How to Paint Realistic Flames: The Trick You Need to Know!

Ever painted a flame and ended up with something that looked more like a blob of ketchup and mustard than fire? You’re not alone. Painting fire can be deceptively tricky. Many painters instinctively highlight the outer tips, but real flames glow brightest at the core.

In this guide, I’ll walk you through the one trick that changed how I paint fire: thinking like a heatmap. This approach uses realistic gradients—white-hot centers fading to cold charred edges—to create convincing fire effects on miniatures. I’ll show you exactly how this works, step-by-step, using a 3D printed skull miniature with sculpted flame elements, and a flat paint swatch to demonstrate blending techniques.

1. Understand the Flame Shape

If your model already has flames sculpted into it, you’re in luck. That gives you a natural guide for painting. In this example, I used a 3D printed miniature that has twisting flames curling around a skull base. These flame shapes rise and twist, giving you the perfect opportunity to apply the heatmap effect.

🔥 Tip: Painting fire realistically is easier when the sculpt gives you cues about where the “hottest” parts should be (usually the inner recesses).

2. Use Real Fire as Your Color Reference

Before you start painting, pull up a few photos of real fire. I like to use both campfires and glowing coals as references.

3. Choose Your Heatmap Palette

On your palette, line up your colors from hottest to coolest:

• White (or a bright off-white)
• Yellow (here are some other recommended yellow paints for miniatures)
• Orange
• Red
• Black

The kind of acrylic hobby paint you use will depend on your personal preference. It’s not necessarily the brand that matters, but rather the color saturation (e.g., how red is your red color) and the value (e.g., how bright is your color) that matter. For this example, I’m using the all-purpose affordable paint set from The Army Painter and a few other brands.

For the most part, you’ll want acrylic hobby paints that dry matte (not shiny) and have good coverage when applied evenly. The color shouldn’t streak, or reveal brush strokes at a normal seeing distance (~8 or more inches away) with 3-4 thin coats of paint.

🎨 Tip: Avoid pure white except in the smallest highlight spots. Let a bright, yellow-white dominate the core of the flame for a more natural look.

4. Practice Your Gradient on a Flat Surface First

Before touching the mini, I always practice the gradient on a flat swatch. It’s an easy way to understand how the colors shift and where they should land. Using the heatmap logic:

• Start from any end, red or yellow, with orange in the center
• Blend between colors
• End with white and black at either end (hot or cold side)

Tip: What helps a lot is if you allow each color to dry before applying another layer on top.

This blend helps train both your eye and brush. These same transitions can then be applied directly to your miniature.

💡 Key Idea: This is the one trick—treat fire as a gradient from hot to cold, and paint in that direction. Black is cold. White is hot.

5. Apply the Heatmap to the Miniature

Now transfer that logic to the model. On the skull miniature, I began by placing yellow at the deepest parts of the flames. Use a simple base coat technique.

Then I blended outwards with orange and red, using the same approach from the flat swatch. Finally, I darkened the flame tips and areas near the skull with a bit of black to represent cooling.

6. Refine and Push Contrast

At this stage, stop and evaluate. Are the yellows still bright? Are the transitions smooth?

If things are muddy:

• Reapply yellow or white to the hot zones
• Glaze orange or red to blend transitions
• Use a thin black glaze to cool off overly bright edges

You can always touch up your flat swatch to compare. I did this while checking my watch—layering takes time, but it’s worth it.

Good lighting enhances the flame effect.

RELATED: TIPS FOR PHOTOGRAPHING MINIATURES

Soft shadows and dim surroundings allow the colors to stand out more vividly. The finished model reads clearly, with the hottest colors inside and the coolest, darkest tones on the outside.