Wednesday, May 1, 2024

How to Draw Realistic Hair: 14 Steps with Pictures

hair sketch

Artists Network is with you every step of your art journey. Each hair comes from a specific point and grows in a different direction. Even when the hair is very long, the gravitational force eventually brings it down. The shaft is the visible part of the hair, while the root is the part embedded in the skin. The follicle is the structure that surrounds the root and nourishes the hair.

Step Two: Create the shape of the hair

Similar to the first hairstyle begin by applying an initial series of strokes that will define the light, medium and dark areas of the hair. Again be sure to make these in a way where they flow along the shape of the hair. Negative space refers to the areas around and between objects. Next, start adding more details by defining individual hair strands. Remember that hair strands are not uniformly thick throughout their length. Use varying line weights to give your drawing a more natural look.

Here’s how you can make your realistic hair drawing even better…

Due to it’s various curves and folds curly hair will tend to have a much more random distribution of these. Finish the drawing by further darkening and smoothing out the overall shading. Finish the line drawing by adding the smallest set of details.

How to Draw Hair: A Comprehensive Guide for Artists

Simply keep drawing these lines to the final sections of the hair, following the guide arrows and reference images. Referring closely to the image in step 3, you can start drawing thicker lines to the left side of the hair. The reference image for step three has arrows to show you the direction that the hair will be flowing in the next few steps.

To achieve a realistic appearance, focus on creating volume and texture. Use shading techniques such as cross-hatching, stippling, or even blending with a smudging tool to add depth and dimension to your hair drawing. Finally, when you've fleshed out your sketch enough, it is time to go over it in ink. So, using your pen of choice (we recommend a technical pen, like Sakura Pigma Microns), slowly go over the lines. If you want to add some variation to the hair texture, then try mixing up your pens with broader and finer types.

What we see must be simplified to lines and shades, and there are many ways to do it. Drawing realistic hair can be quite a challenge, so you should be very proud of reaching the end of the guide. Finally, be sure to go over all the final lines with a pen and then erase all leftover pencil lines. Then, carefully erase any part of the head outline that would be hidden by hair. 19 year industry professional animator and storyboard artist Luis Escobar will teach you what you need to know as if you’re where learning Kung Fu. If you’re embarrassed because you can’t draw a straight line or even a good stick figure.

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hair sketch

Textures save time and add complexity to the shapes. First, for drawing both female hair and male hair, we must define the hairline and areas of our character’s hair. Marking a reference point or a route which divides the hair can help us. From there, it becomes easier to see the direction that each section will take (2). Pay attention to the position and angle of the hairline, taking into account the forehead’s shape and the direction in which the hair falls. This will create a sense of harmony and realism in your hair drawings.

Step 6

You should eventually have a line drawing with a good amount of details similar to the example above. If you are going to be follows this tutorial it’s best to do so using pencil and paper. Keep it lighter on the outside edge where the light comes through as well as where it grows out of the hairline. Repeat the steps above for the other side, although symmetry looks nice. The beauty of hair lies in imperfections and asymmetry, so try to keep both sides different. For this part, we’ll be using the diagram from section 1 and following the direction of the hair when pulled back.

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Once again as in the two previous examples apply an initial layer of strokes the define the light, medium and dark areas of the hair. Inside the construction frame from the previous step begin drawing in some of the more organic shapes and folds of the hair. You can erase the construction lines as you go through them. Erase the parts of the head (including the hairline) that are hidden by the hair once you are done drawing it’s basic shape.

So, choose a pen (or a couple of different ones) and trace over the graphite sketch. Afterward, it is time to fill in the hair with more texture, so add long and short lines throughout the hairstyle. Continue to fill in the hair with texture, adding more lines to the hairstyle to indicate volume. This is a part where you will want to refer very closely to the reference image as you draw. Try your best to draw the hair outline as it appears in the picture.

Refine the shading by creating smoother gradients between the mid tone, light and “in shadow” areas of the hair. You can also make the shadow areas slightly darker. Use a kneaded eraser to lift the bands of light out of each curl.

Afterward, add depth to the hair by adding numerous lines to each lock of hair. Shade the whole haircut now, drawing curls all around. Afro-textured hair has a lot of curly strands and texture. Draw the direction of the hair gently flowing down over the shoulders. Keep in mind that you're not drawing the single hairs here, just their flow.

Next, you may want to change the look of this realistic hair drawing by changing the style of the hair. This could be subtle and incorporate some of the existing stylings. When drawing cartoons, we simplify this even more and imply hair with hair shapes. They can be simple or complex, depending on the style of cartoon.

With the powdered graphite and your brush, tap around the head to define the hair’s size and shape. Use significant circular movements to give it a “cloudy” effect. It’s what makes us unique and sets us apart from one another. It’s an extension of who we are and how we want to be seen. Hair has long been used to express oneself in various cultures around the world, and it continues to be a way to do so in our society too. I’ve always thought that short, almost shaved hair feels like a carpet!

Don't press too hard—hair is soft and shouldn't have a hard outline. Hair is very difficult to draw, because what we see is different than what we know. You can't simply draw all the hairs in the form of lines, because that's not what we see when we look at hair.

Afterward, fill in the shapes of the hair with varying lines to give it texture, volume, and depth. Next, add two thick locks of hair to frame the face. Start these voluptuous shapes at the hair part and move downwards in undulating, ribbon-like shapes. Starting a little above the hairline (or forehead), draw large petal-like shapes to create the bangs.

