How To Draw Hair Side Profile

When it comes to drawing hair side profile, it’s not always a breeze. But with just a few simple tips and tricks, you can draw hair perfectly each and every time. Just grab your favorite tools and get ready to draw some head-turning hair.

First off, start by sketching in your character’s head shape and face. Draw it with a straight middle part and allow the hair to flow from the center of the scalp down the side of the face. Use free-flowing lines to mark the shape and flow of the hair, making sure to emphasize the volume, direction and layering of the strands. Once your initial sketch is complete, start to add more depth and detail.

To start off, give some definition to the scalp by varying your line widths and feathering the edges. Use darker hues to create dimension, and choose lighter tones to indicate highlights or thinning areas. Make sure to follow the natural growth directions of the hair, and create clumps, sections, or strands to keep your hair looking realistic.

Where the hair meets the side of the face, add in a few subtle strokes to create a realistic but clean transition. If your character has bangs or an undercut, be sure to draw these details in. If the hairline is not visible, use brighter colors in the center of the face to brighten up the area and indicate the hidden strands.

When it comes to texture, it’s all about the little details. Use short, thin lines to draw individual hairs, and switch up the curve and angle of your lines periodically to create a fuller, more textured effect. If you’re using colored pencils or markers, add in color variations, such as warm and cool hues or rich and muted tones, to create a natural look.

When you’re finished, use a kneaded eraser to soften and blend all of your lines. Add more lines and color as needed, and use a soft brush to blend and smudge your colors for a more dynamic effect. With just a few simple tools and techniques, you can achieve amazing results, and create stunning hair side profiles for all of your drawings.

Now that you have the basics down, let’s explore some more advanced techniques for making hair look truly amazing. Try breaking the hair up into sections, such as the layers behind the ears, and color each section according to its length, texture and luminosity to create depth and dimension. Highlight sections to draw the eye and add movement and texture to the strands.

If you’re looking for that extra bit of realism, try experimenting with textured papers. When you draw on textured papers, the individual hairs create indentations in the paper, which can create a realistic, 3D effect. You can also use colored pencils to fill in the individual hairs and create a more realistic look. Just remember to use lighter colors near the scalp and darker colors towards the tips of the strands to create the illusion of volume.

To create a more life-like portrait, draw directional lines and include subtle fading in your colors. This will give the hair a more realistic, windblown quality and make it look like it’s moving in the breeze. Finally, don’t be afraid to add flyaway hairs throughout the portrait – this small detail can make a huge difference and will add to the overall realism of your piece.

Overall, drawing hair side profile can be tricky, but with a bit of practice you can create stunning results. From subtle colors and directional lines, to highlights and shadows, there are so many details that you can add to make your hair look more realistic and lifelike. With these tips and tricks, you’ll be able to create amazing hair side profiles in no time.

Robert Ortiz is an artist who has been writing about art and design for over ten years. His writing focuses on the creative process of art, from the conceptual to the material, and highlights its importance in our daily lives. He has a degree in Fine Arts from the University of Texas at San Antonio and has also attended other prestigious art schools like Savannah College of Art and Design. He has a passion for exploring the boundaries between fine art, design, commercial work, and technology. His work extends to social media campaigns, website development, magazine articles, video tutorials and more.

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