
“With straighter hair, the light concentrates on the bends, but curly hair has so many bends and so much dimension that you’re not going to see as much light.”Ĭonsider the light source and notice where the shadows fall. “Pay attention to how the light hits different strands,” says Lamb. Even on the same head of hair, different areas of the hair reflect light differently. Again, refer to your reference photos and note how different types of hair reflect light in different ways. Well-drawn highlights and shadows will give the hair a three-dimensional look. For highlights and shadows, go back to your reference photo to see how the light reflects off of each lock or gets lost in the layers. This process can take a long time, but do this for every lock, varying the darkness of some curves and edges to add texture. The upward curves at the edges will give the appearance of depth. For realistic detail, draw small, shallow U shapes inside each lock. Add loose hair strands at some of the edges and around the hairline. Once you’ve drawn the basic shape of each lock and you’re happy with the directional flow, you can draw over the edges with organic-looking, wavy lines. Note how much heavier long locks appear than short ones, and how locks that start at the top of the head go outward before falling downward. Refer to your reference photo to see how the locks fall.

Draw the outline first, and then just draw the general shape of the locks, which are like thin rectangles. The process for drawing dreadlocks is similar to that for other types of hair.
