Make Your Sketch More

       

 Detailed With These Tips 

Drawing Hair in Graphite and Colored Pencil

When it comes to creating realistic portraits and figures, knowing techniques for drawing hair — including different lengths, styles and texture — is essential. 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.

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.

 here are some essential tips for drawing hair:

• The pencil strokes always replicate the hair’s direction and the length.
• The color of the hair is determined by how dark or how light your pencil lines are.
• A band of light is created in the hair anytime there is a curved area. You will see it in curls and around the circumference of the head.
• Highlights are always seen on rounded or protruding areas.
• Blend the paper to a gray tone before you lift highlights. This makes them look like they are on the outer surface.

Drawing Hair | Graphite

There are many different types of hairstyles and textures. 

• Frizzy or Permed Hair

This study shows what frizzy or permed hair looks like. The curls are less distinct here because of the randomness of the hair direction and the overlapping of hair strands.

The pencil strokes are more blended out because of the frizzier texture of the hair. This hair appears much lighter than the previous example.

• Curly Hair

This study shows how curls form tubular shapes similar to a cylinder. Wherever the curls protrude the most, the highlight shows.

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.

• Band of Light

This is an example of the bands of light — areas where the hair is curved, such as in bangs and around the head. It is the most obvious with long, smooth hair.

• Layered Hair

In layered hair, V shapes are created — which also occurs when drawing animal fur, feathers and flower petals. These V shapes are where things overlap and recede, and the deep V of darkness gives the illusion of depth.

These quick exercises below will give you some practice with some of the most common styles.

Each type requires a different approach. The texture and color are dependent on the type of pencil stroke used and the pressure applied.

Materials you’ll need:

• Drawing paper
• Kneaded eraser
• Mechanical graphite pencil
• Stump or tortillion

From short to long and curly, drawing hair with these tips will make your drawings more realistic and accurate. Practice drawing different textures, colors and lengths to perfect your hair drawings. Then, combine facial features with your drawings to create realistic portraiture! Drawing hair is the first step to creating stunning and accurate portrait and figure drawings. Understanding how hair is drawn and behaves may even help you draw animals! The possibilities are endless with Lee Hammond’s essential tips for drawing hair.