Drawing Hair

1. Drawing Hair

2. Begin by drawing out the basic shapes of the shadows and highlights on the hair. • It is necessary to squint your eyes to be able to see the larger shapes • NEVER try to draw each individual strand of hair

3. Begin shading in the dark shadow areas using your 6B pencil. • Note that even if you are drawing blond hair, you will still have dark shadow areas (usually closest to the roots)

4. With your 2B pencil, blend from the dark areas, so there are no perfect edges along the shadow shapes you have previously drawn. • Use your pencil to overlap in the dark shadows and pull out to the highlighted areas so the change is gradual

5. Use your blending stomp to start to soften the hairs and add in some grey tones • Be sure to leave some areas completely white – if necessary, use your kneaded eraser to “draw” in the highlights

6. Add some shading to the skin. Notice that the skin has a much softer texture – there should be no noticeable lines, only areas of tonal value • Be sure to use your blending stomp to make the skin look smooth in comparison to the hair

7. Using all three pencils (with a fine point!), go back over the hair and draw some actual strands of hair (just a few here and there to give the ILLUSION that the entire drawing is made up of individual strands)

8. When adding facial hair, always finish drawing and shading the skin first so you are layering the hair OVER the skin

9. Begin by slowly adding short choppy hairs on the upper lip • Try to vary the direction somewhat so the hair growth is not too uniform • To show stubble rather than a full moustache, be sure to leave some random gaps

10. Continue filling in the entire upper lip • Notice that the hair tends to look thicker AND grow in a different direction towards the outer corners of the mouth

11. Add some hairs beneath the lip and along the sides of the mouth as well • To show highlights, you can either use your kneaded eraser to "draw" in highlights OR you can use a pencil WITH NO LEAD to first create a dent in the page to leave a space where the highlights will be (see example)

12. Finish off by using the blending stomp to lightly blend some of the hairs together • If necessary, go back in with a fine pencil to detail some actual hairs and highlights with your eraser

13. When drawing someone with long wavy hair, there will be a lot of areas that show both shadows and highlights. It is very important to create a "map" of where these different values lie It is not necessary to draw every strand – instead, squint your eyes to see the larger areas.

14. Begin by using your 2B pencil to lightly shade in any areas that are not part of the bright highlights • Leave the highlighted areas white (regardless of the colour of the hair)

15. Still working with your 2B pencil, begin building up your tonal value by looking for the areas of shadow and shading them darker

16. Use your blending stomp to soften and blend all of your shades together • You may cover up some of your original highlights (although they should still remain the lightest value on the hair)

17. Using your 6B pencil, go back over the areas you have blended to darken some of the noticeable shadow areas. • At this point, you can also start to draw SOME individual strands, just to bring attention to the different waves of hair

18. Use your kneaded eraser to draw in the highlights • Use your H or 2B pencil (with a sharp point) to again show the individual hair strands of some of the chunks of hair

19. Step 1 – Draw the Hair as One Large Shape Add some shading under the bangs. Hair creates shadows on the skin so this will keep the bright white of the paper from shining through Drawing Straight Hair

20. Step 2 – Apply the First Tones Using your 2B pencil, apply quick pencil marks in the direction of the arrows. Keep applying the pencil lines until it starts to fill in. A band of light should start to form where the pencil lines don’t quite meet. Keep your lines smooth; don’t ever scribble

21. Step 3 – Blend Everything Out Using your blending stump, blend in the same direction that you applied the pencil strokes – don’t ever blend across!

22. Step 4 – Darken the Shadow Areas Using your 7B pencil, darken the areas one more time. Use the same procedure as the first time.

23. Step 5 – Lift out the Highlights Use your kneadable eraser as a pencil to pull out the highlights where indicated

24. Step 6 – Finish the Details Using your 7B pencil, go back and put in some individual darker strands so that the hair doesn’t look too smooth. Don’t go overboard with this!

25. Step 1 – Draw the Shape Start with your basic outline, showing the overall shape and direction of individual waves and curls

26. Step 2 – Apply the Dark Tones Squint your eyes when looking at your reference photo to see the light and dark patterns created by the hair layers and curls. Apply the tones, going in the same direction as the hair.

27. Step 3 – Blend and Lift the Highlights Blend out the hair, redefine your darks, and pull out the highlight areas with your eraser. Watch how the lights and darks merge on each individual curl or wave Keep building up tones to create the necessary volume Finally, soften the outside edges with your blending stump.

28. Step 1 – Start with the Basic Outline • Fill in the shape with your 2B pencil using the squirkling method. • Keep it lighter towards the outside edge.

29. Step 2 – Blend Out the Hair • Use your blending stump to soften the pencil lines, being sure to use the same circular squirkling motion.

30. Step 3 – Lift out the Light Areas • Put your kneaded eraser into a point and use a dabbing motion to lift out light areas. • Keep the light on the outside edge and reapply some darkness to the area closer to the head using your 7B pencil. Soften with your blending stump as necessary.