Shading Hair: Single Strand (Short Hair)

Hello! I'm Jessica and I have an obsession with drawing especially hair. I feel like I should announce that like I'm in a support group. I am a traditional artist who prefers pencils to a paintbrush, but some of the principles (i.e. light sources) below can be applied across almost all mediums. This is not the only way to draw hair. It is just what works for me at the moment.

First things first! What am I working with?

Graphite pencils made by Faber Castell are my favorites. I do have other brands of pencils like Prismacolor, but what you really need is a wide range of lead grades. I currently use 6H-9B on a regular basis with 4H and 2B-6B being used most. With my 4H, I sketch rough drafts and shade the first layer of skin. My 2B-6B are used mostly for shading. The objective is to get a good range of values out of them. Without contrast, a drawing can look flat and unrealistic.



Paper is equally important. There are many types, different brands, weights, etc. that all factor into how your finished product turns out. There are times where I'll use regular drawing paper because I want the texture of the paper to show through or I'll use Bristol when I want smooth shading. For portraits, I use Strathmore Bristol Smooth.

Erasers for highlights and texture are essential in my drawings. I have three types that I use. A Faber Castell dust free (big block eraser) for large areas, Faber Castell pencil eraser (a pencil that is filled with an eraser instead of graphite) that I use for smaller details, and a kneaded eraser for the smallest of details or whenever I need to pick up a very dark shade. I've been saying for months that I wish to try out a tombow zero eraser to add to my collection, but I haven't just yet. It is planned, so maybe my next tutorial will include it.

For blending, I use a combination of a blending stump (tortillion), paper towel, chamois, and my finger. Most of my blending is with a tortillion and paper towel.

   

        

Now lets get a little darker. In the first picture above, I applied 4B strokes in the same direction as I did the 2B pencil then used a tortillion to blend. This is the step where I finally start using my erasers. Since the areas that need to be lightened aren't large, I used my pencil eraser to remove areas that will be most affected by the light source. Since the head is curved, the hair is also curved and will need darker strokes where the sun doesn't shine.   Since the erasers pick up graphite, the graphite will stick onto the erasers. I keep a spare sheet of paper under my drawing hand not only to block my hand from smudging the graphite as I work but to also rub the graphite off from the pencil eraser. For the kneaded eraser, you just have stretch and knead the eraser to get a clean bit ready to erase again.

  

   

   

Time lapse for the second part of hair

There are also more time lapses for this project and others under my channel. Some of them in charcoal.

No sound. You are welcome.