How to Draw Hair Body and Face

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The average man head has around 100,000 strands of hair on it.^[1] All of these private strands come together to create a distinct shape, texture, and tone that brand each person's hair unique. Attempting to replicate the intricacies of human being pilus in a cartoon tin be intimidating for both beginners and experienced artists. Fortunately, by breaking the process down into manageable steps and adding details one layer at a time, drawing realistic pilus doesn't have to exist hard.

1
Draw the outline of the head. It's hard to depict hair accurately without at least the outline of the head. You need to see how the hair flows in relation to the caput as you're drawing. Use a reference photo and draw the outline of the person'south head, including the top and sides (fifty-fifty if they're covered past hair). To depict a head without a reference photo, sketch an oval that'south narrower at the bottom. Make sure you lot get out enough room on the page for the ends of the hair.^[2]
- You can suit the shape of the mentum later afterwards yous depict the pilus.
2
Sketch the outline of the pilus. Start at the top of the head and describe the top and sides of the pilus effectually it. Leave some space between the hair and the head since hair has book and isn't perfectly apartment. And so, draw the flow of the hair as information technology cascades down past the confront and around where the cervix and shoulders would be.^[3]
- The exact shape of the outline volition depend on the manner of the hair you're cartoon. For direct long pilus, draw a direct line on each side of the hair, running from the tiptop of the pilus to the ends. For wavy hair, use wavy lines to draw the sides of the hair—the bigger y'all make the wavy lines, the looser the pilus waves will look. For curly pilus, merely draw the outlines of the curls around the top, sides, and ends of the hair. Don't worry about cartoon all of the individual curls even so.
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3
Split the pilus into singled-out sections. Wait for visible pieces of hair that are clumped together or overlapping other sections of hair, and depict these sections within the outline to ascertain them. Hair has different layers—the layers in the back may only be partially visible behind the layers in the front. Textured or layered hair will have more than visible sections. Hair that's flat and straight will have less.^[four]
- If yous're drawing curly pilus, the private sections of hair volition exist really defined. Outline each of the curls within the pilus.
4
Outline the highlights in the hair. If you lot're using a model or reference photo, look to see where the light hits the hair. If y'all're not, you'll need to decide where the low-cal is coming from in your drawing. For example, if it's on the left side of your figure, the highlights would fall on the left side of the hair, and the correct side would have more shadows. Outline the shapes of the visible highlights in the hair. Defining them now will brand it easier to requite the hair a realistic tone and value after.^[five]
- For instance, mayhap the low-cal is shining downward on your figure, and the hair on the top of their head is reflecting the low-cal. Look at the basic shape that this reflected lite makes on the pilus, and draw an outline of it in your cartoon. The shape doesn't need to be perfect. Y'all'll just use this as a reference later.
- The verbal size and shape of the highlights volition vary depending on the position and intensity of the light in your drawing. The more intense the light is, the bigger the highlights will be. Mostly, highlights appear in thick, singled-out sections, and the shapes menstruation in the same management as the hair.
Tip: If you're using a reference photo, you lot can upload information technology to a costless image editing software and posterize it or increase the contrast. This will brand the highlights and shadows in the hair more visible.
v
Shade in the hair effectually the highlights. Showtime by lightly shading in all of the hair. Use the border of your pencil so the shading is blended and uniform. Don't draw individual strands of pilus yet. And so, go over the darker parts of the hair once again, like whatever shadows at the roots or night areas where pieces of hair overlap. Shading in the hair will assistance add dimension and arrive look more real.^[6]
- Use dissimilar grades of pencils if you lot have them. For case, you could apply an 8B for the darkest shadows, a 6B for medium-range shadows, and a 4B for everything else. You'll be able to create ameliorate dissimilarity using a range of pencils.
6
Draw private strands throughout the hair to add texture. Working on one section of the hair at a time, draw individual strands in the direction that the pilus flows. Showtime at the roots and draw the strands to the ends of the hair. Press downwardly harder at darker sections of the hair, and lift up on your pencil every bit you lot go over the highlights.^[seven]
- Use a kneaded eraser to add more highlights if the hair starts to get too dark. Flatten the eraser and swipe the tip across the page to make thin, white strands in the pilus.^[8]
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Keep calculation layers of individual strands. In one case you've added one layer of strands, go back over the hair and add a 2d, and a third, and then on. Continuing adding more than layers until you attain the level of realism you're aiming for.^[9]

