--------------------------- --------------------------- | - Hair Basics - In this section I'll show you how easy it is to draw hair. I'll also show you some of the forces that effect the hair. The Hair Line - |
 Now we all know what the hair line looks like from the front. We've seen it thousands of times in the mirror. But most of us don't really know what it looks like in the back. So here is a 360 degree view of the hair line. Or at least its something to work off. |    |
Drawing Hair -
Long Hair - When working with long hair its best to imagine how it flows around the character. Always try and picture the character in three dimensions. This will help you in deciding where the hair ends up going.Helpful Hint: If you don't have long hair, pretend that you do. Imagine how it would be sitting on your shoulder at that very moment. |   |
Short Hair - Personally, short hair is my favorite. Its easy to draw, fun, and looks great. You don't have to worry about drawing around the shoulder, or in some cases, around the costume. Its just a complete joy. |   |
Wind And Gravity -
Wind - Wind is a great effect in manga. If you can get away with including some bellowing clothes, or wind swept hair, go for it. It helps bring a scene to life. To draw hair in a breeze, you must first imagine how heavy the hair is. If your drawing a goofy comedy-type manga, you could imagine its pretty light. So it might fly totally horizontal. Or if its more realistic the hair is quite heavy. Take a look at the picture on the right. Unless the wind is blowing quite good, the hair will always fight to stay down. |  |
Gravity - Everything is effected by gravity, so always keep it in mind. When you draw anything think to yourself, "What is gravity doing to it?" To draw gravity effectively, just make the hair drag downward. |  |
Momentum - Pretend your drawing a space adventure. When there is no gravity it is all about momentum. Hair will not stop moving until you stop moving and it reaches the end of its length. And when standing still it will just float around aimlessly. |  |
Centrifugal Force - The more your character is spinning around, the more force will throw the hair outward. The hair will experience more air friction the faster you spin, so think about including a counter-rotational bend in the hair. |  |
Drawing Braids -
 Drawing braids is fairly simple. As soon as you get the pattern down you'll be able to use them as often as you want. I've created a simple animation to show you how. |  |
Animation Steps - Step 1 - Draw the outer lines of the braid. Step 2 - Draw the inner lines. (Feel free to skip this step) Step 3 - Draw a zig-zag pattern down the middle. Braids tend to twist and bend as they're made, so it doesn't matter if your zig-zags are a bit off center. Step 4 - Follow the animation to the right and extend each angle to the outer edges. Step 5 - After you've extended all the lines, bridge the points. And there you go. Easy as that. |  |
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