I've been illustrating for over five years now, and information technology'southward been a fun journeying.

Transitioning from pencil sketching to digital illustrations wasn't easy. Especially because I had no clue most human anatomy or figure drawing. And I got better but by practicing every twenty-four hours.

But one of the most difficult things I've had to learn was drawing drawing hair. Luckily for you, I'm going to shorten your learning curve with this easy tutorial so you'll larn how to draw cartoon hair.

I will show you lot how to draw cartoon pilus of both types – straight hair and curly hair.

The procedure is very straightforward, and if you practice a little fleck, you'll get the hang of drawing hair in no time.

I am completely self-taught and what I'yard going to teach you is my method of how I depict drawing hair.

Now, I don't describe many men, so I'm going to teach you how to draw cartoon girl hair for this tutorial. If you are interested in developing your art skills farther and making coin with it, practise check out my new fine art form!

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Okay, let'due south begin with the basics.

This postal service includes affiliate links to products I truly (from the bottom of my heart) recommend, meaning at no extra cost to you lot, I may earn a small percentage which I volition use to feed my sweetness, adorable pooches.

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Tools I'm using to draw my illustrations and the cartoon pilus

Okay, before I begin the tutorial, I demand you to know what I'm using to brand my illustrations.

I'm currently using:

  • An iPad Pro of 12.9 inches
  • An Apple tree Pencil 2nd generation

And I'm using the Procreate software. Information technology's a 1-time fee of $10. And that's information technology. You can draw on information technology forever for gratuitous after that.

I describe more about my illustrating process and tools in this postal service.

You can use any software because everything I'chiliad going to explicate below can be washed with Photoshop and a graphic tablet likewise.

How to draw cartoon hair – Direct Hair

Okay, I'm going to start with directly hair showtime because drawing curly pilus is much easier, so we tin save that for later on.

one. Offset with an outline of the head

I always commencement with a nice outline of the caput. I utilize the dry ink brush (it's free on Procreate), which is on a completely new layer. You lot want to draw a head considering you lot need the shape of the caput to describe the pilus. It makes the overall shape of the hair more realistic.

2. Describe simple strokes of straight pilus

Okay, adjacent, I'g going to brainstorm by drawing her hair over her scalp, and I'm going to pull it into a ponytail.

When you're drawing the hair, brand sure you're using a new layer and so that it becomes super easy to erase the mistakes.

Y'all want the strokes to be in the direction of the hair growth. I'm going to draw it in pink so you lot can see information technology clearly. Discover the green arrows. So, if she were pulling her hair into a ponytail, that would be the direction of her hair strands.

At present that her hair is pulled upwards, we're going to draw the ponytail.

Remember, straight hair is very fluid and really adheres to gravity (unlike curly hair), so motion your hand in long-flowy strokes. Don't feel disheartened if it doesn't come naturally to yous at first. Information technology takes practise.

iii. One time you're happy with the outline of your hair strokes, draw over the sketch

Okay, I'm pretty happy with the outline, and so I'1000 going to create a new layer (working on a 3rd layer now) and draw the hair in night dark-brown. I'm going to lighten the head layer so you can see how the pilus looks over the scalp.

Notice how the ponytail isn't also tight because the hair is extremely loose at the sides and nearly flat at the peak.

Now, I'grand going to erase the scalp that is underneath the hair so we can perfect the outline.

To make things easier, I'm going to merge both layers.

And congratulations, we're done with the outline of the drawing head and the cartoon hair!

Now, all that'due south left is to color the hair. Coloring is super easy, and I'm going to testify you how to do that!

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4. Add the base colors

This is super easy to do. Just make certain you're calculation a new layer for every base color.

This means 1 new layer for the eyes, some other new layer for the skin, and another for the base hair color. I use the dry out ink brush for coloring the base layers too.

5. Describe the hair strands

Okay, this is great, but we want to add together more details to the hair. And the all-time way to do that is to add together a few individual strands.

Now, to depict the hair strands, nosotros're going to option a color on the color palette past choosing a colour that'south darker and more saturated. Whenever I say saturated, I mean brighter – which means moving to the right on the color palette.

Run into the diagram below for more information.

When choosing a color for the hair strands, we're moving down on the colour palette and a little fleck to the correct to pick a colour that stands out in the hair.

Create a new layer over the purple color pilus layer and click on information technology to select "clipping mask." So at present, when we draw the hair strands, we can only draw over the layer that is underneath. You don't have to worry about coloring outside the expanse.

Following the direction of the outline, we describe the hair strands with the same ink castor.

We're now going to add together some highlighted strands to give the hair more color and texture. Choose a color that's lighter than the base color. I'k going to decrease the width of the brush then that the highlighted pilus strands are really fine before drawing a few strands.

half-dozen. Adding the lights and shadows

Okay, so straight hair is pretty sleeky and reflects calorie-free more than easily than curly pilus.

So, we're going to add a new layer over the other pilus layers. And choose a nice turquoise bluish and only add a few shapes over the hair. Suit the layer belongings to "Add together" and decrease the opacity to 10-15%.

