Post on 16-Mar-2018
How to Draw Short Hair From the Side (Expanded) By Darlene Nguyen - January 10, 2017
Looking for a highly detailed tutorial on how to draw short hair? This is a
very extensive one with plenty of examples, a full step by step tutorial and
mini tutorial.
It’s an expanded version of the mini tutorial from my first hair article. So if
you’ve seen the thumbnail for this article before, I’m not feeding you old
content. What you’re getting in this tutorial is new content with more
images, more steps, more explanations and over 2000 words of valuable
content! Let’s get into it!
Tools I Used (You can find all my recommended tools here):
● HB, 2B, 4B, 6B Derwent Pencils ● Mechanical Pencil with HB and 4B 0.5mm Pentel (Ain) Lead ● Kneaded Rubber Eraser
Copyright © 2017 Darlene Nguyen, www.RapidFireArt.com All Rights Reserved
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I hope I don’t lose you during any step in the application part of this tutorial,
so here are a few things I want to cover with you before we start. Let’s talk
about:
● Grouping Hair ● Layering Hair ● Hair Flow/Direction ● Shading ● Detailing Short Hair ● Lighting and Consistency ● How to Draw a Small Section of Hair (Mini Tutorial)
Grouping Hair
Grouping is a great way to approach drawing a an entire head of hair,
especially if the sheer amount intimidates you. This method can help you
draw hair faster because you’re simplifying something that looks complex.
When you’re in the grouping phase, you’ll want to draw using very light
outlines. These groups will eventually be broken down into smaller, more
detailed sections of hair. In the grouping phase, all you need to think about
is the length, overall design and flow of hair.
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If you’re drawing from a reference image, you can identify groups of hair by
zooming out of the image or standing back to find patterns in the hair.
Group hairs that are flowing in the same direction and/or close together.
Layering Hair
This part is self explanatory, but I decided to include it just in case. If you
get the idea, move on to the next point.
The order in which you draw each group of hair is important. If you’re
drawing a hairstyle where the hair is prominently parted at the side of the
head, you’ll want to start your first layer there and work your way out.
The image below is an example of drawing from the part and working your
way down the side of the head.
If all the hair is brushed from the back of the head towards the front, start
your first layer of hair from the back of the head where the swirl or whorl is
located. If the hair is brushed from front to back, you’ll draw starting from
front to back.
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Hair Flow and Direction
If you have a reference image, look for patterns in the hair to find out the
general direction where the majority of hair is flowing. In the image above,
the hairs at the top of the head are all pointing in a similar general direction
while hair on the side of the head seems to have a more unique flow. You
can use arrows in your reference image to help visualize the flow.
Avoid drawing hairs that follow the exact direction your arrows are
pointing. You can make your drawing look a lot more interesting by pointing
the hair in several different directions, while still appearing to point in the
same general direction.
Copyright © 2017 Darlene Nguyen, www.RapidFireArt.com All Rights Reserved
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Dark Spaces
Drawing hair isn’t about
creating as many lines as
possible. Between some hairs,
there should be dark space.
These dark spaces are
important and can make a
head of hair look more
interesting to the eye and give
the hair more volume or depth.
You can introduce dark shadows in areas like the swirl behind the head,
spaces between large groups of hair or even areas where overlapping, curly
or unruly hair appear.
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Detailing Short Hair
If you’re drawing from a picture and you’ve lost track of which hair you just
drew and you don’t know which patch of hair to draw next… there’s really no
need to copy the exact picture hair by hair.
If you end up reading through this entire tutorial, you will be more
comfortable playing it by ear instead of pouring over the tiny details from
your reference image.
Below are just a few ways you can detail hair. You can incorporate a few or
all of them in your drawing wherever you see fit. Come up with your own
formulas. It’s a lot of fun!
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Lighting and Consistency
Overall Lighting:
If you often find it hard to keep track of the overall lighting while you’re
drawing, it really helps to plan ahead. You can do this by outlining/shadow
lining areas of the hair you want the light to fall on or areas you want to
have the most shadow and then shade these areas in. This step should be
done before grouping and layering.
Lighting Across Particular Sections:
Once you start drawing the individual hairs, it’s easy to lose track and end
up with inconsistent lighting across small groups of hair. Here’s an example:
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You can easily change the highlighted section of hair by pinching your
kneaded eraser into a long thin shape and swiftly remove graphite from your
drawing.
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How to Draw a Small Section of Hair – Mini Tutorial
Step 1:
Have a good idea of where you want the hair to be lightest and where it
should be darkest. Use a soft but sharp pencil to shade the darkest areas of
hair. I used a 6B. If you don’t want such dark shadows, use a harder pencil.
Make sure to use strokes that follow the hair’s flow.
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Step 2:
You can start drawing the
individual hairs now. If
you’re not comfortable with
that just yet, see the mini
tutorial from the original
hair article. You can do this
step with many pencils or
you can use one. I usually
draw one group of hair at a
time. But in order to make
this mini tutorial short, I’m
working on all 3 groups at
the same time.
