- Before you draw hair on an actual character, familiarize yourself with the basic shapes that make a hairstyle. Instead of drawing each individual strand of hair like in other art styles, anime hair is drawn in clumps or clusters of strands. These small clusters are represented by a curvy "spike" shape, with the bottom line having a larger curve than the top to add depth to the hair. Instead of ending the shape where the two lines meet, draw it out with a long wavy line. This is the basic shape used in creating anime hair--make it longer and thinner, shorter and plumper; get used to how this shape looks and how you can alter it to fit different characters. Once you get use to that shape, twist it in on its self, adding more curly lines within the shape to give it that added detail.
- Now draw those shapes together to form a single hair style. Draw them small compared with how you just had them. These shapes represent clumps of small strands of hair. Draw the character's hair in layers; in most anime hair styles, the bangs usually move up away from the head to give the wild poof look. Most artists find it easier to draw the hair in three layers, the first being the front bang section, the second being the back or filler section; this section covers the back of the head, adding more volume and more of the style here. This is where the bulk of the character's look is solidified. The last layer is the blend--this layer fills the hair with the rest of the character's outfit and is anything that hangs down off of the other two layers, any hair that hangs down over the shoulders. If your character has long hair, this would be the layer that goes down over their back; if the character has short hair, it would be the fuzz that covers the back of their upper neck. A well drawn blend layer will make the hair look like it's actually attached to the characters head and not just sitting on top of it.
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