It is very difficult to draw hair on one side, but not so much on the other. Why such categoricalness? It’s all about the structure of the hair.
Unlike other parts of the head, hair does not have a large set of individual features. They are distinguished only by color, volume and waviness. Therefore, we will begin to learn how to draw a face with a hairstyle.
More about plastic
For the correct construction of the shape of the hair on the head. Yes, yes, you heard right! Hair as well as any other detail of the portrait, before hatching, must be built. And here one cannot do without knowledge of the plastic anatomy of the skull.
In the previous lesson, we said that the cranium is very similar to a ball. But if you draw a hairstyle like Artemon poodle, then the portrait will look more like an alien than a person. Therefore, good artists, and you are in their category, always remember that the skull is not quite a ball.
For example, the forehead is more like a flat wall. Immediately from it to the ears go the temporal bones, which are also closer to the plane than to the sphere. And only the parietal and occipital bones have the shape of hemispheres.
Always remember the shape of the head, and whatever the hairstyle, there should be a skull under it, and not a cotton roll that sways under the pressure of the wind.
How to draw hair
So, let’s start mastering the common truths for draughtsmen about hair. Let’s divide them into several points:
Do not start shading the hair without building the base, that is, the skull.
Try to immediately break the hairstyle into main parts that lie in the shape of the skull. Determine their geometry. You should have a temporal or temporal (if you draw in front), parietal, occipital (in profile and three-quarters drawings).
Pay special attention to the construction of curls hanging on the forehead.
Do not start shading the hair without building the base, that is, the skull.
Try to immediately break the hairstyle into main parts that lie in the shape of the skull. Determine their geometry. You should have a temporal or temporal (if you draw in front), parietal, occipital (in profile and three-quarters drawings).
Pay special attention to the construction of curls hanging on the forehead.
Remember that hair reflects light much better than skin. Consider this feature when hatching, making brighter highlights and contrasts in the front places.
It is best to shade the hair according to the shape of the head with long, neat strokes. Often use parts in the form of individual hairs. To do this, you need to have good pencil skills.
As in any other drawing, do not forget about the aerial perspective. Only the hair that is closest to the viewer should be visible. Those in the background usually merge into a single mass. This is easily achieved by rubbing the strokes with a piece of paper.
Having learned these rules, you can safely begin to draw the first hairstyle.
Step by step pencil drawing
It’s time to return to our schematic construction of the head. Let’s reveal a terrible secret! What we taught you in the previous lesson can be drawn without a sitter. All heads are built according to the same rules.
And now, sit someone in front of you so that the drawn diagram coincides with the one who was not afraid to disfigure himself on paper. We start drawing hair, therefore, a bald hedgehog will not suit us:
We determine the frontal tubercles on the skull. Usually this is the intersection of the upper line of the square in which we entered the face and the verticals from the edges of the eyes, those that are closer to the ears. Now you have the temporal zones (between the eyes and ears), the frontal zone (from vertical to vertical and from the eyes to the square line) and the parietal zone (everything above the square line).
Someone asks is that all? Yes all. And how to draw women’s hairstyles, curls developing in the wind? Everything is the same, only what is torn off from the skull is drawn as a separate detail. To do this, break it down into geometric shapes and forward, and with a song!
In addition, in portraits, hair is always of secondary importance, so if something goes wrong, only inveterate letter-eaters will notice. But if you draw lips or nose incorrectly, the consequences can be disastrous. Remember Dunno from Nosov’s fairy tale. So we are waiting for more serious things!