Using a 4B mechanical pencil, I created strokes that were bold to begin with,
but ended lightly as I approached the areas I wanted to highlight. Then I
used a sharp HB pencil to fill in some spaces. I applied a variety of pressures
to get a mix of different values and line thicknesses. Some lines are shorter
or longer than others. This is great, but make sure the area that you want to
highlight has not been shifted.
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Step 3:
Now, you’ll want to draw from the end of the hair towards the highlight. If
you draw the hair ends as dark as the root, the hair will have more of a
curve to it.
The thing you need to keep in mind here is that the stroke needs to appear
as though both ends are faded out or thinned out. The way to do this is to
draw each hair using 2 strokes going in opposite directions. You only need to
do this if your hair ends are noticeably blunt, making them appear
unnatural.
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Step 4:
If you haven’t been mindful of the prearranged lighting and your highlights
appear to be off, use your kneaded eraser to redefine them. If you want the
highlights to pop more, increase the level of overall darkness and/or use an
eraser to brighten up individual strands of hair.
If you’re still reading, you’re one heck of a patient person. I think you’re
ready for the tutorial now!
How to Draw Short Hair From the Side
Step 1: Head Outline
Draw the shape of a head from the
side. You can use this tutorial for
proportions. Make sure to draw the
ear and neck in this step as well. I
used a 4B pencil so that you can
clearly see my outlines. If you’re
afraid of the outlines showing
through in the end, use an HB
pencil.
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Step 2: Hair Length
Decide on the length of hair you’d like to draw. In this example, the hair is
shortest around the back and sides, while the hair on top of the head is
longest. Once you’ve decided on the length, grab a blunt 4B pencil and use
the shadow lining technique to outline the hair.
Make sure the distance between the hair and head is consistent.
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Step 3: Separating Top From Side Hair
Erase any outlines that you made for the head and then use an HB pencil to
create an outline that separates the hair on the side of the head from the
hair on top of the head.
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Step 4: Overall Lighting
If you don’t want to lose track of the overall lighting, use an HB pencil to
shadow line areas of the hair you want to the light to fall on and then shade
around those highlights. You can shade using a single tone or take it a step
further and introduce darker tones. I used a blunt 4B pencil for that.
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Step 5: Grouping, Layering, Flow and Shading
If you did step 4, use a 4B pencil to layer groups of hair starting from the
swirl at the very back of the head. If you didn’t do step 4, use an HB pencil.
Make sure you keep the overall direction/flow in mind as you draw.
You can cover the entire side of the head or work section by section. I
stopped as soon as I got close to the area I wanted most of the light to fall
on.
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When you start shading, start by defining the darkest areas before drawing
individual hairs (sharp 6B). If you happen to cross into the area you wanted
most of the light to fall, do not introduce overly dark tones.
After you’ve defined the major shadows, start drawing individual strands of
hair. Naturally, you’ll start breaking large groups into smaller groups and
you’ll find ways to incorporate overlapping hairs and other unique and
interesting patterns.
For the individual hairs, I used a 0.5mm 4B mechanical pencil.
Step 6:
Continue working around those highlights. When drawing hair at the nape of
the neck, curl the hairs in towards the neck. For areas close to the back of
the head that aren’t getting much light (the light source for your drawing
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may be different), focus more on mid tones and dark tones instead of trying
to define highlights/shine. It’s okay if the hair doesn’t stand out.
Step 7: Grouping, Layering, Flow and Shading
Working in small sections at a time, I drew layer upon layer of large to
medium groups of hair. Working in layers helps me carefully plan out the
hair direction and flow.
Copyright © 2017 Darlene Nguyen, www.RapidFireArt.com All Rights Reserved
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In the image above, I shaded around major groups of hair, making certain
areas darker than others to show some depth. Since this is the area I
wanted the majority of light to fall on, I used an HB 0.5mm mechanical
pencil and a 2B pencil to draw the individual hairs.
Step 8: Fixing/Adding Highlights
If you’ve shaded too dark, or simply want your highlights to pop more, roll
your kneaded eraser into a ball, pinch one section so it’s flat and sharp and
then run the eraser along areas you want to highlight as though you’re
drawing white hair.
The image on the left is before erasing and the one on the right is after.
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Step 9: Grouping and Layering
In step 2, if you can recall, I wanted the hair on top of the head to be longer
than the sides. The longest hairs you will have to draw will be in your first
layer. The following layers are overlapped by layer 1, so they’ll appear
shorter.
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Step 10: Adding Dark Space and Individual Hairs
Use your creativity to define shadows along random areas of hair. These
might be areas that you’re not sure what to do with or that would have
looked awkward if you did draw hair. You’ll know what I mean if you’re
following along and applying this to your drawing.
After you’ve drawn the shadows, use your mechanical pencil to break groups
of hair down into smaller groups until they start looking like individual
strands of hair. While you’re drawing the strands, improvise and find unique
ways to incorporate unruly, overlapping, loose hair, etc.
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If you like this tutorial and want to see more in-depth hair tutorials, drop me
your suggestions in the comments below!
Related Tutorials:
● Hair ● Braids (Exclusive Tutorial) ● Stubble (Exclusive Tutorial) ● Eyebrows ● Eyelashes
Copyright © 2017 Darlene Nguyen, www.RapidFireArt.com All Rights Reserved
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