DRAWING THE HAIR
Mechanical
pencils really score in this art, a 0.5 lead will give a very
fine line without the need for constant sharpening.
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This is not as difficult as it looks... and it's a very effective
technique.
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Because
of scanning limitations, I've drawn quite heavy to demonstrate
this method but of course your initial outline will be much
lighter. The hair is no more difficult to draw than any other
facial feature, although it can take considerable time to achieve
a natural look. I've actually drawn in where the shades differ
and indicated the direction of growth of each section. |
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The
first thing I do is shade in all the darkest tones drawing in
the direction the hair lies. Closing the eyes slightly and squinting
at your reference photo will help to define these areas. How
dark I shade these areas is obviously dependent on the colour
of the hair. A blonde colour would require a much lighter shade
but the actual method would be identical.
( See above) |
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Once
shaded, I'm going to use the tortillon to drag the colour into
the the light areas, again in the direction the hair lies, until
I achieve a halftone (mid gray). I then open up the highlights
again by dragging my eraser from the light areas, into the dark. |
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I
tend to hold the pencil quite high and use use long, sweeping
flicks of the pencil, very lightly, from the dark areas... into
and across the light areas to represent the individual hairs.
Needless to say, these strokes need to follow the hair growth.
Blend this layer as before, again, using the tortillon from
dark to light and the eraser from light to dark to re-establish
the highlights. |
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Erase
lightly so that the previous layers show through, this gives
the impression of depth to the hair. Notice how the lighter
areas of these drawings change shape slightly, this is due
to erasing to re-establish the highlights. The drawing on
the left has just the two layers, I would probably do a third
or even a fourth layer to give a more luxuriant look. Always
finish by softening the outside edges with the blender. |
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