HAIR TUTORIAL
okay, i finally put together a hair tutorial. this is how i generally shade hair, and it is a photoshop tool tutorial. everyone always wants to know how i do it, well, now you can. forgive the censor bar, this was made for Sabi's Naughty Dolls Contest, and I don't feel like putting real clothes on her.
just do me a favor and don't steal my lineart and my shading. the purpose of a tutorial is to teach someone else how to improve their OWN skills, if you just steal mine, what have you learned?
base for this tutorial by mad tea party.
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1. Start with the lineart for the hair. After you've got a rough line, make sure you clean it up. You can see I've cleaned up most of the hair here, except the one strand by her necklace. This makes the hair look less rough. It's okay if it doesn't look perfect, hair isn't perfect. This one looks like it's got wind behind it, but whatever you decide to do should be fine. |
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2. Fill your hair outline with whatever shade you want, I like brown hair (maybe that's because my hair's brown?). I just picked a random color for this tutorial, but you can use a palatte for reference if you want. |
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3. Add your strand shadows, using the Burn Tool. My settings:
I literally just drew a line for every strand of hair I wanted to see. Make sure they follow the outline of the hair. If you're having trouble deciding how the strands should flow, look at a few strands of your own hair. |
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4. Now you're going to add your strand highlights using the Dodge Tool. My settings:
Highlight the same way you did the dark strands, following the outline of the hair, and the way it flows. |
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5. Okay, now for more highlights. Be careful with this, if you add too many the hair will just look overwhelmingly bright, and unrealistic. Again, use the Dodge Tool for this. My settings:
This really just takes practice. I always shade in a circular motion at the top of the head. I curve around the left side at an upward angle, and repeat for the right. For the bottom of the hair, I just do a streak across. Play with these tool settings, you might find a larger brush is better, or a smaller one. |
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6. Okay, now another round of shadows. Again, use the Burn Tool. My settings:
Now you really need to be gentle. You're going to add shadow to the part of her hair, and where her hair is behind her head. Then using a smaller brush (try 3), add shadow where the hair crosses in front of itself. Like the bangs area, or the folds at the bottom of this style. |
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7. Now we're going to add the fly-away strands. The ones that stick out, because no one's hair is perfect, especially in the wind. Just take your outline color (or select anyone you think will look good) and draw a few loose strands. I try to think about where they'd be on my own head. Just be sure to add them as one pixel lines, and clean them up, like you did for your original lineart. The end! |
THE FINAL PRODUCT
Feel free to save the animation below for reference.
