#quietchiaro

1) Disclaimer

Everyone draws hair differently, and there are HUNDREDS of ways to do it. I developed this method through experimenting, and years of Hodgepodging together various tutorials and things I’ve learned over the years. Don’t be afraid to go with the flow, or to change it up a little. In addition, different hair styles are drawn differently. Curly hair, short hair, various lighting-- it’s all a little different, so this is an okay place to start your knowledge!

AND, last but not least-- references. I think a lot of younger artists are afraid to use a reference because it makes them less of an artist if they can’t just draw it from memory. THIS WOULD BE FALSE. Even professional artist use references. The key is to make the art your own, and not to copy it EXACTLY. So pull out a few references to look at for your hairstyles <3

ONTO THE TUTORIAL!!!

2) Block in the general shape of your hair

It doesn’t need to be exact, just the idea of it. Use a middle-tone, or the true color of the hair. Make sure to keep in mind the general shape of your skull-- the hair isn’t plastered to it, but it does fluff out a little.

3) Sketch the flow of the hair

It’s vital to have a reference for this part. Hair flows, clumps, twists, separates, overlaps-- it’s not solid or still. Think of it like pouring spaghetti on someone’s head. You also want to remember that each strand has to start and stop somewhere, because you don’t want to accidentally have hairs vanishing into thin air.

Have a line where you want your hairline, and make sure you have hair that’s growing off it.

4) Detail the hairline

There’s skin under all that hair, and that’s one of the things the hairline shows! draw some lines in your mid-tone down onto the skin in short lines, following the flow of the hair that you sketched earlier. I also use a skin tone and reverse the action, drawing short lines into the hair so that there’s not a solid hairline. Don’t be afraid to let your lines be different lengths or shapes, it looks more natural!

5) Establish a light source

Your light source determines where you put your lights and darks, so this part is important! I’ve represented the light source with this dot. From there, i drew straight lines out from the center; that’s the angle the light is hitting her hair at! This part can be a little tricky, and will take practice. Just think about what hair is hidden behind the shadow of her face, what hair is shadowed a little bit by other hair, and what pieces are the most visible.

6) Values

Pay attention to your values! If your colors are too dark, or too light, they stand out too much. I like to establish my values off to the side, and try not to include any true whites or blacks (they stand out a lot.)

7) Block in shadows

Some artists like to start with their highlights, but I prefer to start with the darks. Take a shade just darker than your mid-tone, and lightly color over the parts of your hair that will be in shadow due to the light source.

8) Dark chunks

Hair is not usually flat, so there will be large pieces in shadow. Take the next darkest tone from your last one, and paint in some longer thick strands, following the flow of your sketch. Typically you’ll have thinner or fewer of these lines in your light areas, and more in your dark areas.

9) Blend

Very lightly blend these strands, while still following the flow. You want to soften the light, not completely erase it (this was one of the things I had the hardest time with while I was learning).

10) Add fine dark hair

Take a darker tone and a thinner brush, and delicately paint in hairs along the flow to give your hair more definition.

11) Blend

Use either a thin blend or a blender that works kind of like a rake (that’s what I used here) and lightly blend the hairs along the flow; they don’t need to be completely softened, just a little less obvious. I also took the time to blend the hairline a bit too. 

12) Add lighter hair pieces

Using a tone just a little lighter than your mid-tone, go through and add some high lights along the flow where you think the light is hitting your hair. try not to overlap the dark and light strands too much, as it can look a little muddy. 

13) Refine your highlights

Use another lighter tone and go over the highlights of the highlights. I know that can be a little confusing, but your basically just narrowing down the highlighted area into smaller strands, making them stand out.

14) Highlights of the highlights of the highlights--

Take your lightest shade, and just barely caress the peaks of your highlighted areas. this will make your hair a bit more shiny and 3D!

15) Blend

VERY LIGHTLY blend the newly added highlights. The goal of this is less to blend it, and more to fade the ends of your highlights into the rest of the hair so the lighting isn’t as abrupt.

16) Fly away hairs

No hair is perfectly smooth, so throw in some stray hairs! This is my favorite part, because I think it really brings the hair to life :D

I use the highlighter brush, and lightly brush in some thin hairs away from the head, and through the highlighted areas. In the darker areas, I do the same, just using the dark shade instead of the light. Don’t be afraid to get messy!

17) Loose pieces

I personally like the way loose hair falls, so I add a couple strands here and there, just following the same guidelines for dark and light shading I gave you!

FINISHED!