Drawing Realistic Hair using Graphite Pencil (for beginners)

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3 years ago

As a beginner artist, I find it hard to make the hair as realistic as possible because what we see in the actual model or the reference photo is different when it comes to drawing. We can't draw each hair strand one by one, that'll look odd in negative way.

It took me lots of practice before finally able to draw realistic hair with all those volumes and illusion. I checked out tutorials on different social media platforms and seek advices and tips from my pro-artist friends.

So today, I'm going to share what I have learn from all those practice and research.

STEP-BY-STEP TUTORIAL ON HOW TO DRAW REALISTIC HAIR (For beginners):

  • Start by drawing the layout of the hair; follow the shape of the hair. Observe the reference photo and determine where the light is coming from; take note of the shadows, highlights, contrast, curves, division and the direction of the hair.

  • Using 8b pencil (or any darkest shade that you have), darken the shadows and divisions of the hair to start creating the volume and illusion of the drawing. Do not press too hard because hair don’t have such harsh shadows and outlines.

  • Lay invisible strokes using an indention tool (you may also use old ballpen without ink or a pusher). Making sure you follow the hair’s direction. Draw more invisible layers on the highlighted parts (as strands are more visible in this area), and minimal on the darker parts.

  • Blend the dark/shadow parts using a blending stump or tortillion, if not available you may also use tissue as substitute. Re-apply dark strands on dark areas.

  • Using lighter pencil (2b or 3b), add some shade on the highlighted areas making sure NOT to press to hard.

  • Use a kneaded eraser or just common eraser to add some highlights.

  • Add some stray hair strands to make it more realistic

I hope you enjoyed and learnt from this tutorial. You may also share tips and suggestions on how will I be able to develop my drawing skills since I'm also just a newbie and still has a long way to run before being a pro in this area.

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3 years ago

Comments

That's looking nice, but i think more shadows should be added to make it look more realistic, as well as some really light spots

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3 years ago

thanks! I'll try it

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3 years ago

Thanks for the tutorial, I´m gonna try and put this into pratice

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3 years ago

Thanks for appreciating. Share your artworks too! I would love to see it as well

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3 years ago