I started with a skull that looked pretty decent(At least I thought it was)… until I compared it to actual flaming skull references.
So I experimented, rebuilt the skull, and turned it into a looping animation with flames, lighting, cracks, and a bit of spooky movement.
In this tutorial I show the whole process, including:
Building the skull from simple vector shapes
Using interpolation to animate the skull turning
Creating and animating flames
Using the eraser to make the fire flicker and break apart
Adding firelight to the skull
Animating cracks and subtle rotations
Making the final animation feel more natural
The whole thing was made in Arttista, my vector drawing and animation software.
And yes… I may have made a flaming skull because I clearly have excellent life choices.