In this tutorial, I will be showing how to easily make nice looking fires for anything using Gimp. I'm sure Photoshop
will have the same tools, so you can try it with Photoshop also. The tutorial is based on another tutorial I found and I liked it, but it was a little confusing, so I made this one to simple things out. Ok lets get started.
First, make a new image. The size doesn't matter, but bigger the better so you can see more beautiful flames.
Next, fill the image with black.
Now heres the important part. Pick the gradient tool, and find a gradient similar to the gradients in real fire. In gimp, choose the incandescent gradient. Draw the gradient from about half way down the image, to the bottom. Try to make the line straight as possible.
This is the fun part. Now go to filters->distorts->IWarp.
First make sure the deform mode is on “move”, it should be as default. Move it like I did below to make a effect like so.
After that, set the deform mode to Swirl CCW and/or Swirl CW, and start playing around with it in the editor. For me, the way to achieve best effects, I moved it like this:
If you make a mistake, you can always click the Reset button, to start over. The white lines you see are guide lines for Swirl CCW. Move it the opposite way for Swirl CW. But the best way is to just try it yourself!
Click Ok and you have your fire!
