Brenda Hoddinott H-12 BEGINNER: FOCUS ON PEOPLE You use slightly curved hatching lines of various lengths and values to draw realistic long straight hair. Skills include: identifying different approaches to drawing hair, drawing the contours of straight hair with curved hatching lines, and transforming a circle into a sphere. This lesson is divided into the following four parts: COMPARING HAIRY DRAWINGS: You observe a couple of basic approaches to drawing hair and examine various drawings in which the hair is drawn realistically. Drawing realistic hair involves creating the illusions of form and depth. SETTING UP TO DRAW HAIR: You outline the contours of hair as they assume the shape of a head. HATCHING LONG HAIR: You use curved hatching lines and various pencils to shade the texture and three-dimensional forms of realistic long straight hair. Curved hatching lines are perfect for creating the texture of both hair and long fur. ADDING A SIMPLE FACE: You shade in a face and transform a circular shape into a spherical nose. This face will be EASY to draw! The eyes are hidden under the hair and the mouth is a tiny oval. Suggested drawing supplies include good quality white drawing paper, kneaded and vinyl erasers, and various graphite pencils such as 2H, 2B, HB, 4B, and 6B. 13 PAGES – 22 ILLUSTRATIONS This project is recommended for artists, aged ten to ninety-nine, who have basic drawing skills, as well as home schooling, academic and recreational fine art educators. Published by Hoddinott Fine Art Publishers, Halifax, NS, Canada, Revised 2006 Copyright to all articles, images, text, projects, lessons and exercises within this drawing class belong to Brenda Hoddinott and may not be reproduced or used for any commercial purposes whatsoever without the written permission of Brenda Hoddinott. E-mail bhoddinott@hoddinott.com Web sites http://www.finearteducation.com and http://www.drawspace.com - 2 - COMPARING HAIRY DRAWINGS Many beginners try to draw realistic hair with long continuous lines and very little contrast. Subsequently, the hair looks flat, rather than three-dimensional. Drawing realistic hair involves creating the illusions of form and depth. Contrast measures the degree of difference between the light and dark values within shading, and helps create the illusion of three-dimensional reality. Shading refers to the various shades of gray (values) in a drawing that make the drawing subjects look three-dimensional. Values are the different shades of gray created when you draw by varying both the density of the shading lines, and the pressure used in holding various pencils. Form, as applied to drawing, is the illusion of the three-dimensional structure of a shape. ILLUSTRATION 12-01 ILLUSTRATION 12-02 These two illustrations demonstrate a couple of different methods for drawing long straight hair. Examine each to discover their differences. Hair drawn with straight lines and little contrast looks flat. Flat hair is rendered with long continuous straight lines and a very limited range of values. Realistic hair is rendered with curved lines of various lengths, and a full range of hatching values from very light to almost black. Some cartoon artists use straight lines to illustrate hair. This works perfectly when flat two-dimensional hair is the goal. Check out the first cartoon drawing below. ILLUSTRATION 12-03 ILLUSTRATION 12-04 Drawing with only straight lines doesn’t work well for drawing realistic hair. Realistic hair is drawn with curved lines of various lengths, which follow the contours of the forms of the hair and/or skull (as shown in the second cartoon). Copyright to all articles, images, text, projects, lessons and exercises within this drawing class belong to Brenda Hoddinott and may not be reproduced or used for any commercial purposes whatsoever without the written permission of Brenda Hoddinott. E-mail bhoddinott@hoddinott.com Web sites http://www.finearteducation.com and http://www.drawspace.com - 3 - ILLUSTRATION 12-05 Take note of the point on the top of this little girl’s head, from which all her hair seems to grow. The hatching lines follow the contours of her skull, creating the perceived reality of her head being three-dimensional. Hatching is a series of lines (called a set) drawn closely together to give the illusion of values. ILLUSTRATION 12-06 Tiny individual lines can be sketched around the top and sides of realistic hair to create a soft wispy illusion. Hair of all colors (including black, brown, blond, red, and purple), should be drawn with a broad range of values, from light to dark. Keep in mind that all colors of hair tend to look darker further away from the dominant light source, and even more so in the darkest shadow areas. Light source refers to the direction from which a dominant light originates. The placement of this light source affects every aspect of a drawing. More dark values than light, are used to create the illusion that the hair is dark (such as black or dark brown), rather than light. Conversely, light hair (such as gray or blond) is shaded with fewer dark values. Copyright to all articles, images, text, projects, lessons and exercises within this drawing class belong to Brenda Hoddinott and may not be reproduced or