In this tutorial i will demonstrate how to create a simple fire or flame logo using just the pen tool and simple layer styles. The final result will be this nice looking illustrated cartoon flame:

Lets start by creating our new photoshop file. Choose 400px width by 400px height, 72 dpi resolution and 8 bit colors.

As you can see in the final image we will need a black background. You can select the background color directly when creating a new file or you can just use the default and then fill the layer with black. To completely fill a layer with a color you can use these simple shortcuts:

• ALT + BACKSPACE : Fills the selected layer with the Foreground color
• CTRL + BACKSPACE : Fills the selected layer with the Background color

I selected black to my foreground and hit ALT+ BACKSPACE. Voilá:

Now for our flame shape. This is the hard part has we first need to fully understand how the pen tool works in photoshop.

The Pen tool creates Vectors. These vectors can then be modified without loosing quality because we are not working with the actual pixels but in fact we will work with a vector mask, a mask that is built upon connected lines and arcs, thus filling up an area.

With the PEN tool you can create Lines and Arcs. Creating a line is easy, just click the first point where you want to draw the line then the next point, and so on… To close the vector you need to click last on the first point. You will notice that the pen cursor will change when you’re near the first point. It will show a little circle next to it, to let you know that you can close the vector.

Using the pen to create an Arc its easy too but you have to know the basics. Like the line you need to click the first point of the arc. Then when you select the second point, click and DO NOT release the mouse button! You have to click and drag. The direction you drag the cursor will determinate the shape of the arc. An example:

As you can see in the picture above, when you drag the cursor after clicking the second point the arc is created in the oposite direction. When you drag down and right the arc is created up and left. Just try it a few times so you can get the hang of it. Another important aspect of using the pen tool to create arcs and curves is what happens after you create one arc and you want to create the next.

The arcs are created in sequence and you need to change the points if you want to create an arc that breaks from the last arc shape. I’ll explain it visually:

In this example a second arc comes after the first one. This second arc is created by clicking the third point (without dragging). What happens is that the shape of the second arc is inverted. Why? Because the third point is to the right of the second point handle. If the third point was marked to the left of the second point handle the second arc would have the same shape as the first, like this:

Now, i bet you all have a question. What if i want 2 curves next to each other with the same shape, in the same vector? Well the answer is easy: After drawing the first arc, hold down the ALT key and click on the second point. This will convert that point from an “arc point” to a “line point”. Then just click the third point, but this time you will need to drag the anchor point again, just like this:

You cant forget to ALT+CLICK an anchor point if you want a diffrent type of arc. Well, by now you should be able to draw the flame shape. It will take a while before you can draw it perfectly, but dont give up, just keep on trying. So, lets get down to it, grab your pen tool and make sure that you have your pen tool in shape layers mode, and select an orange as your foreground color:

No go on and draw a shape like this:

I know that if you’re starting now with the pen tool this can be a little tricky but dont give up and you’ll get there. You will need to make some points inside the filled area of the shape while you’re drawing it. If you cant make it exactily as mine just draw something similar.

Now for the outilnes and inlines. We will use layer styles to achieve the final result. Look at that little “f” at the bottom of the layers palette:

Click it to open the Layer Styles. From the dropdown menu choose STROKE.

On the stroke dialog menu enter these values:

Now, withou leaving this menu click on the left, on the checkbox where it say INNER GLOW, and enter these values:

And last, choose OUTER GLOW and enter the values:

Ok, now look at your shape, you should have something like this:

You can repeat the last steps to draw that black shape on the right. Use the pen, on a new layer to draw the shape and then apply the styles, just like in the steps above. You will just need to change the colors. The result is:

The main shape is now done. The eyes and the mouth are the real simple parts. For the eyes I used a basic shape, an ellipse, using the ellipse tool, in a new layer.

Select the ellipse tool and draw the first eye. To draw the second eye you can just duplicate the first, you dont need to draw it again. To duplicate the layer, click on it and drag it to the “create new layer” icon, at the bottom of the layers palette. For the iris of the eye you can either create a new basic shape, another ellipse, in black color, or you can simple use the BRUSH tool. I used the brush:

Ok, we’re near the end now. The one thing left is the mouth. The mouth is another simple vector, created with the pen tool without layer styles. To create the mouth you only need 3 points, but you’ll have to convert the second anchor point in order to get that sharp edge. Just look at the example below to understand what I mean:

There you go, you only need to do that in the main file, drawing that shape with black color in the foreground. The final result:

You can add some extra effects if you like, like more layer styles for the eyes, or maybe use it for a logo without the cartoon part, like this:

Hope you liked this one. If you don’t fully understand any step just drop me a line, comment here or send me an email. Have fun!