Well, grilling season is upon us! Therefore, I have been doing some sign projects recently that require flame backgrounds. I wanted to show you a quick tutorial on how I do this.

First, I have to mention that I'm using Design Master spray paint. This product is great for making signs because of its blending ability. Unlike other spray paint on the market, it's translucent which allows you to layer several colors together.

First of all, you have to understand that shading is important. It's the shading that really makes a drawing look real. Some artists don't try to develop their shading skills because it seems difficult to learn. But if they don't have a good handle on this fundamental skill their drawings end up looking flat. 

Shading may seem overwhelming, but if you break it up into it's most basic parts it becomes simple.

Begin by finding the direction of the light source. This tells you where the shadow will fall. Notice the three visible sides of each box. Each side is a different tone depending on how the light is hitting them.

Areas that are exposed more to the light will have less shade and those with less exposure will have more shade. When you are drawing, you have to be aware of the different sections of shade and how they relate to each other.

Shading on curved surfaces goes from very light to very dark as the light travels around the object. Learning to blend your pencil strokes together will create shading that bends around an object. This is what will make your drawings look realistic.