Hey everyone! it’s emmyroid here again I’m back with another tutorial on how to draw hair and develop your stylized hair in your art journey. As an artist we all find it very difficult on how to go about drawing hair at first but with the right approach you’ll see it’s nothing to be afraid of, atleast it works for me.. 😂. Ok let’s dive in. follow me on this tutorial I assure you gonna learn the basic techniques that will help you as a beginner on how to draw hair…
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Hairline
The first thing I think about when drawing hair is of course where the hairs coming from obvious answer from the head but where exactly from the head does it start and stops so this is where the hairs lines comes in
This is very basic common knowledge it is so common and basic cause literally is The Golden Break road in drawing hair and when you start there follow it all the way to the finish line
Here you can see how I carefully sketch out the hair from the start of the line to the end it serves as a guide to know when and where to stay and to stop
The next little bonus tip I like to think actually involves the hairline again and it’s that
for example when you’re drawing eyebrows at this point roughly the outer edge of the eyebrow so basically at the end of it if I draw a line going up from that point that distance is going to be the the distance of the top of the hairline
So for another example if I have a head like this at the end of the eye brow if I draw a line going up from this point like this make the order parallel and the same angle it will give me the length of the top of the hairline
Why This Matters:
Establishing a realistic hairline helps keep your hair drawing anchored to the head’s anatomy.
It prevents hair from “floating” or looking unnatural.
The hairline shape varies between people (e.g. widow’s peak, rounded, receding), and this method helps you control that.
If we look at this diagram of the Head this is basically describing this plain separation between the forehead and the side of the skull essencially
(1)And as you can see if you follow this line down it will lead you to the corner of that eyebrow (2)and if you follow it up it may lead you to the front of the hairline
This depends of cause on how high and how low the hairline sits on your character and this here kind of just represent plain change in the Head not necessarily where the hairline will be for everyone
Now sometimes this won’t always be the Case because everyone has a different hairline and you may have to ride that separation a bit further back before making pay dirt.
No shade to bro hear of Cause I’m just saying your hair is going back a bit but is all good because look at mine…😂 😂
Warl and part of the hairs
Now aside from the hairline I think for me the very next is a piece of an information I’ll like to keep in mind atleast to put down is either The warl or the part of the hair. So whereas the hairline tells me where the hair stops on the forehead the warl or the part of the hair Tells me how the hair sort of travel across the head and act as the origin point of the hair.
Warl
With the warl typically it can just be put down as a simple dot on the head and so when I draw the hair the idea here is that every sort of tuft or strands of hair is going to seemingly converge back to that point on the head
Parting
And similarly with the part when I go to draw the hair I try to keep in mind how the hair comes out of that part and again will converge back to the part
There are different ways to draw the part too line like this or a zigzag and you can even place it on the side of the head and it will ultimately inform the kind of hair style your character may have
You can even place it on the side of the head and it Will ultimately inform the kind of hairstyle your character may have
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Divide the head up in sections
This is a common tip, so I’m not going to spend too long explaining the basics of it. And instead I’ll share some practical advice on how it actually applies.
So I like to see the headless split up into four sections, the front, top, back and side.
And this is important because hair obviously grows from the surface of the head and by clearly dividing it up we know which part of the hair we’re drawing and where it’s actually coming from.
Otherwise we can sometimes end up with this sort of amorphous blob where the hair is kind of a single mass and we don’t really understand what the the hair looks like three dimensionally.
Ok so now we’ve got the head divided up. Here’s what the hair will look like if we were to grow it out according to the parts.
