Q&A for How to Draw Realistic Hair

You can use anything you'd like to draw hair, including pencils, pens, colored pencils, and charcoal. Pencils are great for those who are just learning, because they are the easiest to erase.

It's a combination of talent, training and practice. But it's more practice and training than anything else. With training and plenty of practice, you will eventually get you used to drawing complex shapes and styles, along with shading and highlights. No tutorial can replace the amount of practice needed to draw well. Accept that it takes a lot of effort and time to learn and you won't get frustrated so easily.

No. Drawing every strand will take a very long time and it is not worth it. It could also make your drawing look messy. Instead, try drawing the complete body of hair, and then add a strands to make it look realistic.

Experimentation really helps. You can't get it perfect every time, but you will one day. Keep trying and learning from the mistakes you make.

Add the highlights based on whatever angle you think the light is a shining from. For example, if the light is on the right, draw all the highlights on the right side of the hair.

Shading the hair makes the hair strands stand out more, helping them to look more realistic. Realistic hair also has many layers and hair without shading will not make these layers stand out.

For the most part, yes, as it will help you sketch out loose hair more easily. Even tied hair has a very slight part sometimes.

It depends on what you are drawing with. Pencils are usually the easiest to start out with, as they are easily erasable, and you can blend and shade smoothly and neatly. Pencils come in a variety of types. A regular writing pencil is most likely HB, or #2. There are also B and H types. B pencils are soft, and the marks appear darker, however the pencil dulls quickly. B pencils range from B to 9B, 9B being the softest. H pencils are hard and stay sharp longer, but the marks are lighter. They range from H to 9H, and 9H is the hardest. There are also F pencils, which are right in the middle. To make the illusion of different colors, make them varying shades. Kneaded erasers help a lot.

In art class you may have learned about value in art. If you change how hard you press the pencil down, you'll get different shades.

Thick hair normally comes in long, firm strands that do not frizz. Thin hair often is weaker and curls more easily. To draw thick hair, use a rather unsharpened 2B pencil in long, broad lines. Use a 2H pencil, well-sharpened, to make curly lines for thin hair.

Use your finger to smudge it a bit where you want shading.

Draw the smooth hair in the front, then add a thick, curved line that looks like it's wrapped around the hair, then draw the end of the hair.

Try leaving some white spaces throughout the hair to get the shiny effect.

You do it the same way. Just use a different color.

Yes, if you wish to. You could definitely add the shirt if you like.

You could shade it, or use black and rub it in to make it look darker.

Use a reference photo of short hair to make it easier. Start by sketching the outline of the head and then add the basic shape of the hair on the head of your outline. Look for areas where the light falls on the hair in your reference photo and draw outlines around the highlighted sections. Then, shade in all of the areas except the highlights. Add a few clusters throughout the hair to give texture and sketch some of the individual strands of hair to make it look more realistic.

Pencil is a great tool you can use to shade hair to make it look realistic. Once you've crafted the outline and added lines for texture and depth, shading will really tie it all together. Use the edge of your pencil to lightly shade in everything except the areas you want to highlight. Keep the shading smooth and blended. You can add individual strands with the sharp point of your pencil.

Start with the outline of her head and then add the outline of the hair, including the tops and sides, as well as the part you want the hairstyle to have. Divide the hair into sections and draw them within the outline to give the hair definition and texture. Outline areas you want to highlight and then shade in the areas around them. Add more texture by drawing individual strands in the shaded sections. Continue adding layers of individual strands until the hair is as realistic as you want it to be.