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PAINTING FLAMES IN FROSTGRAVE Painting flames or fire is one of those things that look a lot  harder to do than it actually is. Like most of the painting I  do it is a process of building up layers of colours one after  the other. The painting of such an ephemeral thing as Fire  is a challenge, and it does require the exercise judgement  as to where to put the paint, but experience gained in  practicing and this guide, will hopefully lead you to  success. INTO THE FIRE Firstly have a good look at flames, painted ones I mean.  Try to see what colours have been used and how those  colours have been applied to create the flame effect.  That’s what I did with this model, luckily I had a good  model to study, a figure painted by master painter  Andrew Taylor. So I tried to figure out what he did and  replicate in this model. It isn’t an exact copy of course but  hopefully I have done enough to give a convincing look of  a flaming torch. It does seem a lot of layers to build up but  I hope you will think it is worth experimenting with.   The major difference to my usual painting is, for flames I  worked from light to dark, instead of working from darker  shades to lighter highlights that I use in normal painting. It  is most important that some of the lighter colours  underneath show through to give the fire some glowing  life. All paints are from The Army Painter. UNDERCOAT The first thing I did was to paint the flame area MATT  WHITE, another undercoat if you will, making sure I  covered the black undercoat completely, this took several  coats of white. In theory you could paint the base colours  for the flames straight onto the black, but light yellow paint  is notoriously difficult to get to cover over black, so I  recommend that you use white first and then it doesn’t  
matter if the yellow is a bit weak, the white will help to  boost the yellow. PAINTING FLAMES 1. The first real stage is painting a 50/50 mix  of  DEMONIC YELLOW and MATT WHITE, over all of, the  now white undercoated flame area. This too may take a  few coats before it looks solid enough. It’s best to do this  in a few thinner coats rather than trying to get coverage by  putting on a blobby thick coat
Above. Giant-Blooded soldiers and a Savage Vampire.
PAINTING FLAMES IN FROSTGRAVE
Above. The first thing I did was to paint the flame area MATT WHITE, another undercoat if you will, making sure I covered the black undercoat completely, this took several coats of white.
2. That is the easy bit done. The second colour is  DEMONIC YELLOW mixed with MATT WHITE plus  some FIRE LIZARD, which is a nice fiery orange. This  next stage does require a bit of judgement as to how  much of this next coat to apply. You’ll need to apply this  layer a bit roughly, with some jagged edges, leaving some  
PAINTING FLAMES IN FROSTGRAVE
Above. 1. The first real stage is painting DEMONIC YELLOW mixed with MATT WHITE, over all of the now white undercoated flame area.
PAINTING FLAMES IN FROSTGRAVE
Above. 2. That is the easy bit done. The second colour is DEMONIC YELLOW mixed with MATT WHITE plus some FIRE LIZARD, which is a nice fiery orange. This next stage does require a bit of judgement.
of the first layer showing in the depressions of the flames;  if it were material that you were painting it would be like  the darker shades showing. The better the sculpting the  easier this is to do (I used one of my older more worn-out  good brushes, not one of the top flight detail brushes, so  that the coat is not even or smooth).  
3. The next layer is pure FIRE LIZARD. And you  follow a similar process as the last layer, painting this on  to the higher points, leaving some of the previous two  layers showing. You could leave the flaming torch at this  point and call it finished.
PAINTING FLAMES IN FROSTGRAVE
Above. 3. The next layer is pure FIRE LIZARD. And you follow a similar process as the last layer, painting this on to the higher points, leaving some of the previous two layers showing. 
4. This next layer makes the flame pop, but you  should be careful not to over do it. It is a layer of PURE  RED painted on the higher points again as if it were a  highlight but making sure you leave a good lot of the  previous layers showing. Again apply in a rough manner,  it’s not dry-brushed but it’s a similar technique with bit  more wet paint on the brush.  
PAINTING FLAMES IN FROSTGRAVE
Above. 4. This next layer makes the flame pop, but you should be careful not to over do it. It is a layer of PURE RED painted on the higher points again as if it were a highlight.
5. The last of the fire layers proper is a darker red, a  light touch of DRAGON RED. Be very sparing with this  layer, catching the extremities of the flames. Don’t worry  however if you overdo a layer as you can always paint  back in some of the previous layer and or layers right  
PAINTING FLAMES IN FROSTGRAVE
Above. 5. The last of the fire layers proper is a darker red, a light touch of DRAGON RED. Be very sparing with this layer, catching the extremities of the flames.
PAINTING FLAMES IN FROSTGRAVE
back to the original yellow/white base mix if needed. You  could leave the flame at this point and call it finished.  6. The last little flourish is a bit of smoke, just a touch  in MATT BLACK. Again be very sparing with the black,  less really is more here. Remember you are going for an  inner light effect, so don’t lose those lighter undertones.   
PAINTING FLAMES IN FROSTGRAVE
Above. 6. The last little flourish is a bit of smoke, just a touch in MATT BLACK.  Again be very sparing with the black, less really is more here. Remember you are going for an inner light effect, so don’t lose those lighter undertones.
PAINTING FLAMES IN FROSTGRAVE
7. I couldn’t resist a final bit on the flaming torch, a  tiny bit of ash, extremely lightly dry-brushed on to the  black smoke in ASH GREY. 
Above. The finished Giant-Blooded soldier with his flaming brand.
PICTURES     FROM    THE    FROZEN    CITY
PAINTING FLAMES
PAINTING FLAMES IN FROSTGRAVE
Above. 7. I couldn’t resist a final bit on the flaming torch, a tiny bit of ash, extremely lightly dry-brushed on to the black smoke in ASH GREY appropriately. 
PAINTING FLAMES IN FROSTGRAVE
And that’s flames, seems weird I’ve not set it down before  but I was inspired to write it down now by seeing Andrew’s  wonderful flaming torch, he was on fire! 
PAINTING FLAMES IN FROSTGRAVE PAINTING FLAMES IN FROSTGRAVE PAINTING FLAMES IN FROSTGRAVE PAINTING FLAMES IN FROSTGRAVE