used for any commercial purposes whatsoever without the written permission of Brenda Hoddinott. E-mail bhoddinott@hoddinott.com Web sites http://www.finearteducation.com and http://www.drawspace.com - 4 - ILLUSTRATION 12-07 Long hair often curves in many directions, creating wavy rather than completely straight hair. Illustrations 12-06, 12-07, and 12-08, demonstrate how light and dark sections of hair are each rendered with a full range of values. ILLUSTRATION 12-08 As you can no doubt tell, long wavy hair generally takes much longer to draw than straight hair. Examine these drawings closely, and take note of the following: ̇ The dominant light source is from the right. ̇ Strands of hair are much lighter closer to the light source. ̇ The hair is darker in the shadowed areas further from the light source. ̇ The hatching lines are of various lengths, rather than long continuous lines. ̇ Almost all of the hatching lines are curved rather than straight. ̇ The values range from almost white in the shiny areas to very dark, such as close to her neck. ̇ Some sections of hair overlap others, helping enhance the illusion of depth and three-dimensional reality. Copyright to all articles, images, text, projects, lessons and exercises within this drawing class belong to Brenda Hoddinott and may not be reproduced or used for any commercial purposes whatsoever without the written permission of Brenda Hoddinott. E-mail bhoddinott@hoddinott.com Web sites http://www.finearteducation.com and http://www.drawspace.com - 5 - SETTING UP TO DRAW HAIR Put the cat out, let the dog in, and plan on having some productive fun learning how to draw realistic long hair. Speaking of dogs and cats, these techniques also work well for drawing long fur on animals! Find your drawing supplies, and draw along with me as I take you step-by-step through this project. ILLUSTRATION 12-09 1. Use an HB pencil to draw an egg-shape in the upper section of your drawing paper. ILLUSTRATION 12-10 This egg-shape is similar to the shape of a human head, and will be the foundation on which the hair “grows”. The goal is to draw the hair in such a way, as to make the head look three- dimensional. 2. Lightly sketch the outline of the outer shape of the hair. Visually choose a point in the center of (and slightly above) your egg shape, and place a small dot here. This is the point from which the hair will originate. Draw two long curved lines from this point (outside the egg-shape) downward toward the bottom of your drawing space. The lines begin by curving upward from the point, then out, and finally downward. They follow the contour of the head as they continue downward. Continue drawing the long curved lines downward, to about three-quarters of the distance from the top of your drawing space. Close to the bottom of the drawing space, both lines curve slightly inward, and then curve outward again. Copyright to all articles, images, text, projects, lessons and exercises within this drawing class belong to Brenda Hoddinott and may not be reproduced or used for any commercial purposes whatsoever without the written permission of Brenda Hoddinott. E-mail bhoddinott@hoddinott.com Web sites http://www.finearteducation.com and http://www.drawspace.com - 6 - 3. With an HB pencil, lightly sketch several short (mostly curved) lines from the center point at the top of the head downward. The goal is to establish a blueprint or “guidelines” for drawing the hair. Take note that the line in the center is almost straight. Each line you draw closer to the outside edge of the hair is progressively more curved. 4. Draw a circle as the nose. Take note that the nose is located on the lower half of the egg-shape. 5. Lighten the outline of the head with a kneaded eraser, until it becomes very faint. ILLUSTRATION 12-11 ILLUSTRATION 12-12 To help you draw a circle, rotate your paper and look at your drawing from different perspectives. This little trick often allows you insight into any problem areas. Looking at the reflection of your circle in a mirror will also help you to see areas in need of fixing. Copyright to all articles, images, text, projects, lessons and exercises within this drawing class belong to Brenda Hoddinott and may not be reproduced or used for any commercial purposes whatsoever without the written permission of Brenda Hoddinott. E-mail bhoddinott@hoddinott.com Web sites http://www.finearteducation.com and http://www.drawspace.com - 7 - 6. Add (or extend) two more slightly curved lines that extend downward from the point, to the inside edges of the nose, and then begin again lower on the nose, until they almost meet at a point below the nose. These lines do not touch the very outside edge of the nose. The goal here is to create the illusion that small sections of the hair are behind the nose on each side. 7. Re-draw a tiny section of the chin (the lower section of the egg-shape) inside the triangular section formed by the two lines below the nose. 8. Add (or extend) two more lines to the outside of the previous two. These lines also begin at the point on the top of the head, and extend downward. 