Overview to drawing hair - Draw the outline shape of the hair. Begin by applying the dark areas in the direction the hair grows. After dark areas are placed, blend them out to be a halftone value. Reapply the darks by drawing the darks into the light area. Pull the light area into the dark area with the sharpened point of a kneaded eraser. Never try to create the light areas of the hair by leaving the white of the paper showing and drawing around it. The highlights of the hair are actually the light reflecting off the top, outside layers of the hair. The hair creates shadows on the face.
Step 1 – I put in the dark areas of the hair using a 4B pencil. I applied the pencil strokes in the direction the hair is laying. The hair is darkest right underneath the cap because the cap is casting a shadow onto the hair.
Step 2 – Once the darks were in, I blended over the whole area of hair. Is the hair done? Absolutely not! For hair to look full and thick, many layers of pencil strokes and blending must occur.
Step 3 – I went back in and re-defined the darks and blended again. Pretty dark, huh? Now it is time for the eraser to pull out some lighter values in the hair.
Oh, but wait! Putting in the dark hair is bringing out the darks in the eyes. They’ll still need adjusted, but maybe not as much as I first thought.
Back to the eraser. You want a chisel point on your eraser. It will aid you greatly when pulling out the lighter values of hair.
Step 4 – I turned my work on the side so I could see shapes better rather than draw what my mind thought hair should look like. You see how the eraser pulled out the lighter values in the hair? Pretty neat, huh? It’s not looking as dark either.
Step 5 – The hair needed more definition, so I went back in the the blending stump.
Ach…I could mess with the hair all day!
Next time on The Drawing Board – the cap.
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