How To Draw Hair A Step-by-Step Tutorial

hair sketch

This will help you identify areas for improvement and gain new perspectives on your hair drawing techniques. To complete your hair drawing, step back and evaluate the overall composition. Make any necessary adjustments to ensure balance and harmony with the rest of your artwork. Understanding these elements will help you create more accurate and realistic hair in your drawings.

Step Three: Add texture to the hair

You could choose any colors that you love to finish up, and you have so many options at your disposal. So click on the “If You’re New, Start Here” page below and get started. However, this does depend on the style you're after. A good rule of thumb is, "less is more." If you can get away with one highlight, you're good. If you find you need even more, you're in danger of over doing it.

Step Four: Fill in the hair with texture

Same as the other example begin by drawing an outline of the entire shape of the head. All of the examples in this tutorial will use fairly generic lighting with no particularly strong one directional light source. This is an example of the bands of light — areas where the hair is curved, such as in bangs and around the head. This study shows how curls form tubular shapes similar to a cylinder.

Guide to Drawing Ears

To begin, lightly draw the shapes of the hair with a mechanical pencil. Then, go over it with some Dark Umber to separate the layers of the hair. Start your drawing by laying in the overall shape of the hairstyle with a pencil. Explosive —but not too much, curly hair is voluminous, hard to control and, many times, hard to comb! Fluffy, soft, playful and gorgeous, those are some adjectives we can think about for curly hair.

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Look for photographs, art books, magazines, or even online resources that feature a diverse range of hair styles. Over time, your imagination and observation skills will work together to create unique and captivating hair designs. Consider the light source and create highlights and shadows accordingly. This will make your hair look more three-dimensional and lifelike. Add strands of hair in the form of little springs all around the head.

Since this is a short hairstyle, keep them closer to the shape of the head, adding just slightly more volume to the outline of the skull. Now it’s up to you to really make this realistic hair drawing your own. That was a tricky drawing challenge, so now you can let your hair down with some coloring fun! This is a step where you can unleash your creativity on your realistic hair drawing.

Step Five: Go over the drawing in ink

Pretty much, what you want to avoid, is the spaghetti hair effect. You don't want your hair drawing to look like you're just putting down a bunch of lines from the top of the head. Add more layers of strokes over top of the first one to smooth out the gradients and darken the overall shading. Again be sure to leave some distance between the strokes to give an effect of individual hairs. Over top of the drawing of the head and hairline outline the main shape/shapes of the hair.

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Step 8: Repeat for the right

I also put in some irregularities around the edges to match the surface (B). • Hair does not form a compacted shape, nor a consistent one. It is very light, so when the character moves, the wind, the humidity, or anything that surrounds it can affect its silhouette. • The volume varies depending on the amount of hair on each side of the head (3). Hair locks must somehow wrap the head following the curves of its surface. Both circles have a layer around them, but A looks more like a flat shape, whereas B looks to be more spherical.

hair sketch

Hair Construction and Hair Volume

When drawing very short hair, take the skin tone up into the hair area. Next, add Light Umber to the hair, and then deepen the dark areas with Dark Umber. Use a very sharp pencil point and long, quick pencil strokes to create the appearance of hair strands. By viewing them up close, you can see how critical the pencil strokes are to creating texture. And, as noted previously, drawing hair correctly is a big part of being able to draw more realistic people.

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At last, it is time to go over the illustration in ink. Pick out a fine-tipped pen and trace all of the graphite lines. Once you're sure the ink has dried, erase any visible pencil marks. The more you add, the denser the hairstyle will look. This will give the hair some detail and add depth to the whole haircut. Don't press too hard, and don't make the lines too tight.

This shows the band of light, where the hair creates a tubular shape. This occurs when long hair follows a curve, and the protruding areas gather light. You will see this band in curls where the hair bends as well. The texture and color are dependent on the type of pencil stroke used and the pressure applied.

The examples in this tutorial can give you a good basic idea of how to draw some common hair types. If you want to try drawing another hairstyle you can still apply the same steps/principals used in these tutorial. First defining the main shape of the hair and then refine your drawing by adding the smaller details. Afterwards you can gradually shade the line drawing in several lairs of strokes. Below are a few segment drawings that show different types of hairstyles and textures. Doing small studies such as these can give you good practice with various techniques.

At this stage don’t worry about getting every small hair clump but instead focus on it’s overall volume and large shapes that define the hairstyle. Be sure to start drawing with very light lines as you will need to erase parts of it in some of the steps. Light lines will also make it much easier to correct mistakes. The lines in the examples have been made slightly darker just so that they are easier to see. There are endless styles, textures and colors when it comes to drawing hair, so it would be impossible to cover them all. But it is important to know how to draw as many different types as possible if you want to excel at portraiture.

There are many different types of hairstyles and textures. These quick exercises below will give you some practice with some of the most common styles. The pencil lines create the texture of the hair, following the direction the hair is going. The highlights are lifted with the same type of quick stroke. You can tell this is dark hair by the depth of the tones. If you’re a beginner, this may seem like a daunting challenge, especially since this task can take longer than any other part of a drawing.

Learn more about portraiture and hair drawing with a video workshop, here. Or, check out Lee Hammond‘s work for more inspiration and drawing tips. Check the diagram and with your 4B pencil, darken the red areas.

How to Draw Realistic Hair: 14 Steps with Pictures

Table Of Content Step Two: Create the shape of the hair Here’s how you can make your realistic hair drawing even better… How to Draw Hair: A...