How to Draw Hair

Step 1 - Next I have started working on the hair. I always work from top to bottom, left to right, just like reading. I work this way so that I never have to rest my hand on a finished area of the drawing (I am right handed. Lefties would work right to left, top to bottom). I won't spend too much time explaining hair, since this is a face tutorial. But pay attention to which way the hair is flowing. Kelly's hair is very dark. I'm using a mechanical 3B and a 7B woodcased pencil on it. The mechanical pencil allows me to add the fine details and the 7B allows me to push the darker areas, adding contrast. 

Step 2 - I continue working on the hair. Be patient and don't rush anything on a drawing. It's the small details that will make your work stand out from others'. Hair can take just as long, if not longer, than the face. Notice the hair is defined with different tones, not lines. If you just scribble a bunch of lines onto your paper, the hair will look flat and unrealistic. I use a mechanical 3B for most of the hair, using broad strokes in the direction the hair is flowing. Also there is no blending involved in drawing hair. I want the imperfections and paper texture to show through somewhat. Darken areas around highlights first and then fade your darks into the highlights. The highlights in the hair are darker in the back and become more brilliant towards the front. Remember that, for the most part, tones flow into eachother. Dark tones flow into midtones then into lights. Lights flow into midtones then into darks. If your hair isn't looking quite right, this may be your problem. Make sure you have a balanced flow of darks, midtones, and lights. If you just remember to keep tones flowing in gradients, you will end up with a realistic drawing. 

Step 3 - I am still working on the hair. The first area that I will shade on the face is the forehead. So I want that area completely framed in with the dark tones of the hair. That will give me a reference to compare facial tones to. Remember when I said hair can take a while? I have worked about 6 hours on the hair so far and I am not even halfway done with it yet. I am done with the hair momentarily though and will move onto the forehead.