Drawing hair is a difficult task even when working on paper, not to mention drawing on a computer. It seems to some that every hair should be drawn in the hairstyle, while others draw hair in the form of a kind of helmet, painting them in one tone and not adding any details. But hair drawn using this method looks ugly. Therefore, in the article we will consider ways to image hair using the Paint tool SAI.
Why Paint Tool SAI
SAI is one of the easiest programs to learn. In addition, it starts up very quickly and has a wide range of tools both for working with the mouse and for drawing on a graphic tablet.
Basic Hair Drawing Tips
To draw hair beautifully in SAI, it is best to use a graphics tablet. Mouse drawing is less comfortable.
It is also important to know how hair grows on a person’s head, to learn the basics of setting light and shadows.
Getting started, first of all, decide on the main direction of hair growth. To do this, you need to pay attention to their structure. For example, long hair is directed downward, rests on the head and wraps around the shoulders.
Next, you need to divide the hairstyle into separate strands. Do not forget that the hair has a volume, and the strands should not be of identical size and lie exactly the same. They can be superimposed on each other or knocked out of the hairstyle.
Do not draw lines on strands of the same length and thickness, so as not to lose the volume of the picture. Giving the hair a texture, you do not need to try to draw each individual hair. It is enough to make confident strokes in one direction.
How to draw hair in SAI: contour
Before you start drawing hair, you need to create a new document in SAI. The first thing you should pay attention to is the size of the image. In order to fine-tune the picture, the image should have a size of 2,500-3,000 pixels in width or height.
After creating a new canvas, sketch your head. Next, start drawing hair.
Around the contour of the head, draw a little volume, then mark the parting. After that, draw curls around the face and locks of hair that smoothly fall down. Do not forget that you draw streams of hair, and not every single hair. Also, the hair should not lie directly on the skin, so draw their height in the bangs.
Divide each lock of hair into even smaller locks. Below, the curls diverge a little, and along the parting they need to be made raised.
Circle the hairstyle. Remember, it should not be too rigid, and also try to make lines of different thicknesses.
Add some extra lines to the strands. In the end, for more realism, you can add a few broken hairs.
If you are curious with what brush to draw your hair in "AIS", then it all depends on your drawing style. For those who are just starting to master the program and drawing hair, it is best to start with a standard brush or Pencil tool.
Painting
After sketching the hairstyle, create a new layer in the Paint tool SAI. Paint the hairstyle contour with a medium shade. For example, if you chose black hair color, then paint the outline with dark gray. Then take the color a little darker and apply shadows, taking into account the strands of hair and not being distracted by individual hairs. After that, select a lighter color and select these areas.
Combine the layers and add more shadows to the hairstyle, and then a little more light shade from the side where the light comes from. You can add some highlights at the end.
How to draw hair in SAI with the mouse
Regardless of whether you draw with a graphics tablet or mouse, the basic principles for drawing hair remain the same.
To draw hairstyles with the mouse, create a vector layer in a new document and draw a sketch of the hairstyle with the Curve tool. When drawing, follow the methods described above. First draw a contour of the head, then add volume, define a parting and divide the hair into strands. To change the thickness and pressure of the lines, use the Pressure and Weight tools.
You can add color to your hair by highlighting certain areas with Curve and the Magic Wand. Color is more convenient to add on a new raster layer. After you select the desired area, go to another layer and use the fill with the desired color.