Now, for the shadows – I'grand going to choose a medium purple and then apply the "Bonobo chalk" castor and go over a few sections of the pilus to create the shadows. I'g going to change the backdrop of the layer by borer on the layer and setting it to "Multiply" and then decrease the opacity to 25-35%.

convert the layer to add so that you can add a nice sheeny gloss to the cartoon hair.

7. Add the finishing touches

I'm going to choose a light pink for the chroma and use the same bonobo chalk brush to add some blush to her cheeks. And with the dry ink brush, I'chiliad going to add together some purple lipstick in some other new layer.

And we're done.

Voila, you've just learned how to draw cartoon hair that is straight.

Let'due south motion on to drawing curly cartoon hair.

If y'all're using Procreate, here are some fantastic resources:

  • 8 Grainy Brushes for ProCreate
  • Grapheme Drawing Toolkit for Procreate (This pack comes with gratuitous drawing tutorial worksheets!)
  • 21 Custom Pencil Brushes for Procreate

How to describe cartoon hair – Curly Hair

Okay, I'one thousand not going to elaborate on drawing the head, considering nosotros already went through that, so I'thousand going to become ahead and dive into cartoon the outline of the hair straight up.

1. Draw the outline of the pilus

As you can encounter, curly pilus tin can have whatsoever shape. And it'southward totally fine because curly pilus doesn't follow any rules – including gravity.

So, when cartoon the outline of curly hair, you want to brand sure that y'all add some small lumps and some big lumps and then that it looks slightly more realistic.

2. Add the base color

I'g going to depict the hairline because I forgot to practice that and then become in with a prissy warm chocolate base color for the hair.

3. Draw the strands

Okay, simply similar we drew the darker strands in the directly pilus, we're going to choice a slightly darker brown colour for the dark curly hair strands and add that in. Drawing curly hair is a lot of fun because you can get whacky with the lines.

Remember, curly pilus grows outward, then when cartoon your strands, the lines should radiate outward – okay?

Now it's time to describe the lighter strands.

To choose this color, we're going to move upwardly the colour palette and and so motility correct a picayune and so that we go a lighter, saturated color. And increase the thickness of the brush a chip earlier yous describe the lighter strands.

Wow, we're almost done!

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4. Add the shadows and highlights

Now, merely like we did earlier, we're going to select the regal color and then draw the shadows.

I'm non going to utilise the Bonobo Chalk brush though because curly hair is so much thicker and denser and I like the shadows to be a little heavier. And so, I'm going to stick with the ink brush.

And now we're just going to alter the properties of the layer to Multiply and decrease the opacity to our liking and we're done with the shadows.

Permit's move onto the highlights.

Using the same turquoise blue as before, I'one thousand going to carefully depict forth a few of the edges on her curls considering the light is hitting her from behind and the top.

And I'k going to click the layer and modify the layer properties to "Add" and decrease the opacity to x-fifteen%.

And we're washed. Y'all've just learned how to draw curly cartoon hair as well.

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You tin see this video to understand how I drew the curly hair:

Conclusion

Drawing isn't easy especially at the beginning because there is a huge learning bend.

So, don't feel disappointed if you don't like your drawing. Remember all of this comes with do. Keep drawing different hairstyles till you go the knack of cartoon pilus.

If you practise drawing hair daily, you'll learn how to draw cartoon hair really fast!

I draw a lot of hairstyles on my characters on a daily basis and I love experimenting with hair.

If y'all enjoyed this drawing tutorial, you lot might enjoy these other blog posts!

  • How to Become an Illustrator
  • How to start an art blog – a step-past-stride guide!
  • 10 things I wish I knew before becoming an Illustrator
  • 10 signs yous're a natural-born creative person
  • 23 surprising ways to overcome creative blocks
  • How to combat negative comments and trolls equally an artist
  • How to be a confident artist and keep drawing even when you experience similar you tin can't

Before I wind upwards, I want to embrace some resources that helped me grow as an Illustrator and shorten my learning curve.

Resource to assist you draw improve:

Courses for Artists

If yous enjoyed this tutorial, you'll definitely enjoy my free fine art course that helps artists make money with their creative skills!

Want to develop your art skills and make money with your art and drawings? Take this free email course

I highly recommend checking out Domestika'southward Courses because they have courses on almost anything you lot want to learn and they're structured beautifully. Information technology'southward very well organized and their website is super fast. Their app is lovely too. You can download the classes and watch them offline and the best part? Once you buy the form, yous ain it forever!

Use STRAYCURLS-10 during checkout to get an additional 10% off!

Domestika has a lot of art courses for anyone looking to improve their art.

And if you're using Procreate, here are some fantastic tools:

  • 8 Grainy Brushes for ProCreate
  • Character Cartoon Toolkit for Procreate (This pack comes with free drawing tutorial worksheets!)
  • 21 Custom Pencil Brushes for Procreate
  • Make money from home using your creative skills. This creative guide for creatives is the best ebook for creative people who want to earn while working from home. Formerly known as the creative workbook for creatives.
How to draw cartoon hair - an easy guide for beginners. Learn to draw straight hair and curly hair with this step-by-step guide.