Now here is a difficult thing to write a reference for. Hair. The number of styles are literally infinite but never fear, there are only a few simple rules one needs to follow to get convincing hair.
The first thing you will want to note is where the hair comes from (very useful for both long and super short styles). The first four sketches give you a rough idea, but there can be variations (some people have a straighter hairline rather than a v shape etc.). Whereas women tend to have little if any hair before the ears, guys can grow sideburns there if you want (all depends on how they shave, but that's for another tutorial).
When you are comfortable with where the hair sprouts from it is time for the fundamental rule. HAIR IS NEVER STRAIGHT! Sure the hairs themselves can be, but even in straight hair with a straight cut edge (first example) the line flow and curve as the hair falls over the skull, neck, shoulders, anything really. More men will have a natural looking edge to the hair though (second example) as the straight cut tends to be on longer styles (although I have seen a short haircut with straight edges drawn very well indeed).
Curly and wavy/tight curls/fuzzy/crimped are not as hard as they look, they just take a lot of time and effort to draw. Large curls can be loose (first of second row) or tight, and look like bouncy zig zags. Not many guys will have their curly hair in neat ringlets though, so tighter/messier curls can be indicated with a wavy edge to the hair and a rough texture (which I really should have shaded in for you but I ended up leaving it for the hair shading and detail tutorial). The tinier the ‘bumps’ on the edge of the hair, the tighter the curls appear.
The next few examples on this line are merely to demonstrate the two main types of bangs. Up and down. If hair is swept up before falling back down then obviously the hairline will be visible as a small triangle. If the hair just sweeps straight down then you can treat it like any other part of the hair. You can have both up and down bangs on the same style, go nuts!
Next is an example of a three strand braid (left) and a terrible example of a four strand braid (right) along with some references to different styles. The hair can be cut with or without layers, left loose or tied up (or both - note the shape of the top of high ponytails/buns and the line where the hari changes direction when only half of it is tied up), long or short. Long hair (even a ponytail) has the choice of all being pushed behind the shoulders or some behind and some in front (or all in front, works well for low ponytails). Hair can also be spiked up. I was lazy, the spikes will not go all the way to the skull as shown here they will all be slight outside. ‘Do as I say not as I do’ I believe is the saying for this situation.
Also, it goes without saying you can also part the hair any way you want, centre or side, all in personal taste.
Hope you make good use of this reference sheet to invent some wacky new hair styles using the basic rules.I am always running out of hair ideas as I am so boring. Post a comment or pop along to VulcanVet at deviant art to show me what you can do!
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