Anime hair tends to be quite volumey compared to real-life so don’t forget to add that in when you’re drawing it
Doing this will make sure that our hair is drawn off a solid 3d structure of head, which will make it looks more accurate and realistic. Usually when hair looks wrong or kind of feels off I find that cause it wasn’t done in this manner in mind
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Hair barrier
The next piece of advice is to. Not draw the hair exactly on the top of the head the reason is when you go to erase the head it could just it it looks like your character hair lacks volume
So something I like to think about as if like there was a barrier surounding the head of my character the idea of this barrier is that when I go back and draw the overall shape of the hair I can not go past the barrier like this
Instead I draw the shape of the hair in such a way where once I hit that barrier with my line I stop and I continue this way around the whole barrier, and what this does to me is just that it maintain a consistent circumference around the head while also adding volume to the hair itself
And you can always make the barrier smaller if you want so all your character won’t have like afro all the time
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The ribbon approach
🧠 Concept Behind the Ribbon Approach
Hair can be thought of as ribbons in space — large, flowing, flexible shapes that bend, twist, and loop. This helps simplify complex hair movement and maintain three-dimensionality.
Even if I’m drawing a realistic hair I don’t want to draw every individual hair strands instead I prefer to separate them into easier to understand chunks,
I like to think of flat hair like cool ribbons and ribbons are flat which means you don’t wanna draw them as tube shapes unless you’re drawing locks.
Even if they are flat they still exist in 3d which means that they can bend around ahead and they can twist and they might even have a little bit of thickness
Step 1: Start with a Simple Ribbon (Left Side ①)
Begin by drawing a flowing ribbon shape.
This ribbon mimics the movement and volume of a hair clump.
Note how the ribbon twists and turns this gives a sense of three-dimensional form and flow.
You don’t need details yet; just focus on the curve and thickness of the strand.
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Step 2: Add Basic Hair Strands (Right side ②)
Build on the ribbon by adding contour lines that follow its curve.
These lines represent the strands of hair and enhance texture.
Keep the lines controlled and in the direction of the ribbon to maintain form.
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Think of hair as a ribbon shape the you can start adding the strands piece by piece on that you’ll need to avoid making it look like “Grass” that’s what I Al it when it looks like this
So now that I have a bunch of big shapes how so I turn this shapes into hair, how do I make these ribbons look like hair
I like to think of good design by adding as much variation as possible. So I can try changing the widths of the stands, I can also vary up the length of the strands, of course this depends on how evenly the hair is cut. Bit I can also adjust where the strands starts splitting off, I can change the angle of the strands, again that depends on how neat the hair is suppose d to be but changing the angle can also make it look more organic
Hair flow
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1. Avoid Over-Simplified Flow (“S” Trap)
❌ Don’t just let hair lazily flow in repetitive, shallow “S” shapes.
✅ Real hair movement has momentum and opposing direction. When it curves one way, it usually swings back in the opposite direction due to gravity or inertia.
Tip: Think of how a ribbon flips in wind or water — there’s tension and variation in motion.
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2. Build Hair with Ribbon Base
Use large, exaggerated ribbon forms to map out the flow and volume of the hair.
These ribbons serve as a 3D guide for hair strands, letting you keep the hair consistent in shape and perspective.
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3. Sketch the Hair Base in Sections
The image shows this clearly: the hair is blocked out in ribbon-like sections from the scalp outward.
This step is crucial — treat each ribbon like a flowing strip of cloth that bends and twists around the head and body.
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4. Add Detail
Once the ribbons are constructed properly:
You add volume lines to show twist.
You divide the ribbon into hair strands following its curvature.
This keeps the flow looking natural and layered.
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5. Final Rendering
Use tapered lines, line weight variation, and inner strand details to make the hair feel alive and dynamic.
All said the ribbon method makes drawing of hair easier you can try it out yourself and saa the out come
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Hair rendering
Rendering hair can be quite a drag—just thinking about how to place every single strand can feel overwhelming and discouraging.
But with the stylized method I’m about to show you, the process becomes much easier to approach, especially when it comes to starting hair rendering and coloring.
Base color
The base color is the flat, mid tone color of the hair the natural “middle” value that all highlights and shadows build on top of.
