Candle Flame

[MelNM]

Hey guys I need help painting a flame on a candle, Can you give some help on the type of shading/colors I would need.
Mel

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

yellow with a red center..if its a larger one, a little white on the tips...hummm put a brush in my hand and I could tell you in 2 seconds lolApple

[Callynne]

If just using regular paints, play around with red and yellow at the same time. By this I mean paint the red on and immediately draw the yellow up through it. The wet red paint will soften the yellow and also turn it orange. Add more of either color to get the effect you want. Be sure to make your 'lines' of paint curve, it will help add to the effect, making it more 'flame like'!

I also like very much using some metallic paints in flames, copper and gold work well. I still use my regular red and yellow paint though in with it. If you want to get fancy, you can even add a little blue.

Either way, just play around with it and I'm sure you'll get the effect you want! Good luck, let us see how it turns out! Talking Deborah

[Ashbys]

Why would you use red ?

I know I have for years seen the red yellow combination , but there is no red in a candle .

The red only comes from the wick , the candle flame color is blue to yellow with the blue playing arond the edge and at the base.
Light a candle and take a look.

Ash

[Nancy-G]

Here's a photo

[Callynne]

Good point Garry, that's why I pull the yellow through the wet red paint, it turns it shades of dark to lighter orange, to yellow.

Look at Nancys photo (thanks for posting it Nancy....figured out that new camera, did you?! ), the flame is blue at the base, orangish red to yellow orange in the middle and yellowish white at the top. Now I wouldn't want to paint it 'sectioned' off like that, it wouldn't look 'real'.....go figure! I'd draw those colors through each other to give the impression of 'flickering flame'. That's one of the reasons I like the metallic paints, it makes a more realistic flame....in my opinion. I'll look forward to hearing what others suggest! Deborah

[Kenny_S]

Not just candle flame but most flames has that coloring of Blue on bottom then redish orange middlemthem yellowon top, then the tip a yellowish white.

[Ashbys]

Did you take the photo without flash ?

If not the added light will distort the perceived color. Since light streaches the prism three things take place, the flame presents blue first as it is the most oxygen reaches the flame, that is why the outer edge maintains blue, this is also the hotest part of the flame. The yellow is the normal mix and is in the center of the spectrum, this is why we see more yellow, red is the far end of the spectrum. The human eye will not perceive the red except for the wick. The camera picks up reds which we can not see. Because the oxygen has reached a point below which it can sustain the burn.

Ash

[Nancy-G]

Oh - I should have said -- I didn't actually take that photo. I found it on google.
But when I'm painting a flame on a candle Santa is holding I don't remember ever using BLUE. I think I use lots of shades of yellow and ~gulp~ red. Actually I can't imagine ever really using blue.
Does this mean I can't ever carve a candle again?

[Ashbys]

Lol Nancy .

Just the combination is something I have always wondered why for years flames are always given red and yellow combinations .

One of my first training courses was the use of a tourch and what made the difference between a hot flame and a cold flame. A hot flame will always be blue to white and a cool flame always be blue to yellow. Red is always a lack of oxygen .

Hehe
Ash