Rendering hair on Manga / Anime style characters have always been an important part in drawing these characters. Techniques ranges from the all black ink technique found in manga comics, to simple two tone spikey hair styles found on low-budget anime, to more expressive (ie: less spikey finer strands) found on higher budget OVAs, to near realistic styles found on some posters.

Over the years, I've tried various techniques and methods to improve the look of rendering the hair on my drawings. Some methods failed while others produced unexpected results. Over the years (yes, it took me that long) I've refined my methods to make it easier to draw. My latest style is somewhere close to the realistic hair renderings, but still retain the anime style.

Some of my on-line friends have requested me to give a hair rendering tutorial....so here it is!

This latest technique is NOT perfect....I'm always learning something new each time I draw....but I think the current results look pretty good. This rendering technique is made easier by the use of a Wacom graphic tablet (you draw on the computer with a pen-like device). Although I've applied this technique using a conventional mouse (ideally a good optical one), I'd reccommend you start saving up for a graphic tablet. It really reduces the drawing time and gives better results.

The following tutorial describes how this is done on Photoshop, although this can be applied to other similar painting applications, like Painter or even GIMP!

Step 1: Draw a Picture

Step 2 : Dividing the Hair and Picking the Colours

Step 3 : Paint the Foreground Hair

Step 4 : Painting the Background Hair

Step 5 : Drawing the Light Hair Layer and Shade Hair Layer

Step 6 : Drawing the Highlight Hair Layer

Step 7 : Finishing touches....Adding some loose strands

Appendix A : Rendering Fur/Grass/Pubic Hair