With the babe color chose a lighter version of the color you want it to be. You don’t have to be too dark with the color it will turn out too dark and you won’t see the details of the shadows
I suggest using lasso to fill it easier
If you aren’t sure of your colors brightness. To make things easier when you’ve selected your base color then click on approximate color on the down bar as you can see those are same color but it shows all the options you can get from it from lighter to darker. Those sliders are used to edit the color saturation
Shadows
I think the biggest issue i used to struggle with is getting bogged down the details of shading rather than keeping the overall shape in mind it’s really easy to fall into this trap. Because if you think about hair in real life it’s really complicated there’s a lot of stands so don’t we wanna make sure we capture all that details
For me it works better for trying to keep the overall shape in mind and get down the big shadow shapes first after I get these shades established and looking good then I can start implying the texture by refining my Shadow shapes
First you chose the color you want to use for you shading by clicking the color palette and adjust it to a more darker hue, as for me I tend to use the cool color dark purple
Click the layer button, and change the layer to multiply, you can the adjust the opacity to what ever fits your design.
I do these by paying attention at the edges of the shadow shapes by doing something really simple like this I can make the sphere look furry if the edges of your shadow and silhouette look tight your brain will just fill in the rest
Second shadow
In stylized or semi-realistic art, secondary shadows add depth and dimension to your hair by:
1.Emphasizing form and layers.
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2.Reinforcing areas with less light or where
strands overlap.
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3.Giving more realism than a single flat shadow.
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Think of it as the shadow within
a shadow.
To apply it:
Click on the layer then set the new layer you create to multiply clip it on the base base shadow and edit the opacity but this time it will be slightly more on the opacity that the base shadow. Using the same color as the base shadow you can make it more saturated if you like to
🖌️ Where to Apply Secondary Shadows:
1. Under thick layers or overlapping hair clumps.
2. Where hair bends or twists, especially in your ribbon-like structures.
3. Behind the neck or ears—areas naturally occluded from light.
4. Between tight clumps of strands for high contrast.
2nd Shadow
Darkest shade, placed deeper inside the form, especially:
1.Where hair clumps overlap
2.In creases, tight spaces, or cast shadows
3.This adds a sense of depth and structure.
🔄 Blending Tip:
Use a soft brush or low opacity hard brush to blend it smoothly.
You can also add slight color variations like purples or grays to give more life.
Enter The [sub tool] menu and select the [soft bleed brush] for the blending process
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Lights🕯️
💡 Key Elements of Lighting (especially for hair):
1. Light Source
Ask yourself: Where is the light coming from?
-Top-down (sunlight)
-Side (window)
-Backlighting
-Multiple sources
This controls shadow placement and highlight direction.
🔆 What Is Lighting in Art?
Lighting refers to how light interacts with surfaces in your artwork. It helps define:
★Shape
★Texture
★Depth
★Focus or mood
When you apply lighting to something like hair, it shows off the volume, direction, and shine of the strands.
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2. Highlights
★The brightest areas where the light directly hits.
★For shiny hair, highlights can be sharp and reflective.
★Often located on the curves and bumps of hair ribbons.
3. Midtone (Base Color)
★The original color of the hair under neutral light.
★Covers most
of the surface and blends the shadows and lights.
So I decided to place the light at the front slightly to the side
To add the light create a new layer and set the blend mode to [screen] on this I used a less saturated yellow
Noticed how I divide the light with shadow to make it Pop up
Rim light
Rim lighting is a dramatic lighting effect that occurs when a light source hits the edges of a subject from behind or the side, creating a thin glowing outline along the contour.
🔍 Purpose of Rim Light in Art:
Separates the character from the background.
Defines shape and silhouette.
Adds a cinematic, ethereal, or backlit look.
Helps show the volume of hair or forms in strong lighting.
To add the rim light I create a new layer and set the blending mode to add
✍️ Tips:
Color: Rim light color should match the lighting in your scene (e.g., sunset = orange/yellow, moonlight = blue/white).
Placement: Be consistent with light direction across the whole figure.
Opacity: Keep it subtle unless you’re going for a bold, graphic look.
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Conclusion
Thank you everyone for your time, and I truly appreciate you being here to share in my thoughts and ideas on how to come about drawing hair. It’s been incredibly helpful to me as well. Bye for now! See you all in the near future.