Once the basic skull is shaded and highlighted in, I show them a few ways to dress it up a bit. Things like cracks, chips, and pits can add alot of char- acter to a skull, and they are so easy to do! I add some color to the shad- ows using transparent red oxide and I color the eye with transparent sun gold. This will not only make our skull a bit “warmer”, but they are 2 of the colors I will be using for my fire, which I will be painting next. It helps tie the scheme together.

Now, I start laying out some fire. Fire is great for demonstrations because it is quick, fast, and predominately freehand. I explain the theories in- volved, how fire is layered, and why the rhyme “Fuzzy to Tight; Dark to Light” means so much to me when I’m painting fire. I start off with a very loose and transparent layer of fuzzy “U” shapes and “Half-U” shapes. I do all my sculpting in white. I then begin using my free-hand fires stencils (and the same white paint) to bring some definition to my fire. The key here is using a combination of stencil and freehand work to keep it flowing.

Now it’s time for some color. I begin with my darkest color (remember the rhyme) which is transparent red oxide. I apply this color around the outside edges of the fire shapes, allowing the over-spray to work it’s way out onto the black base coat and inwards towards the center of my flame shapes. This results in a layer of fire that is varying shades and intensities of color, not uniform. While I have this color out, I might as well ghost in some skulls as well. How easy!

I want my skulls to be actually made out of the fire, so I switch back to my white and sculpt them in using my freehand fire stencils. I use the curves on the fire stencil to protect and shield the dark areas of the face, and come in with my white on the areas that would be highlighted. I pull those highlights up into the fire to make them look like little flame licks. I continue adding another layer of definition in white. Once that layer is completed, I hit the whole thing with transparent sun gold. Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36