How to Draw Fire Step by Step

This tutorial shows an easy way to draw a fire with a detailed six step breakdown of the drawing process and simple illustrated examples.

Fire drawing step by step
Fire drawing step by step

The goal in this tutorial is to create a nice stylized drawing of a fire similar to something you may see in a cartoon, video game or an illustration. You can see all of the included steps for it in the preview picture above.

Start the drawing in pencil and make light lines that you can easily erase in case you make a mistake. You can darken them later on with a black pen or marker.

Step 1 – Draw the Bottom of the Fire

Fire bottom drawing
Fire bottom drawing

Begin by drawing the bottom of the fire. It should be shaped a bit like a “U” but with with outwards curves near the top.

Step 2 – Draw Upper Flames

Fire outline drawing
Fire outline drawing

At the top of the shape from the previous step add the flames. Draw these larger and higher up as they go towards the center with slightly random curves and waves in their shapes.

Step 3 – Draw the Inner Flames

Fire inner flames drawing
Fire inner flames drawing

Similar to the main outline of the fire drawn in the previous two steps add a smaller shape inside the larger one. You can draw it slightly narrower toward the top with it’s upper part being split into fewer flames.

Step 4 – Draw the Center

Fire center drawing
Fire center drawing

Inside the outline from the previous step draw an even smaller part of the fire. You can make it’s shape a bit like a water drop and give it a small split at the top (as shown in the example).

Step 5 – Draw the Sparks & Finish the Line Drawing

Fire line drawing
Fire line drawing

Coming out of the main fire draw a few bits/sparks as shown in the above example. You can make these very small in comparison to the fire with some bends and curves in their shapes.

Once done trace over your drawing with a thin black marker or pen. You can also darken your lines with the pencil if you don’t have one of those handy.

Step 6 – Color the Fire

Fire drawing
Fire drawing

To color the fire markers may be the best option as they tend to have bright colors appropriate for a fire but you can also use other mediums if you prefer.

The actual coloring process is quite simple. As flames tend to be hotter at the center make the central part of the fire yellow, the next part orange and the outer part along with the sparks red.

Once done you should be finished with the drawing.

Conclusion

This tutorial shows how you can create a drawing of a simple and somewhat stylized fire. As the shape can be somewhat random you don’t need to worry about being overly precise while drawing it. However try and create the outlines of the flames with smooth curves/waves if you want to have a nicer looking drawing.

If you enjoyed this tutorial and would like to try some more like you can also see: