Character Design Tutorial: How to Draw Comic-Style Female Hair

Learn how to draw different types of hair to add movement and personality to your characters, with Marcio Takara

Hair is notoriously difficult to draw, and because it’s such an important element of any character, that can make it seem even more daunting.

But as with everything, a little practice makes perfect, and professional comic book artist Marcio Takara (@marciotakara) has a few simple tips for conquering this drawing challenge.

With experience working with major publishers like Marvel and DC, in this video Takara shows the process he uses to draw hair and explains how it can be used as a powerful storytelling tool to convey your character’s personality and movement.

How to Draw Comic-Style Female Hair

1. Find photo references

Look for photo references of the hairstyle you would like to draw. Pay special attention to the length, texture, and movement of the hair. While you don’t have to copy every detail of your reference image, the closer it is to what you’re looking to draw, the easier it will be.

2. Begin at the hairline

Start by lightly erasing any guide marks on the forehead and along the top of the head. Then sketch the hairline or bangs using the eyebrows as a reference. The length of your character’s nose should be the same length as the height of their forehead.

3. Pay attention to head shape

As you begin sketching the hair, moving from the top of your character’s head, remember that the hair needs to follow the shape of the head. The shapes you draw should emerge from where the parting of their hair.

4. Think about character movement

In comics, hair is a great way of showing a character’s movement. Think about it as a compositional element, and make sure that it matches other movement indications in your drawing.

5. Play with hair texture

Depending on your reference image, the hair you create might have a lot of movement and texture within it. Curls, for instance, can curve in different directions or gather in different sections.

6. Draw shapes, not every single hair

A common mistake is drawing every strand of hair, which takes a lot of time and can also result in a messy looking and difficult to read the completed drawing.

As you create simple lines, try to think about the hair as different shapes gathered together, with the wisps adding detail. At the sketching stage, this level of detail isn’t the priority, since you can better define these lines when you begin inking.

7. Apply shadow

To give the hair more depth, shade along the underside of the hair and consider where the shadow will fall on your character’s shoulders and neck.

8. Improvise and practice

Using different kinds of reference photos is a great way to practice drawing different types and textures of hair, so try to create a variety of drawings and characters.

Though these references will be very helpful, don’t be afraid to improvise as well. Since hair is such an important character and compositional element, it’s important that it fits the context, so give yourself permission to experiment and use your imagination.

Did you enjoy this video? To learn more about how to create expressive and dynamic characters from scratch, check out Marcio Takara's online course Female Character Design for Comics.

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