Making hair in the Sketchbook app involves following artistic principles of structure and flow, similar to traditional drawing methods, which you can then execute using the app's tools. Based on fundamental techniques, here is a structured approach to drawing hair in Sketchbook:
Drawing hair digitally requires layering and understanding how strands fall. While Sketchbook offers various brushes and tools, the core process relies on planning and building up the hair shape and detail.
Steps for Drawing Hair Structure
According to foundational drawing tips, here's how to build the hair structure:
- Start with the Base: First, bring a "bald" girl (or character) onto your canvas. This gives you the head shape and proportions to work with. You can import a sketch or character base into Sketchbook.
- Define the Hairstyle and Outer Lines: Decide on the desired hairstyle. Then, following the contour of the head, draw the outer lines. These lines define the overall shape and volume of the hair (indicated with red lines in the reference example). Use a basic brush to sketch these initial boundaries.
- Consider the Root: Think about where the hair originates from on the head. This root point influences the direction and flow of the hair strands. Sketch lightly where the part or main root areas are located.
- Distinguish Sections: Can you keep front hair, side hair, and back hair distinct? Mentally or with light lines, separate these major sections. This helps manage the complexity and ensures the hair flows correctly around the head.
Adding Detail and Flow
Once the basic structure is defined using the steps above, you can refine the hair by adding strands and shadows using different brushes and layers in Sketchbook:
- Layers: Use separate layers for the base hair shape, darker shadows, highlights, and individual strands to maintain flexibility.
- Brushes: Experiment with different brush types. A standard pencil or inking brush is good for initial lines, while softer brushes can help block in shadows. Fine-tipped brushes or specialized hair brushes (if available or custom-made) can be used for drawing individual strands.
- Flow and Direction: Draw strands following the direction indicated by your initial root points and overall shape. Hair isn't uniform; strands will clump and overlap.
- Shading and Highlights: Build up depth by adding darker tones where hair overlaps or is in shadow, and lighter tones or highlights where light hits the hair.
By applying these artistic steps within the Sketchbook environment, you can effectively draw hair on your characters.
