INFOGRAPHIC SERIES - Marshmallow Roasting

Make a fire and break out the marshmallows and get roasting. This is a fun way to enjoy roasting marshmallows and a cool way to create a stick and fire. 

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Start with a rectangle, heavy stroke, white fill. Use the Stroke Panel to round the corners of the stroke. 

Draw an oval the exact same height as the rectangle. Duplicate it. Move the duplicate to the right end of the rectangle. 

Select the rectangle and the oval. Choose the Pathfinder Unite Mode to join the two shapes together. 

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Move the other oval to the left side of the rectangle to form the marshmallow. 

To create the stick, create a rectangle with a heavy stroke and a fill. Use the Stroke Panel to round the corners of the stroke. ​

Duplicate the stick and shorten the rectangles. Move and rotate them to a 45° angle. Select all the shapes and use the Pathfinder Unite Mode to create one shape. 

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Use the line tool to create thinner, lighter lines inside the stick for the wood grain. Use the Stroke Panel to round the end caps (hot dog the ends) of the stroke. ​Select all the stick parts and group them together. 

Create a rectangle over the stick. Copy the end oval of the marshmallow and place it halfway the end of the rectangle as shown. (The opacity is being simply as a guide)

Join the rectangle and oval together using the Pathfinder Unite Mode. No fill or stoke on the shape. Click on the Draw Inside mode at the bottom of the Tool Bar. 

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CUT the Stick and PASTE it into the newly created shape. Position it so the stick is in the center of the oval vertically and move the stick so the right end is masked by the oval. Click on the Draw Normal Mode. 

Create a rectangle. Copy the oval from the end of the marshmallow. Use the Direct Select Tool to delete all but the lower right arc of the oval. Duplicate the arc over the rectangle. 

Select the arcs, choose Object>Path>Outline Stroke. 

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Select all the shapes and use the Pathfinder Unite Mode to create one shape. ​Group all the shapes together. 

Click on the marshmallow shape. Click on the Draw Inside mode at the bottom of the Tool Bar. ​

CUT the shading and PASTE it into the marshmallow shape. Position it so the shading rests at the bottom of the shap. Click on the Draw Normal Mode. 

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Add some darker lines to the bottom of the shading. Move the stick into position at the end of the marshmallow.

For the flame, draw a rectangle. Use the Direct Selection Tool to select and corner widget the lower right corner only. 

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Use the Skew Tool to skew the shape to the left. 

Duplicate the shape to the right. Select both shapes. Use the Pathfinder Minus front mode to remove the extra parts. 

This is the remaining result. 

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Duplicate and flip the shape so the shapes overlap each other. Use the Pathfinder Unite mode to make it one shape. 

Add a heavy stroke to the flames, lighter fill. Duplicate the shapes, use darker and lighter warm colors to make the flames. Select all the flames and group them together. CUT the flames. 

Draw a rectangle. Click on the Draw Inside mode at the bottom of the Tool Bar. PASTE the flames into the shape, hiding the bottom of the flames. Click on the Draw Normal Mode.  

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Add some wood to the fire by creating a rectangle, wide and short. Use the corner widgets to round the ends fully. Use the Direct Selection tool to select and remove one end of the rectangle. Move the wood under the fire. 

Add some dots and lines to the flames. Add sparks and dots to the fire. Move the stick and marshmallow over the fire and get roasting.