I'm no great artist, but the path tools make it easy to correct mistakes and get things exactly the way you want them. Especially if you have a template to work from. If you like that shape, import the graphic into ps and trace it w/the path tool then adjust to taste.

Here's a starter tutorial on the pen (paths) tool:

<http://www.myjanee.com/tuts/pentool/pentool1.htm>

[Phosphor]

Yeah, Dave...that's a goodie. I need to bookmark that so I can pass it along to the frequent questioners looking for help with learning the Path tools. Vectors and bezier curves and handles are daunting at the beginning, but worth every second you spend on learning how to wrangle 'em. I owe most of my living to vector paths.

The only problem, as I see it, with Janee's take on working with paths is that she teaches a method that calls for creating rough, straight-line paths, then manipulating the anchors and handles afterward to get to the curves your after in the first place. Learning to trace curves straight away saves lots of time. It's not easy, but again, the time spent learning how repays itself many times over.

[DOMTEK]

It's not a bad idea to draw those flames by hand either, if only for the purpose of working out some ideas before you try to reproduce them in photoshop. A good set of french curves from an art store will go a long way to mock up some nice flames and you can always pretty them up in photoshop. Sounds like fun!

[Patty Clarke]

George,

Here's a couple sites that might be helpful (found on google search). First one has more tutorials on flame drawing and the second one has pictures that might give you some ideas.

Patty

<http://faq.ozoneasylum.com/737>

<http://auto-trim.com/graphics.shtml>