9. Erase the original drawing of the egg-shape (except for the chin). ILLUSTRATION 12-13 ILLUSTRATION 12-14 10. Extend the curved lines from the upper section of the head, almost all the way down to the bottom of your drawing space. Observe, how the lines that are closer to the outer edges of the hair, curve in the same directions as your first outline of the hair. The closer the lines are to the center, the less they curve. The line in the very center is almost completely straight, except for a tiny curve at the bottom. Copyright to all articles, images, text, projects, lessons and exercises within this drawing class belong to Brenda Hoddinott and may not be reproduced or used for any commercial purposes whatsoever without the written permission of Brenda Hoddinott. E-mail bhoddinott@hoddinott.com Web sites http://www.finearteducation.com and http://www.drawspace.com - 8 - ILLUSTRATION 12-15 HATCHING LONG HAIR Curved hatching lines are perfect for creating the texture of hair (and fur). This very simple method of shading can produce a complete range of different values. The light source in this drawing is coming from the left. Light affects the placement and value of every section of shading. Hence, the values need to be slightly darker on the right. Different values are created by: • Varying the density of the lines you draw. Density refers to whether the individual hatching lines are close together or far apart. • Varying the pressure used in holding your pencils. For light lines you press very lightly with your pencil. Press harder with your pencil to make darker lines. • Using various pencils. A 2H pencil gives you lighter lines than 2B or 4B. 11. Use your 2H and HB pencils to draw the light values. All the lines are slightly curved. Remember, straight hair often follows the form of a person’s head and looks more realistic when you use curved lines instead of straight. The hatching lines are several different lengths and values. The edges are not abrupt stops, but rather feathered (or ragged) to give a more realistic appearance. The graduated shading lines vary from very light to medium values. Graduated shading is a continuous progression of graduated values from dark to light or from light to dark. Copyright to all articles, images, text, projects, lessons and exercises within this drawing class belong to Brenda Hoddinott and may not be reproduced or used for any commercial purposes whatsoever without the written permission of Brenda Hoddinott. E-mail bhoddinott@hoddinott.com Web sites http://www.finearteducation.com and http://www.drawspace.com - 9 - 12. Use your 2B pencil to draw the hatching lines for the darker sections of hair at the top (Illustration 12-16) and middle (Illustration 12-17) of your drawing. ILLUSTRATION 12-16 ILLUSTRATION 12-17 The darker values in the hair are also of various lengths and values with raggedy endings. Copyright to all articles, images, text, projects, lessons and exercises within this drawing class belong to Brenda Hoddinott and may not be reproduced or used for any commercial purposes whatsoever without the written permission of Brenda Hoddinott. E-mail bhoddinott@hoddinott.com Web sites http://www.finearteducation.com and http://www.drawspace.com - 10 - 13. Continue using your 2B pencil for the lower sections of hair close to the bottom. 14. Use your 4B pencil to add a few darker hatching lines at the very top and in a small section of the center sections. ILLUSTRATION 12-18 ILLUSTRATION 12-19 [...]... class belong to Brenda Hoddinott and may not be reproduced or used for any commercial purposes whatsoever without the written permission of Brenda Hoddinott E-mail bhoddinott@hoddinott.com Web sites http://www.finearteducation.com and http://www.drawspace.com - 12 - ILLUSTRATION 12-22 19 Step back from your drawing and have a look at the overall values 20 Add final touches to the shading on the hair, ... nose lighter by patting with your kneaded eraser and others darker by adding more shading You make sections of the hair darker by simply drawing more hatching lines where you need them Copyright to all articles, images, text, projects, lessons and exercises within this drawing class belong to Brenda Hoddinott and may not be reproduced or used for any commercial purposes whatsoever without the written...- 11 - ILLUSTRATION 12-20 ADDING A SIMPLE FACE This face will be EASY to draw! The eyes are hidden under the hair and the mouth is a tiny oval 15 Use a 4B pencil to shade in the tiny triangular shape under the chin 16 Add shading to the small areas of the face that are showing Use a 4B pencil for the darker section... Indianapolis, IN, this 360 page book is available on various websites and in major bookstores internationally Copyright to all articles, images, text, projects, lessons and exercises within this drawing class belong to Brenda Hoddinott and may not be reproduced or used for any commercial purposes whatsoever without the written permission of Brenda Hoddinott E-mail bhoddinott@hoddinott.com Web sites http://www.finearteducation.com . to draw realistic long straight hair. Skills include: identifying different approaches to drawing hair, drawing the contours of straight hair with curved. for drawing long straight hair. Examine each to discover their differences. Hair drawn with straight lines and little contrast looks flat. Flat hair is rendered