Wrapping a vector image around a compound path

Question

I'm pretty newbish to vector art, so please bare with me.

I made a heart shape using compound paths. I also have vector image in a flame pattern. I want to wrap/distort/whatever the flame pattern to the heart. The idea is pretty straightforward - a heart wreathed in flames.

Here's a rough idea of what I'm trying to do.

Source: Vectorstock

Here's where I am so far. Using flame vector art I found online, I made an art brush and applied it to the compound path of the heart. I like it, but I want the flames to originate on the center bottom of the heart, crawling up the outside edges of the heart. my flaming heart

Thanks for any and all help!

Answer 1

I think there's no easy solution here other than draw/edit the flames to the shape you want to achieve.

Answer 2

To achieve the effect you want first draw your flames (or acquire them from a free vector image resource). Then draw your heart.

The action you seem to be hinting at is subtracting the heart from the flames ?

Here is a (very) quick example using some free flames from freepik.com

Practice using the pen tool and also the pathfinder which I use in this video to draw the heart then subtract the foreground heart from the background flames.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AN6Wk_mM-8