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How to Draw Hair
Page 1 of 3 - Drawing Short Hair
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Drawing hair presents a challenge for most beginners in figure and portrait drawing. It can still remain a bugbear for quite experienced artists, who may go to all kinds of lengths to avoid having to draw it! It is a great pity to spend time and effort drawing lifelike features only to be defeated by a mass of curls. This drawing lesson will help you learn how to draw hair that looks three-dimensional and shiny.

You will need: paper, soft, medium and hard pencils (I used H, B and 5b), a white plastic eraser cut to a clean surface, and blu-tack or kneadable eraser.

When drawing short hair, first ensure that the skull is accurately drawn and in proportion, with the ears properly placed. Begin by drawing in the darkest areas, with pencil strokes going against the direction of growth, carefully leaving white where there are lighter hairs.

Build up the hair in short strokes, working up to lighter areas. Take care to leave highlights clear. Use a harder pencil to lightly even out the tone beween dark and highlight.Where hair is very short, or lighter hairs cross over dark hair, very short marks may be needed. Further highlights may be picked out with an eraser, or if need be, a sharp Exacto knife or scalpel. (Try this last on a scrap piece first!!)

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