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Sketch the outline of the head. You'll have an easier fourth dimension drawing the hair if you can use the head as a reference point. Find a reference photo and draw the outline of the person's head. If you lot don't want to use a reference photo, describe an oval that's narrower at the bottom than it is as the height. Don't worry about making the outline of the head perfect—yous can arrange information technology afterwards.^[10]
2
Draw the basic shape of the pilus on the caput. Outline the sides of the pilus, the peak of the hair, and the hairline. Terminate the sides of the hair about halfway downward the face up. Leave a small gap between the pilus and the caput to requite the hair some volume.^[xi]
- The right fashion to draw the outline volition depend on the hairstyle. If the hair is longer on the peak than on the sides, outline the shorter hair on the sides of the caput so the tops of the outlines are in line with the parts in the hair. And so, draw the outline of the longer pilus on height of the head. If y'all're drawing brusk hair that's the same length all around, just draw one continued outline since there won't be any noticeable parts in the pilus. If yous're cartoon curly short hair, draw the outlines of the curls effectually the top and sides of the head, merely don't draw the individual curls within the hair however.
3
Draw outlines around the highlighted portions of the hair. Wait at your reference photo to see where the low-cal falls on the hair. If you're not using a reference photo, yous'll need to determine where the calorie-free is shining in your cartoon. Once y'all've identified the highlights in the hair, describe a lite outline around them so you remember to leave those areas white subsequently.^[12]
- For case, in that location may be a band-shaped highlight that wraps around the top of the pilus nearly the roots. Or, if the light is shining on the front of your figure, there may be a lot of highlights scattered throughout the front of the pilus. The exact shape and size of the highlights volition depend on how strong the light is and where it'southward positioned. The stronger and closer the lite, the bigger the highlights will exist.
4
Shade in everything except for the highlights. Use the edge of your pencil to lightly shade in the outline of the pilus, leaving the outlined highlights white. Make the shading smooth and blended—you don't want to draw individual strands of pilus yet. So, get back over the shadows in the hair to make them darker. Hair is usually darker by the roots, and there may exist shadows where pieces of the hair overlap. Continue to shade in the pilus until you've captured all of the different values.^[13]
- Try using different form pencils, like 8B, 6B, and 4B, to help you capture all of the different values in the hair.^[14]
v
Draw clusters of hair throughout the outline. A lot of shorter pilus has thick, distinct pieces throughout it, specially on the top. If the pilus is brushed back, describe these pieces of hair coming upwards and away from the hairline. If the hair is brushed forrad, start at the top of the head and draw the pieces of hair coming down toward the hairline and over the brow. Some of the pieces will overlap. Some of them might be thicker than others, and some of them might stick out straight or coil to the side.^[15]
- If you lot're cartoon textured, curly, or wavy hair, there will be more clusters of hair throughout the outline.
6
Sketch individual strands of hair within the pieces. Choose a piece of hair and place your pencil at the root. Then, draw a strand of hair extending from the root to the end of the piece using a smoothen, fluid movement. If you pass over a shadow in the hair, printing harder on your pencil and make that section of the strand thicker. When yous go over a highlighted portion of the pilus, lift upward on your pencil so that area remains mostly white. Proceed drawing strands similar this until you've filled upwards the slice you're working on. Then move on to the next piece. Keep doing this until every slice of hair is filled in.^[sixteen]
- This part of the process will take the longest. Work on one piece of hair at a time so information technology's easier to keep track of your progress.
7

Impact up the highlights and shadows. Once you've filled in all of the pieces of hair, use a kneaded eraser to advisedly touch upwardly any highlights that lost their brightness while you were drawing. Yous tin can as well use your pencil to shade in any shadows in the hair and then they're darker, which will besides assist the highlights popular.^[17]

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Question

Practice I have to utilise a pencil, or tin I employ something else?

Y'all can apply anything you'd like to draw hair, including pencils, pens, colored pencils, and charcoal. Pencils are cracking for those who are only learning, because they are the easiest to erase.
Question

How are people able to draw and so well?

It's a combination of talent, training and practice. But it's more do and training than anything else. With training and plenty of practice, you lot will somewhen get you used to drawing complex shapes and styles, along with shading and highlights. No tutorial tin can replace the amount of practice needed to draw well. Take that it takes a lot of effort and time to acquire and you won't get frustrated so easily.
Question

Should I draw every strand?

No. Cartoon every strand will take a very long time and information technology is not worth it. Information technology could likewise brand your drawing expect messy. Instead, effort drawing the complete torso of hair, and so add a strands to get in look realistic.
Question

How can I draw other hairstyles?

Experimentation really helps. You lot can't get it perfect every time, only you will one day. Keep trying and learning from the mistakes you make.
Question

How exercise I know where to add the highlights?

Add together the highlights based on whatever bending you lot think the light is a shining from. For case, if the light is on the correct, draw all the highlights on the right side of the hair.
Question

Why do I take to shade the hair?

Shading the pilus makes the hair strands stand out more than, helping them to expect more realistic. Realistic hair also has many layers and pilus without shading will not make these layers stand up out.
Question

Does in that location need to be a part?

For the most part, aye, as information technology will help yous sketch out loose hair more hands. Even tied hair has a very slight function sometimes.
Question

How tin I get in look like a combination of colors?

It depends on what yous are drawing with. Pencils are ordinarily the easiest to start out with, equally they are easily erasable, and you lot can blend and shade smoothly and neatly. Pencils come in a diversity of types. A regular writing pencil is most probable HB, or #two. There are too B and H types. B pencils are soft, and the marks appear darker, nevertheless the pencil dulls quickly. B pencils range from B to 9B, 9B existence the softest. H pencils are hard and stay sharp longer, but the marks are lighter. They range from H to 9H, and 9H is the hardest. There are as well F pencils, which are right in the eye. To brand the illusion of unlike colors, make them varying shades. Kneaded erasers help a lot.
Question

How practise I do the shading? How do I become the lighting right, etc.?

In art course you may have learned nearly value in art. If yous change how difficult you press the pencil down, y'all'll get different shades.
Question

What'southward the difference between thick hair and thin pilus?

Thick pilus ordinarily comes in long, firm strands that do not frizz. Thin hair ofttimes is weaker and curls more easily. To draw thick pilus, use a rather unsharpened 2B pencil in long, wide lines. Use a 2H pencil, well-sharpened, to make curly lines for thin hair.