We are aware that drawing hair is not an easy task, that is why we wanted to create this guide that will help you learn to simplify its shape with a professional result.

 

We have divided this guide into parts, in the first you will be able to read some general tips to better understand the morphology of the hair, then you will learn how to draw strands of hair to simplify the hair in blocks and finally we will teach you how to draw a complete hairstyle step by step from the sketch to ink. How about we start?

1) Introduction: Guides and Tips for Drawing Hair

In this section we will explain some characteristics of hair that will help you understand how it is composed and thus draw it more easily.

 

• To draw the hair correctly, you have to understand the shape of the head well and give that coherence both to the fall of the hair and when the hair is tied up.

• The hair is delicate and light, so its shape changes easily, however it never makes sudden changes, but its movement is smooth and curved.

-We must take into account gravity when drawing hair. It hardly weighs, therefore it is very useful when we want to express movement, dynamism or even drama in a manga or comic scene.

• The area of the head where the hair is, is divided into 3 large parts. This scheme will help you to observe where the root of the hair is born and what is the natural way in which it falls. Thus, even if you want to draw complex and very creative hairstyles, you can maintain their coherence and make it as natural as a realistic one.

However, you must bear in mind that despite the previous division, it is not necessary that all the designs and hairstyles that you create are made up of all those parts, for example, the central line can be moved, or even eliminated, the same thing that happens with the other parties.

2) How to draw hair?

All of the above will seem fine to you, but we understand that you still feel somewhat insecure to draw hair. The most important thing for this is to find a simple way to draw it, so the most practical way is by learning to draw locks. This way you can divide the hair into blocks and it will greatly facilitate the work of drawing hair.

2.1) Draw straight hair

This type of strand is the simplest since you only need a couple of lines to do it. However, you have to bear in mind that hair is a very light element, so even if it is completely smooth, it will not be completely straight or rigid.

 

To add naturalness to straight hair, we always recommend adding some loose hair or outside the main line, you can even layer it over the main lock.

2.2) Draw wavy or curly hair

This type of lock begins to be somewhat more complex because to give an effect of depth it is necessary to know how to superimpose the lines to accentuate that undulation. The more you want to exaggerate the curl, the more you have to increase this detail and compress the accordion effect that wavy hair generates.

 

When you draw this type of hair, the most important thing is that you remember to lengthen the stroke of the hair in the direction of the green arrows. Look at the difference between the first and the second image below, don't you think that the second one has a lot more depth just by adding that detail? That is why it is crucial when drawing wavy and curly hair.

2.3) Draw ringlets

Of the three, this is probably the most complex of all the strand types. However, we are going to show you a trick that makes this type of hair no longer a problem for you. Let us begin!

 

The first thing you should do to create a corkscrew is to draw an "S" shaped line as in the first drawing in the image below, greatly exaggerating the curves.

 

Above this lineatura, you should compose rectangular, elongated and slightly curved shapes to give the sensation of curl and that the strand is not rigid. Above all, try to make it messy. It does not matter if some parts overlap each other, this in the end will give more depth and naturalness to your drawing.

So that it does not bother us when drawing, erase the main line that we drew at the beginning. Now you just have to follow the outline making some lines connect with each other from behind and giving the corkscrew an oval shape.

 

TIP: When inking this type of strand, it is important to draw the broken "vertical" lines and not completely straight, as that would give it a stiff and unnatural effect. After that you will only have to add a few horizontal lines to the corkscrew trying to give coherence to the shape to increase its depth.

3) Create a manga hairstyle step by step

At the beginning of this article we have given you some tips so that you better understand how hair is composed and then we have taught you how to simplify it through the strands, so what if now we dedicate ourselves to developing a character with a very cool hairstyle Step by Step? Let us begin!

 

• The first thing to do as when we want to design any illustration is to create an outline [1]

• The best way to draw hair is to minimize its shape through blocks [2], so draw hair through lines and simple shapes using the guides and tips that we have provided previously.

 

• Using this drawing base, begin to subdivide and detail [3] these "blocks" or shapes to create depth with the stroke.

-When you start to color the hair, include a few extra lines to the stroke to accentuate the density of the hairstyle. Don't forget to add some strands and stray hairs [4] to give your hairstyle a realistic and natural look.

TACHÁN! We already have the illustration finished, but ... what if we want to make the girl have dark hair? Do not worry! In the next section you will find a video so that you can see first-hand how to color your hair in an effective and easy way!

4) EXTRA: How to dye your hair to make it look natural

The most important thing for hair coloring is to take into account the shapes of both the head and the hair to give consistency to the highlights. We advise you to think about where the light source comes from and mark the brightest points in the drawing.

 

Also keep in mind that hair has several shades, so it is important to prioritize a dominant point of brightness but also to create less accentuated points of light (for example, with a few white lines distributed in specific areas of the hair).

 

It will also be necessary to leave some lines blank so that the depth is not lost with all the black stain.

 

What do you think of this tutorial? We hope it has been of great help to you and that you can improve your skill drawing hair! Any questions you have feel free to ask and we will try to help you as soon as possible. Thanks for reading us!